Viśwāmitra tells Śrī Rāma how in the remote past the gods and the demons conjointly churned the ocean of milk, using Mount Mandara as the churning rod, how Lord ›iva drank off the deadly poison skimmed out of it, how as a result of that churning appeared Lord Dhanvantari, a bevy of Apsarās, the beverage known by the name of Vārunī, the horse Uccaihśravā the Kaustubha gem and nectar, and how the conflict of gods and the Daityas ended in the destruction of the latter.