The eldest children of Kashyapa, the grandson of Brahma, were the asuras and gods born of his three eldest wives. His other ten wives gave birth to various and varied creatures that inhabited the earth, the skies, and the underworlds. Surasa gave birth to huge monstrous dragons, Arishta became the ancestor of crows and owls, hawks and kites, parrots and other birds, Vinata gave birth to giant sun birds - suparnas, Surabhi - cows and horses, and many more divine and demonic creatures descended from other wives of Kashyapa, daughters of Daksha. Kadru became the mother of the Nagas, and Muni - the Gandharvas.
The Nagas, the children of Kashyapa and Kadru, gigantic snakes, settled in the underworld of Patala, where they erected for themselves magnificent palaces, shining with gold and precious stones. The wise serpent Vasuki became the king of the nagas and ruled in their underground city of Bhogavati, full of treasures unprecedented on earth. Some of the nagas settled in underground waters, in rivers and at the bottom of the ocean, in the kingdom of Varuna.
Snakes also live on the surface of the earth, where they guard treasures and treasures. Royal snakes, three-headed, seven-headed and ten-headed, possess untold wealth; their heads are crowned with precious crowns; they are powerful and wise; leaders of the great Naga tribe, they gained the favor and friendship of the gods.
The Gandharvas, the sons of Kashyapa and Muni, lived in the sky. They were once guardians of the soma and owned it. But then they lost it. Saraswati, the daughter of Daksha, the goddess of wisdom and eloquence, managed to charm the Gandharvas and lured Soma from them. The Gandharvas wanted to keep the beautiful Saraswati with them in exchange for Soma, but she also left them for the gods to whom her heart lay. Apsaras, beautiful maidens born from the waters of the primeval ocean, became the friends of the Gandharvas; captivating the eyes of gods and mortals, they became dancers in the heavenly kingdom of Indra. And the Gandharvas themselves, beautiful in appearance and eternally young geniuses of the heavenly spaces, knowing the divine secrets and directing the paths of the stars, became singers and musicians in that kingdom and delighted the ears of the gods with the sounds of lutes and wonderful chants. Sweet-voiced and charming, they sing on the mountains, where the celestials spend their time in carefree entertainment; and the voices of the Gandharvas are sometimes heard from heaven. And in clear weather, in the clear air, sometimes a ghostly city with tall palaces and towers appears to the eyes of mortals; this is the city of the Gandharvas, and they say that trouble awaits those who inadvertently see it.
Once upon a time, the Gandharvas, led by their king Visvavasu, attacked their relatives, the Nagas, in their underground kingdom, defeated them and took away their jewels and treasures. The nagas resorted to the protection of Vishnu; he descended into the underworld, expelled the Gandharvas from there and forced them to return the loot to the nagas. The thousand-headed universal serpent Shesha, also called Anapta, the Infinite, brother of King Vasuki, the largest of the serpents, became the friend and companion of Vishnu; floating on the surface of the universal waters, from that time on he served as a support and bed for Vishnu, when the great god rests and sleeps.
Both nagas and gandharvas could change their appearance at will, and often both appeared among people in human form. Often, earthly kings and heroes took naginis as wives - maidens of incomparable beauty who were snakes by birth. And voluptuous Gandharvas are especially dangerous for mortal women; they pursue them and seduce them with their skillful playing of lutes and their enchanting appearance; in the same way, the apsaras, their friends, appear to seduce mortal men on earth. Together with the patron gods of the wedding ceremony - Agni, the god of fire, and Soma, the god of the moon - Gandharvas are invisibly present at every human wedding as secret rivals of the groom, and one must always beware of their machinations.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru