Skandapurana 3.1.38

The seers said:

“O Sūta, how was Kadru freed by plunging into Kṣīrakuṇḍa?

How did she, whose resolve was sinful, act deceitfully toward her co-wife?

Whose daughter was that Kadru, and whose co-wife was she indeed?

For what purpose did Kadru conquer her own co-wife through deceit?

Tell this to us who are faithful, O Sūta, treasure-house of compassion!”

Śrī Sūta said:

“Hear, all you sages, the narrative that brings great fruit.

In ancient times, in the Kṛtayuga, O brahmins, the two daughters of Prajāpati,

Kadru and Vinatā, were sisters.

They were the two wives of Kaśyapa, namely Kadru and Vinatā.

Vinatā gave birth to two sons: Aruṇa and Garuḍa.

And Kadru obtained from her husband many sons, the serpents,

headed by Ananta and Vāsuki, endowed with poison and pride.

Once, those two sisters, Kadru and Vinatā,

saw Uccaiḥśravas approaching nearby.

Having seen the horse, Kadru said this to Vinatā:

‘Is the horse's tail white or black? Tell me the truth, O Vinatā!’”

Having said this, O brahmins, Vinatā said this to Kadrū:

“The horse's tail appears white to me, O woman of slender waist.

Or what do you think, Kadrū?” Vinatā said to her.

Having thus questioned Vinatā, Kadrū also spoke her own opinion:

“I consider the tail of this horse to be black, O blameless one.”

Then, having mutually made a wager of servitude upon defeat,

those two fortunate co-wives stood firm [by it], O best of brahmins.

Then Kadrū [spoke] to her sons, the serpents headed by Vāsuki:

“Act in such a way, my sons, that I do not become her slave!”

For the attainment of her desired goal, greatly agitated, she said:

“The tail of Uccaiḥśravas must be covered by you.”

The serpents did not accept her proposal; then Kadrū, in anger,

enraged, burning, and faint with fury, cursed her sons:

“You shall all surely die at the sacrificial session of the son of Parīkṣit!”

When this curse was pronounced by their mother, Karkoṭaka was terrified then;

bowing at Kadrū's feet, he spoke these words despondently:

“I will make the tail of Uccaiḥśravas have the radiance of collyrium.

Do not fear, mother!” he said, distraught over the curse.

Then the serpent Karkoṭaka covered the white tail of Uccaiḥśravas

with his own body and made it gleam like collyrium.

Then Vinatā and Kadrū, both having made a wager on servitude,

went with eager haste to see the horse of the king of gods.

Passing over the ocean, the lord of rivers, the source of the moon, / the conch, ruby, pearl, and Airāvata,

which is the couch of Hari at the dissolution of an age / when he adopts yogic sleep,

Kadrū and Vinatā crossed over the ocean, the lord of rivers,

and going there, they saw the horse, the mount of the king of gods.

Seeing the horse with a black tail, Vinatā became distressed.

Kadrū assigned the distressed Vinatā to the work of a slave.

In the meantime, Tārkṣya, breaking open the egg like fire,

appeared, O chiefs of brahmins, his body as large as a mountain.

Seeing the majesty of his body, the three worlds became terrified.

Then the gods praised Garuḍa, the best of birds.

Thinking: “Seeing the majesty of this body, the three worlds would be terrified,”

he withdrew his exceedingly terrifying form,

placed Aruṇa on his back, and approached his mother.

Then Kadrū said to Vinatā, who was bowed down and deeply distressed:

“Slave woman, I intend to go to the abode of the serpents;

let your son Garuḍa carry me and my sons!”

Then Vinatā spoke to her son Garuḍa:

“I shall carry this Kadrū; you carry the snakes, her sons.”

“So be it,” Garuḍa agreed to his mother's word, O brahmins.

Vinatā carried Kadrū, and Garuḍa carried all of them.

Then the serpents, coming close to the sun, were struck by its rays.

Kadrū praised the wielder of the thunderbolt to appease the burning heat of her sons.

The king of gods quenched all their burning heat with downpours of water.

Then the serpents being carried by the mighty Garuḍa,

having soon reached that region, said to the son of Vinatā:

“We are all eager to go and see another island;

carry us there at once, Garuḍa, you son of a slave woman!”

Then Garuḍa asked his mother Vinatā, O brahmins:

“Why do I carry these, and why do you always carry her?

Why do these crawling creatures call me ‘son of a slave woman’?

Tell me all this in truth, mother, as I ask you.”

Thus questioned by him, the mother spoke to her son Garuḍa:

“By my cruel sister, my son, I was defeated through deceit.

I am now her slave woman, and therefore you are the son of a slave woman.

Therefore you carry the serpents, and I always carry her.”

She related to him the whole account from the beginning.

Then Garuḍa, the son of Vinatā, said to his mother:

“What must I do now for the sake of your release from this servitude?”

Thus questioned by her son, Vinatā then spoke to him:

"Ask the serpents, Garuḍa, concerning my release from bondage:

'Tell [me] now: what task must I perform for you, my mother's [masters]?'"

Addressed in this way by his mother, Garuḍa went to the serpents

and asked, O best of brahmins; they too then said to him:

"When you quickly bring nectar from the abode of the immortals,

then indeed, O Vainateya, shall your mother be freed today from bondage."

Then, having returned to his mother, Garuḍa bowed and said:

"O Mother, provide me food as I depart to bring the nectar."

Thus spoken to, his mother Vinatā said to her son:

"In the middle of the ocean there dwell some Śabaras, my son.

Having devoured those Śabaras, bring the nectar here.

There is a certain lustful twice-born there, eager for union with a Śabara woman.

Release that brahmin, who will burn your throat with his brahminical splendor.

May the gods, led by the Maruts, protect your wings and other limbs!"

Strengthened thus by his mother's blessings, Garuḍa went forth.

Approaching the home of the Śabaras, as he ate, into his open mouth

the hunters entered, like birds into a mountain cavern.

Then that brahmin also entered his throat, O best of sages.

To that vipra who was burning his throat, the son of Vinatā said:

"O vipra, even if sinful, you must not be killed; come out of here!"

Thus addressed, the vipra then replied to Garuḍa:

"My wife, a Kirāta woman, must also come out along with me."

"So be it," the lord of birds said to that vipra.

Then Garuḍa spat out the vipra together with his wife.

The vipra too departed with the Niṣāda woman to regions of his choosing.

Then, having devoured the Śabaras, Garuḍa, the best of birds,

swiftly approached his father Kaśyapa.

Asked by him, "Where are you going?", Garuḍa replied to him:

"I have come to fetch the nectar to release my mother from bondage.

Even after consuming many Kirātas, I feel no satisfaction.

A boundless hunger afflicts me day and night, O holy one.

Bestow on me food that will relieve it, O rich in austerity,

so that I may be able, Father, to fetch the nectar with my strength."

Addressed in this way, Kaśyapa spoke to his son born of Vinatā.

Kaśyapa said:

"Formerly there was a sage named Vibhāvasu; he had a younger brother,

a brother named Supratīka. Both of them became bitter enemies over family property.

Overcome with great fury, the two twice-born cursed each other:

Supratīka became an elephant, and Vibhāvasu became a tortoise.

Thus, due to a dispute over wealth, the two brothers cursed each other.

The elephant is six yojanas in height and twice as long in length.

The tortoise is three yojanas in height and ten yojanas in breadth.

These two, having formed mutual enmity, [dwell] in this lake, O bird.

Remembering their past enmity, they fight with the desire to conquer.

Having devoured both of them, and being fully sated, fetch the nectar."

Thus instructed by his father, the bird went to that elephant and tortoise.

Lifting up those two of gigantic body and immense strength and prowess,

carrying them in his talons, he approached the excellent sacred ford called Vilamba.

Seeing the king of birds arrived there, O equals of the twice-born,

a very tall, great tree growing on its bank, named Rohiṇa,

said this to Vainateya of immense strength and prowess:

"Alight on this branch of mine, a hundred yojanas long;

perched here, devour the elephant and tortoise, O best of birds."

Thus addressed by the tree, that bird swift as thought settled there.

Under his weight, that branch of the tree broke, O best of brahmins.

Seeing the Vālakhilya sages hanging head-downward on it,

fearing they might fall, Garuḍa seized that branch.

As he flew in the sky carrying the elephant, the tortoise, and that branch,

his father spoke there to Garuḍa, the son of Vinatā.

"O son of Vinatā, drop this branch on a deserted mountain."

Thus addressed, he went and deposited the branch on an uninhabited mountain;

then the bird devoured both the elephant and the tortoise.

Now at that moment, an evil omen appeared in heaven.

Seeing the portent, the enemy of Bala asked his own priest,

again and again: "O Jīva, what is the cause of this portent here?"

Then, O best of brahmins, Bṛhaspati spoke to Śakra:

Bṛhaspati said:

"Formerly, O Hari, the sage Kāśyapa performed a sacrificial rite;

all the seers, gods, siddhas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and kinnaras

he dispatched, O brahmins, to secure the sacrificial provisions.

Seeing the Vālakhilyas, carrying their provisions, short [and] only thumb-sized,

sinking in the water of a cow's footprint, you laughed.

Insulted by you, the Vālakhilyas, enraged then, O Hari,

offered oblations into the sacrificial fire, their faces blazing with anger:

'May there be an enemy of the lord of the gods, causing fear to him, born as a son to Kaśyapa!'

Today his son Garuḍa, eager to carry off the nectar,

is approaching. Due to that, this portent has appeared."

Thus addressed, Indra spoke to the gods headed by Agni:

"A bird is coming to steal the nectar; let it be guarded!"

Thus urged by Indra, the gods, bearing weapons, guarded the nectar.

The king of birds then approached the gods who bore weapons;

seeing Garuḍa of mighty strength, the gods indeed trembled.

Then a great battle took place between Garuḍa and the gods;

Bhauvana, the guardian of the nectar, was torn to pieces by the beak of the bird.

Then the gods repeatedly struck Garuḍa with various weapons;

exceedingly afflicted by the gods with weapons in their hands,

Garuḍa hurled the gods headed by Agni far away with his two wings.

Cast off by his wings, the gods then became exceedingly enraged,

and discharged iron arrows, bhindipālas, and diverse weapons.

Then, with swift speed, the son of Vinatā raised dust

with his wings that obstructed the gods' sight; / the best of the thirty [gods] quelled that dust with wind.

The Rudras, the Vasus, likewise the Ādityas, the Maruts, and the other gods,

Garuḍa distressed with his wings and beak, O brahmins.

When the gods had fled, he beheld a fire before him;

and he set out to extinguish the fire that was blazing all around.

Having assumed a thousand mouths, drinking hundreds of rivers with them,

he swiftly destroyed that fire with those waters.

Seeing nearby a sharp-edged, revolving wheel that guarded the nectar,

he contracted his body and entered through the space between its spokes.

Then he saw two serpents with open mouths and terrifying forms,

by whom even a glance would turn [anyone] to ashes. Garuḍa then,

tearing them apart with his wings and beak, seized the nectar and flew up.

As he was flying up after demolishing the machine, Mādhava said to Garuḍa:

"I am pleased with you, O lord of birds! Choose a boon, O one of good vows!"

Then the bird said to Hari, the lord of Kamalā:

"May I have my place above you, and let there be no old age or death [for me]."

"So be it," said Hari; "choose a boon from me [in return]."

Having said this, Hari told him: "You become my vehicle;

and, O son of Vinatā, you shall be the emblem on top of my chariot."

"So be it," the bird said to Acyuta, the lord of Kamalā.

Hearing that the bird had taken the nectar, Ākhaṇḍala then in haste

rushed forward quickly and hurled the thunderbolt at the wing of the bird.

Then, laughing, Garuḍa spoke to the chastiser of Pāka:

"From the fall of the thunderbolt, O Hari, I feel no pain whatsoever;

yet may the fall of your thunderbolt be fruitful, O lord of gods!"

Saying this, he shed a single feather from his wing then;

because his feather was beautiful, he became known as Suparṇa.

At that golden-hued, fair-feathered one, all were filled with wonder.

Then, O bulls among brahmins, Garuḍa said to Śakra:

"Along with you, this entire world of the moving and unmoving—

O lord of the gods, I possess unfailing power to bear it continuously. / 98