Slokam 2

The forms that emerged from the churning are described in this slokam.  Each of the forms is described as having its own attribute. Each of these aspects that emerge from the churning are said to have been given to a different group of people.  This is a pointer to the fact that each of us billions of people are different. Yet we can be grouped into categories, which are innumerable in number.  Each of us belongs into multiple categories.

The divine cow Surabhi (Kamadenu) is given away to the sages.  A bit of reflection will bring out the meaning behind this assertion. 

Extract from Wikipedia

Kamadhenu , also known as Surabhi (सुरभि, Surabhī), is a divine bovine-goddess described in Hinduism as Gou Mata, the mother of all cows. She is a miraculous "cow of plenty" who provides her owner whatever he desires and is often portrayed as the mother of other cattle. In iconography, she is generally depicted as a white cow,  containing various deities within her body.

A sage is one who spends his entire life in meditation of the supreme.  He is to be provided with all basic requirements.  Surabhi is the source of all his needs.  The divine cow is the eternal source of material wealth and fulfillment of physical needs. 

In Srimad Bhagavatham,  King Parikshit when walking through the forest in his kingdom,  when he sees Kali (the representation of greed and all the inferior qualities that dominate and motivate the actions of man in this final phase of life).   Kali is engaged in physically torturing a cow by beating and stoning it.  The cow already had lost two of its legs to Kali’s incessant violence.  It was about to lose another when Parikshit stops Kali forcefully.  Parikshit demands that Kali leave earth immediately. Kali reminds Parikshit,  that like everything in this world, he is also a child of the Paramathma.  His assigned home is also earth.  He suggested that if he is granted a home,  he would not bother surabhi or anyone else. 

Surabhi is the source of all the essential inputs that are required to sustain life on earth.  Kali is the destroyer of this source.  Kali operates by spreading greed, lust,  want,  ignorance,  conflict,  asuric nature, ego,  etc.  He is the embodiment of all these undesirables.  To those of us habitating earth in the Kaliyugam,  these are the dominant qualities that are ingrained into us. Clearing these out and replacing them with Dharmic qualities takes many many lifetimes of effort.

In the prior yugams, there was never a lack of the source of food and necessities required to sustain life.  The Rishis were able to effortlessly meet their requirements.  Surabhi, which is a collection of the universal deities representing prosperity and plenty, is the ultimate source of all food, herbs, spices required to sustain life.  Our greed,  pursuit of conflict and desire for dominance results in creating scarcity,  and depletion of resources,  resulting in the destruction of surabhi, and ultimately, chokes mother earth into withdrawal of the supply of necessities. 

So Surabhi is the embodiment of good qualities,  that induce us into good practices to sustain mother earth and the environment and reap the rewards of plenty, which are endowed on us by the deities within Surabhi.

Parikshit assigns a home to Kali.  The home is gold.  The home represents the embodiment of the source of all evil in this life. 

As Kaliyuga has progressed,  Surabhi has been subject to physical brutality and incredible horrors.  From being the source of good nature within us,  that provides an abundance of food, Surabhi herself has been converted into a perpetual physical food source.

To back up a bit, Surabhi emerged from the ocean as the embodiment of all good qualities that we need to imbibe to protect and maintain our environment so that necessities are available in plenty.  This quality and responsibility is assigned to the sages.

Horses (Ucchaisrava) emerged.  Per Wikipedia extract;

Uchchaihshravas (Sanskrit: उच्चैःश्रवस्Uccaiḥśravas or उच्चैःश्रवा Uccaiḥśravā, "long-ears" or "neighing aloud"^[1]) is a seven-headed flying horse, created during the churning of the milk ocean. It is considered the best of horses, prototype and king of horses.^[2] 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 Asuras. Uchchaihshravas is said to be snow white in colour. Indra - the god-king of heaven seized it and made it his vehicle (vahana).

A horse is a vehicle of transportation. Many vehicles of transportation have been produced by the churning of the mind and consciousness.  The implication here is that the churning is an ongoing process that continues through our lives.

From the churning emerges Airwatha the huge elephant. 

Airavata (Sanskrit: ऐरावत "belonging to Iravati") is a white elephant who carries the deity Indra. It is also called 'abhra-Matanga', meaning "elephant of the clouds"; 'Naga-malla', meaning "the fighting elephant"; and 'Arkasodara', meaning "brother of the sun".^[1] 'Abhramu' is the elephant wife of Airaavatha. Airaavatha has ten tusks and five trunks and is spotless white. Airaavatha is also the third son of Kashyap and Kadru. In the Mahabharata he is listed as a great serpent.^[2]

Airvata is a war vehicle in battle grounds.  Airvata can take many forms – tanks, armored vehicles, jeeps, trucks, etc. These, like the transportation vehicles, are continually produced by the churning of the mind/consciousness complex.

The divine tree Kalpataru emerges next from the churning.

Kalpavriksha (Devanagari: कल्पवृक्ष), also known as kalpataru, kalpadruma or kalpapādapa, is a wish-fulfilling divine tree. It is mentioned in Sanskrit literature from the earliest sources.

The Kalpavriksha originated during the Samudra manthan or "churning of the ocean" along with the Kamadhenu, the divine cow providing for all needs. The king of the gods, Indra, returned with this tree to his paradise. Kalpavriksha is also identified with many trees such as Parijata (Erythrina variegata), Ficus benghalensis, Acacia, Madhuca longifolia, Prosopis cineraria, Bassia butyracea, and mulberry tree (Morus nigra tree). The tree is also extolled in iconography and literature.

A tree bears the fruit that we consume for our well being. A kalpataru tree grants all wishes.  Our wishes are a combination of needs and desires and take many forms, shapes and sizes.  The wishes are transformed into reality by the churning of the mind.  The Kalpataru tree can be thought of as the fabric of society.  We cannot produce all that we need on our own.  The social fabric of interdependence allows us to acquire one branch of knowledge,  which gives us a location on the social tree.  We can acquire whatever is produced and marketed by this combined effort,  simply by contributing our mite through our chosen professional occupation.  Kalpataru trees are said to be gifted to the Devas. 

Divine damsels were also created by the churning.  They are also said to be gifted to the Devas.