Five centuries passed after the sisters’ dispute, and from Vinata’s second egg the gigantic eagle Garuda was born, who was destined to become a snake destroyer - in revenge for his mother’s slavery. He himself broke the shell of the egg with his beak and, as soon as he was born, soared into the skies in search of prey. All living beings and the gods themselves were dismayed when they saw a huge bird in the sky, eclipsing the sun with its brilliance. Brahma, the Progenitor of the worlds, called to her and ordered her to fulfill his will.
At that time, Surya, the sun god, was in great anger. For a long time the evil dragon Rahu had been chasing him everywhere in the skies and was haunting him, and no one wanted to help the persecuted Sun. Not seeing help from the gods whom he had once helped, Surya became more and more inflamed with anger at the ungrateful and began to threaten that he would burn the world with his rays. And so Brahma ordered Garuda to take on his back his elder brother, the one who was born prematurely due to the fault of his mother, carry him to the East and place him on the chariot of the Sun, so that with his body he would shield the world from the destructive rays and soften their unbearable heat. And Garuda obeyed the will of the Progenitor. Since then, Vinata's eldest son became the charioteer of Surya, the deity of the dawn; on a solar chariot he stands in front of Vivasvat, overthrowing with bright rays. His name - Aruna - means Scarlet.
And Garuda, having fulfilled the command of Brahma, returned to the ocean shore, where his mother languished in slavery with her sister Kadru. At that time, Kadru called Vinata to her, and she came and prostrated herself before her. Kadru told her sister: “There is an island in the middle of the ocean, covered with flowering gardens, a beautiful abode of snakes. Carry me there with my sons!”
And Vinata carried Kadra across the ocean, and Garuda carried the snakes. He began to rise closer and closer to the sun, the sun's rays began to burn the snakes more and more. Seeing the danger threatening her sons, Kadru prayed for help to Indra. Then the god of thunder and thunder covered the sky with clouds and shed heavy rains, refreshing the snakes scorched by the sun. So Kadru and her sons safely reached a wonderful island that lay in the middle of the ocean, covered with fragrant gardens and groves, between which here and there beautiful lakes with clear water sparkled in the sun.
Garuda, dejected, asked his mother: “Why should I serve the snakes, why should I carry out orders?” And Vinata told him about her dispute with Kadru and how she ended up in slavery to her sister. Garuda then asked the snakes: “What can I do to free myself and my mother from slavery?” And the snakes said to him: “Get us amrita from the gods. Then we will deliver you from slavery."
And Garuda rose into the air and flew to where the gods kept amrita. He had to fly past Mount Gandhamadana, and on that mountain he saw his father, the wise Kashyapa, who indulged in severe asceticism there. Meanwhile, Garuda became weak from hunger, for until now he had not found food for himself anywhere. Fearing that he did not have enough strength to obtain amrita, he turned to his father for advice. Kashyapa told him: “Not far from here there is a lake in which lives a huge turtle. And near that lake there lives such a huge elephant. Once upon a time both of them, the elephant and the turtle, were people, two sage brothers; They quarreled over the division of property and cursed each other, and one turned into an elephant and the other into a turtle. And to this day they are at enmity; Every day an elephant comes to the shore of the lake, and a turtle gets out of the water, and they rush at each other and wage an endless fight. May these two serve as food for you until you accomplish what you have planned.”
After listening to his father's words, Garuda flew to that lake and, grabbing an elephant with one paw and a turtle with the other, rose into the air again. Having spotted a tall tree with mighty branches on the ground, he descended on it to eat his prey. But the branch immediately broke under its weight. Garuda caught it with his hook before it fell to the ground, and saw on it many tiny Valakhilya sages hanging upside down on that huge branch. With a branch in his beak and an elephant and a turtle in his claws, Garuda flew on and, as he again flew past Mount Gandhamadana, Kashyapa said: “Beware of harming the Valakhilya sages, my son! Fear their wrath!
And Kashyapa told Garuda how powerful these tiny creatures, born from the body of Brahma, have in order to accompany the chariot of the Sun, feeding on its rays.
One day Kashyapa sent the gods, his sons, to bring him fuel for a sacrificial fire. Indra, the king of the gods, heading with a burden like a mountain to his father’s abode, saw on the road small Valakhilya sages, each of whom was the size of a man’s thumb. They also wanted to do a favor to Kashyapa and, with great effort, they all dragged the stalk from a tree leaf. Exhausted by long asceticism, they moved forward with difficulty and at the very moment when Indra passed by them, they fell into a cow trail full of water. And, proud of his power, Indra laughed at them;
Having stepped over them, he went on his way. Then the offended Valakhilyas predicted to him that the time would come and a great bird would be born, Indra among the birds, who would surpass the king of the gods in strength and defeat him in battle.
Kashyapa told Garuda about this, and he carefully lowered the Valakhilyas to the ground, and he himself flew to a distant deserted mountain covered with snow, and, sitting on its top, ate an elephant and a turtle. Then, spreading his wings, he rose from that peak and continued his flight.
While Garuda was approaching the abode of the gods, menacing signs appeared in the sky. The wind rose, thunder rumbled, ominous clouds shrouded the mountain tops. The gods were alarmed. But they had not yet seen who was going to attack them. Then the wise Brihaspati said to them: “A mighty bird is approaching here to steal amrita. Now the prophecy of the Valachylians is being fulfilled.”
Hearing this, the gods, led by Indra, dressed in shining armor and armed themselves with swords and spears. Having surrounded the amrita, they prepared to meet the formidable Garuda.
And then a huge bird appeared above, sparkling like the sun. She fell upon the celestials and scattered them in different directions with powerful blows of her claws and wings. Recovering from this onslaught, the gods, led by Indra, rushed at Garuda, showering him with spears, darts and war disks from all sides. Emitting terrifying cries like thunder, the bird soared up and attacked the gods from above and killed many with blows of its claws and beak. Unable to withstand the fight with the invincible bird, the gods retreated, and Garuda penetrated to where the amrita was kept.
There he saw a large wheel with sharp edges like knives, which was constantly rotating, blocking access to amrita. Then Garuda shrank in size and slid into the gap between the rapidly running spokes. Behind the wheel he saw two terrible dragons guarding amrita; their gaping mouths spewed fire, and their eyes, filled with poison, turned everyone they looked at into ashes. But Garuda instantly covered their eyes with dust, rushed at them and tore them to pieces with his claws. He grabbed the vessel with amrita and immediately set off on his way back.
Indra rushed in pursuit of the kidnapper and, catching him in the air, dealt him a terrible blow with his vajra. But Garuda did not flinch. He told Indra, “You cannot defeat me. My strength is great, and I can carry on my wings this entire earth with mountains and forests and you along with it. If you want, be my friend and follow me now. Do not be afraid, I will not give the amrita to the snakes. You will get it back when I free myself and my mother from slavery.”
Hearing these words, Indra rejoiced and said, “I accept your friendship, O mighty one. Demand from me whatever gift you want!” And Garuda said: “Let snakes be my food.” “So be it,” replied the ruler of the gods, and from that time on the snakes were doomed to be food for Garuda and his offspring, the sun birds - the suparnas.
The king of the gods followed Garuda, who flew to the snakes and told them: “I have brought you amrita. So I put it here on the kusha grass. Take a bath and then eat amrita, O serpents.” And the snakes, having freed Garuda and his mother Vinata from slavery, went to perform their ablutions. But Indra meanwhile took the amrita and took it back to his kingdom. Returning to that place, the snakes no longer found the drink of immortality. Then they began to lick the kusha grass on which the vessel with amrita stood, and this caused their tongues to split. And the grass kusha, which touched amrita, became a sacred herb from that time on.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru