Uchchaihshravas

Uchchaihshravas
Uchchaihshravas

In Hindu mythology, Uchchaihshravas (Sanskrit: उच्चैःश्रवस् Uccaiḥśravas or उच्चैःश्रवा Uccaiḥśravā, "long-ears" or "neighing aloud") is a seven-headed flying horse, created during the churning of the milk ocean. It is considered the best of horses, archetype and king of horses. Uchchaihshravas is often described as a vahana ("vehicle") of Surya - the Sun-God, but is also recorded to be the horse of Bali, the king of demons. Uchchaihshravas is said to be snow white in colour.

The Mahabharata mentions that Uchchaihshravas rose from the Samudra manthan ("churning of the milk ocean") and Indra - the god-king of heaven seized it and made it his vehicle (vahana). He rose from the ocean along with other treasures like goddess Lakshmi - the goddess of fortune, taken by god Vishnu as his consort and the amrita - the elixir of life. The legend of Uchchaihshravas, rising from the milk ocean also appears in the Vishnu Purana, the Ramayana, the Matsya Purana, the Vayu Purana etc. While various scriptures give different lists of treasures (ratnas) of those appeared from the churning of the milk ocean, most of them agree that Uchchaihshravas was one of them.

Uchchaihshravas is also mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita (10.27, which is part of the Mahabharata), a discourse by god Krishna - an avatar of Vishnu - to Arjuna. When Krishna declares to be the source of the universe, he declares that among horses, he is Uchchaihshravas - who is born from the amrita. The 12th century Hariharacaturanga records once Brahma, the creator-god, performed a sacrifice, out of which rose a winged white horse called Uchchaihshravas. Uchchaihshravas again rose out of the milk ocean and was taken by the king of the demons (Asura) Bali, who used it to attain many impossible things. The Vishnu Purana records when Prithu was installed as the first king on earth, others were also given kingship responsibilities. Uchchaihshravas was then made the king of horses.

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