Suta said: "[There stood] the blazing, unmoving [mountain] Meru -- an incomparable mass of splendor, eclipsing the sun's radiance with its own golden, gleaming peaks; adorned with gold, resplendent, honored by gods and gandharvas, immeasurable and unassailable by people [mired] in unrighteousness; inhabited by fearsome beasts, illumined by divine herbs -- the great mountain that in its height reaches up to heaven, veiling it. Unattainable even in thought by others, [covered] with rivers and trees, resounding with flocks of various enchanting birds. Having ascended its beautiful summit, strewn with jewels and towering to boundless height, all the mighty gods, [abiding] in austerity and vows, seated there, gathered together for the sake of amrita and began to deliberate. And as the gods thus reflected and deliberated, the god Narayana said to Brahma: 'Let the gods together with the hosts of asuras churn the ocean of milk (kshira-samudra); at the churning of the great ocean amrita will arise there. Having gathered all the herbs and all the jewels, churn the ocean, O gods -- and thus you will obtain amrita.'"