Dhanvantari- Hindu GodDeity"Physician of the Gods"

Emergence from the Ocean

Dhanvantari's appearance is one of the culminating moments of the Samudra Manthan. As the devas and asuras churned using Mount Mandara as the rod and the serpent Vasuki as the rope, a succession of treasures and beings rose from the waters. Near the end, a radiant figure emerged: youthful, dark-complexioned, four-armed, clad in bright yellow. This was Dhanvantari, bearing a golden pot brimming with amrita, the nectar of immortality. The Bhagavata Purana identifies him as a partial manifestation of Vishnu. His appearance immediately provoked a struggle between the devas and asuras for the amrita, which Vishnu resolved by assuming the form of Mohini.

The Teacher of Surgeons

According to Puranic tradition, Dhanvantari later took a human birth as Divodasa, a king of Kashi. At Varanasi he assembled sages led by Sushruta and taught them the medical arts. The Sushruta Samhita preserves these teachings and attributes to Dhanvantari pioneering surgical techniques including rhinoplasty, cataract removal, and the use of leeches for bloodletting. Ayurvedic practitioners worship him on Dhanteras, two days before Diwali, when colleges traditionally begin their academic sessions with invocations to the physician who first bore the nectar of life from the sea.