The Story of Garuda, the King of the birds

One day Kadru and Vinta were were taking a walk in the garden when they saw the beautiful celestial horse Ucchashrava, who was born out of the churning of the ocean during the quest of Amrit, the ambrosia. Both looked at the horse with great awe and Kadru asked Vinta, "What colour do you think the horse is?" Vinta replied, "White of course, what else did you think?" Kadru said, "The horse itself is white, but its tail is black. Let us bet on it. If you are right, I shall serve as your slave; but if I am right you shall be my slave for as long as I wish." Both the sisters agreed on this and went home after deciding to come the next day to confirm the colour of the horse.

Now Kadru did not want to lose the bet so she ordered her thousand snake sons to go to the horse and cover its tail with their bodies so that the tail appears black. Not all the snakes would do as they were told. So an angry Kadru cursed them that her sons who did not listen to her would be burnt in the Snake Yajna that Janmejaya was performing at Kurukshetra. It was divine intervention that Kadru uttered such a curse for her own sons. All the Gods and even Brahma were pleased with this curse as these poisonous snakes had become too powerful.

They troubled others and created havoc in Brahma's creation. Brahma said, "Those who trouble and cause harm to others are punished in some way or the other by the saviour of the universe." Meanwhile, both the sisters spent an anxious night waiting for the dawn when they could see the colour of the horse. The snake sons of Kadru decided that they should do the bidding of their mother. So they went to the celestial horse and wrapped themselves around the tail of the horse. When Kadru and Vinta reached the horse they saw that the body of the horse was as white as the moonshine but its tail was black. Seeing this Vinta was very disappointed as she had lost the bet and Kadru had made her her slave.

Of course, all this was because of the curse of Vinta's half formed son Arun. As time passed, the almighty Garuda, the king of the birds came out of the second egg of Vinta. His brilliance spread in all directions, his power, beauty, intelligence and speed were astonishing. His eyes were the colour of lightening and his body glowed like fire. The moment he was born he flew high up into the sky and his radiance felt like the sea had caught fire. The Gods thought that it was the Fire God, Agni. They went to Agni and prayed to him not to increase his size and to prevent his image from approaching them.

Agni was surprised and assured them that it was not he but Garuda, the son of Vinta and the King of the Birds. Agni said, "He is the enemy of Asuras, the demons, he will destroy the snakes and is a well-wisher of the Gods. Do not be afraid of him. Come, let us all go together and meet him." So all the Gods along with Agni and the saints went to praise him. Garuda listened to them and promised them that they had no cause to fear and he would decrease his size and brilliance so that no one is afraid of him. So the Gods were happy and thus assured went to their abodes.