Skandapurana 4.50

Skanda said:

Now I shall tell you, out of love, of the other Ādityas

who are in Vārāṇasī, O jar-born [Agastya], all of whom destroy all sins. // 1

The Lord Āditya named Khakholka is proclaimed,

destroying all diseases in the northern region of Triviṣṭapa. // 2

Listen to that [story] of how the name of that Āditya came to be Khakholka.

Long ago, Kadrū and Vinatā, the two auspicious daughters of Dakṣa, // 3

were the two wives of Prajāpati Kaśyapa, the son of Marīci.

Once while playing together, O sage, they spoke to one another in this way: // 4

Kadrū said:

'O Vinatā, if you know, then declare it before me;

for your course is unimpeded in the circle of the heavens. // 5

That horse Uccaiḥśravas who is heard of in the chariot of the Sun—

what is his color? Is he dappled or white? Tell me quickly! // 6

And make a wager, O auspicious one, whichever pleases you, O sinless woman;

for this time does not pass pleasantly without some play!' // 7

Vinatā said:

'What is the use of a wager here, sister? I will tell you straightforwardly indeed;

what pleasure would I have in your defeat, or what happiness could you have in mine? // 8

Knowing this, one who desires mutual affection should not make a wager;

upon the victory of the one, anger certainly arises in the other here.' // 9

Kadrū said:

'This is just play, sister; there is no cause for anger here;

this is the convention of a game: whatever is spoken is in the wager.' // 10

Vinatā said:

'Do so in whatever way brings you pleasure, O snake!'

Then Kadrū of crooked mind said to that Vinatā: // 11

'Whichever woman is defeated by the other shall become her slave;

in this wager, all these friends of ours are the only witnesses.' // 12

Having thus made a mutual wager, the serpent woman and the bird woman—

Kadrū declared the horse to be dappled, while Garutmatī [declared him] white. // 13

And deciding when they should go, they fixed the limit of their journey;

and ceasing then from playing, they each went to their respective abode. // 14

When Vinatā had gone, Kadrū summoned her sons

and said: 'Go quickly, my sons, at my word! // 15

To the horse Uccaiḥśravas, who emerged from the milk-ocean

as it was being churned by the gods and asuras, out of fright at the impacts of Mandara, // 16

which attains likeness to the form of cause and effect...'

Therefore, my sons, spot that horse whose radiance has the color of milk.

Fasten yourselves upon his tail and assume the form of black locks of hair;

likewise, make the hairs of his body dark with the hissing of your venom."

Hearing these words of their mother, the sons of Kadrū, having conferred

with one another, approached their mother Kadrū and said:

The serpents said:

"O Mother, at your call we forcibly left our play

and came here, delighted, thinking, 'Our mother will give us sweet food today.'

Let sweet food remain far away! This is more bitter than poison,

for it is a dispute raised by you that cannot be pacified by mantras or medicines.

We will not go; let happen here to us whatever is destined to be!"

Thus it was spoken then by those crooked-moving serpents with mouths of venom.

Skanda said:

Others also who go crookedly, who exploit the faults of others,

who lack ears [to listen], and are cruel-hearted, bring shame upon their parents.

Those who, excessively arrogant, remain defiant of their parents' word,

will meet with great disaster in this world and soon go to ruin.

Hearing their words, saying 'We will not go', that mother of serpents,

overcome with anger, cursed the serpents who had gathered there in fault:

"Because of disobeying my command, become food for Garuḍa!

And may female serpents devour their own children as soon as they are born!"

Terrified by the fire of this curse, some took refuge in Pātāla,

while two or three others, wishing to live, carried out their mother's word.

Those wise ones, having reached the tail of Uccaiḥśravas,

made it resemble dark blue hair and his body variegated,

with streams of smoke from the fire of their venom emitted by the force of their hissing;

and through the merit born of performing their mother's command, they were not scorched by the rays of the sun.

Then Kadrū, having mounted the back of Vinatā out of affection,

graced the path of the sky and beheld the orb of the hot-rayed [sun].

With her mind bewildered by the power of the fierce-rayed [sun],

Kadrū then said to the female bird, "O Vinatā, fly steadily!

My body is excessively scorched by the hot rays of the hot-rayed one.

I am trusting by nature, whereas you are indeed calculating in every way.

In form you are a winged bird (pataṅgī), and he of a thousand rays is the sun (pataṅga);

therefore you have no distress arising from heat in the sky.

He is the swan (haṃsa) in the lake of the sky, and you walk like a swan (haṃsagāminī);

therefore the burning fire of the fierce-rayed one does not torment you here."

To the female bird soaring in the sky, that hole-dwelling [serpent] spoke again:

"Save me, save me, sister, here! Let us go elsewhere from the path of the sky!

O Vinatā, will you, a bird, not protect me who am bowed (vinatā) [before you]?

I will become your servant, eating your leftover food;

as long as I live, I shall drink the washings of your feet!"

Speaking with intense stammering, she said, "Khakholkāni patet!"

Holding fast to the pinions of her wings, the female serpent fainted away.

For in her agitation, when she should have said "sakhyulkāni patet",

that word "Khakholka" was uttered by Kadrū with a bewildered mind;

then the sun named Khakholka was greatly praised by Vinatā.

When the sun moving in the sky had attained a slightly lesser heat,

the horse in the chariot was seen by the two of them as slightly spotted.

Then that cruel female serpent, whose eyes were damaged by the heat,

was addressed by Vinatā, the speaker of truth, revered by the world:

"O Kadrū, gentle lady, you have won! For the horse Uccaiḥśravas,

even though he has the luster of the moon's rays, appears as if spotted.

Fate is all-powerful, O serpent; wonderful it is in victory and defeat!

Even a cruel one may sometimes be victorious, and even an un-cruel one defeated."

Speaking thus, Vinatā, who had bowed her head [in defeat], returned just as she had come

to the dwelling of Kadrū, and rendered servitude to her.

Once, Vinatā was seen by Suparṇa with tearful eyes,

lusterless, soiled, wretched, and sighing deeply.

Suparṇa said:

"O mother, where do you go early every morning, day after day?

And whence do you return in the evening, pale and dejected in mind? // 46

Why do you sigh aloud, your eyes filled with tears,

like a woman whose son is impotent, or like one despised by her husband? // 47

Tell me quickly today, mother bird: why are you distressed,

while I, your son, am alive—I who strike terror into Death himself? // 48

What is the reason for producing these tears, poor woman?

No misfortune should befall one of good conduct among virtuous women! // 49

Shame on those sons whose mother suffers sorrow while they live!

Better is she who is barren than one whose sons have barren ambitions." // 50

Having heard these spirited words of her son Garuḍa,

Vinatā spoke to that son endowed with devotion to his mother: // 51

"O child, I am a slave to the cruel-minded Kadrū.

I constantly carry her on my back, and her sons as well, my dear son. // 52

Sometimes I go to Mount Mandara, sometimes to Mount Malaya,

and sometimes I wander among the islands of those oceans. // 53

Wherever those arrogant sons of Kadrū lead,

there I must go, since I am in their power, my son." // 54

Garuḍa said:

"What caused your enslavement, O auspicious mother,

daughter of Dakṣa Prajāpati, beloved of Kaśyapa, sinless one?" // 55

Vinatā related the past event to Garuḍa in its entirety:

the cause of her enslavement, which was the sight of the Sun's horse. // 56

Hearing this, Garuḍa said to his mother: "Go quickly;

ask those wicked sons of Kadrū this today, mother: // 57

'Whatever is difficult for you to attain, and in which you have supreme pleasure—

demand that for release from my servitude, and I shall give it.'" // 58

Vinatā did so, and having heard what she said,

those serpents took counsel and, delighted in mind, said to Vinatā: // 59

"If he gives us the nectar of immortality to free you from our mother's curse,

then what you desire will be yours; if he does not give it, you will remain a slave." // 60

Saying 'So be it' and taking leave of Kadrū, the swift-flying female bird

reported this to Garuḍa, seeing his mind overjoyed. // 61

Then the slayer of serpents spoke to his mother, who was afflicted with worry:

"Consider the nectar brought, mother! Give me food." // 62

Vinatā spoke to that son, the hairs on her body standing on end with delight:

"O Garuḍa, go quickly to the ocean; may good fortune be yours! // 63

There are many Niṣādas there, slayers of fish,

living on the sea coast; eat those evil-minded ones! // 64

Those wicked people who sustain their own lives with the lives of others

must be punished with effort; punishing them is the highest good. // 65

Harm done to those who commit much violence becomes a means to heaven,

for when the wicked are destroyed, many are protected. // 66

Yet if there should be any brahmin among the Niṣādas, my son,

he must be zealously protected and never eaten." // 67

Garuḍa said:

"Living among fish-eaters, how am I to recognize a twice-born? / You told me he must not be eaten, but you have not told me his distinguishing mark." // 68

Vinatā said:

"He on whose neck is a sacrificial thread and a pure upper garment,

whose clothes are always washed, whose forehead is marked with a tilaka, // 69

whose hands are purified [with kuśa grass], whose waist-cloth tuck holds kuśa grass,

and whose head has the knot of the topknot—he is to be known by you as a brahmin. // 70

Even one who recites a single verse from the Ṛg, Yajur, or Sāma [Vedas],

or who possesses only the Gāyatrī mantra—he should be recognized by you as a twice-born." // 71

Garuḍa said:

"O mother, for a twice-born who lives constantly among the Niṣādas,

I do not think even one of these serves as a recognizable mark. // 72

Tell me another mark, mother, that makes a twice-born known,

by which, recognizing that brahmin, I may release him even if he has entered my throat." // 73

Hearing that, Vinatā said: "O son, he who has entered your throat

[The one who] burns like glowing embers of khadira wood when he reaches your throat—cast him far away.

Even against a mere twice-born, whatever violence is done does not lead to good;

in the course of time it uproots country, lineage, fortune, and self-wealth.

Having heard this, Garuḍa, son of Kaśyapa, bowed down before his mother's feet;

and, having received her blessing, the lord of birds swiftly set out along the path of the sky.

From afar he caught sight of the Niṣādas who live by catching fish.

Flapping his wings, the king of birds filled heaven and earth with dust;

blinding the quarters of space, he settled down on the shore of the ocean.

He opened wide his terrifying mouth, which resembled a great cavern;

and the Niṣādas, fleeing in all directions, entered it of their own accord.

While they entered his throat, thinking it was a path,

a twice-born, feeling like hot embers to the touch, burned the cavity of his throat.

Having sent the Niṣādas, who had previously entered, into the cavern of his stomach,

Garuḍa realized clearly that the one lodged between his throat and palate was a twice-born;

restrained by his mother's words, he quickly vomited him out in fear.

Seeing that man who had been cast up, the king of birds addressed him:

"Speak: who are you by caste, you who have caused such burning in my throat?"

Questioned thus before Garuḍa, he said: "I am a brahmin;

I dwell among these Niṣādas, living solely by the status of my caste."

Having sent him far away, Garuḍa devoured [the rest] in great numbers;

and like the wind of cosmic dissolution, he agitated the sky.

Seeing him blazing with fierce radiance, filling the horizon with flames,

like a mountain ablaze with forest fire, the sky-dwellers were terrified.

Arming themselves for battle, their armies and weapons made ready,

swiftly mounting their vehicles, all the gods put on their armor:

"This is not the sun moving horizontally across the sky, nor is this fire accompanied by smoke;

nor is this a flash of lightning. Who is this who advances against us?

Such splendour cannot belong to the Daityas, nor is this form seen among the Dānavas.

Who is this great bringer of terror, making our hearts tremble?"

While the immortal gods, knowledgeable in statecraft, were still pondering thus,

the mighty king of birds flapped his two wings.

By the blast of his wings, they fell along with their weapons and their vehicles;

like dry leaves caught in a whirlwind, it was not known where they had gone.

Then, once they had vanished, the king of birds perceived by his intellect

the treasury of nectar, and there he saw its guardians.

Having brushed aside in every direction those gods whose hands were raised with weapons and missiles,

he saw a shearing mechanism placed above the nectar,

whirling with immense velocity at the speed of the mind and the wind,

which would cut into millions of pieces even a mosquito that merely touched it.

Sitting down near that machine, fearless, the lord of birds

reflected for a moment: "Alas, what shall I do here?

It is not possible to touch this, nor can a blast of wind prevail here.