Vinata

After 500 years, Kadru's one thousand naga sons hatch, but Vinata's two eggs remain still. Impatient and ashamed, Vinata breaks one open, unleashing a curse and a prophecy that will bind her fate for centuries.

Pleased with his wives, the great ascetic Kashyapa offers each a boon. Kadru asks for one thousand splendid naga sons. Vinata asks for just two sons, but demands they be greater than Kadru's in every measure of power.

The sisters Kadru and Vinata see the divine horse Ucchaihshrava emerge from the ocean. When Kadru asks its colour, Vinata says it is white, but Kadru claims its tail is black. They stake their freedom on it, agreeing to check the next day.

Kadru and Vinata go to see the divine horse Uchchaihshravas, whose tail colour was the subject of their fateful bet. Kadru points to the black hairs she secretly placed there, proving her claim and winning the wager.

Having enslaved her sister Vinata, Kadru orders her to carry her to the serpent kingdom in the middle of the ocean. On his mother's desperate request, Garuda takes the snakes and Kadru on his back and flies toward the sun. The snakes are scorched unconscious by the heat, forcing their mother to beg for their salvation.

Garuda, the mighty eagle, carries the serpents to a paradise island, but they demand to be taken to another. Confused by his servitude, he asks his mother Vinata why he must obey them. She reveals she lost a deceitful wager to her sister Kadru and is now a slave, binding her son as well.

Before setting out to steal the amrita, Garuda asks his mother Vinata what he should eat. She directs him to the nishadas but delivers a crucial, vivid warning: he must never kill a Brahmana, and she describes how he will know one if he tries.

Indra, swollen with pride, steps over the heads of the tiny valakhilya sages. Enraged, they begin a ritual to create a new, more powerful Indra to replace him. To avert disaster, the sage Kashyapa intervenes, redirecting their terrible power into a blessing for his own wife.

With his mission accomplished, Garuda returns to the forest to live with his mother Vinata. He honors her by making the snakes his food, as granted by Indra, and is honored in turn by all birds.