The heart full of purity and poise (Satwa) is the ocean of milk. Steady contemplation of the Divine, either as your own reality or as ideal to be reached, is Mandara mountain placed in it as a churning rod. Vasuki, the serpent wound round the churning rod as a rope, is the group of senses emitting poisonous fumes during the process of churning and nearly frightening the asuras (demons) who held the head. The rope is held by good and bad impulses and both struggle with the churning process, eager for the results which each has set the heart on! Grace of God is the Tortoise incarnation, for the Lord Himself comes to the rescue once He knows that you are earnestly seeking the secret of Immortality! He comes, silently and unobserved, as the tortoise did, holding the reflection (manana) process unimpaired and serving as the steady base of all spiritual practices! Many things emerge from the mind, when churned, but the wise wait patiently for the appearance of the guarantor of immortality, and seize upon it with avidity! That is the lesson of the legend. It is a summary of Atma-vidya! – Divine Discourse, Jan 13, 1965.