Indra and Garuda

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.

Garuda arrives at the place where the gods guard the amrita (elixir of immortality), and his very presence sends them into a panic. He creates a blinding dust storm, kills their champion, and then tears through the entire divine army with his beak, talons, and wings, sending them fleeing in every direction.

As Garuda flies away with the amrita, Indra, king of the gods, strikes him with his most powerful weapon, the vajra. Garuda is unharmed, and his response — a single, magnificent feather — leaves Indra amazed and seeking friendship.

Indra intercepts Garuda, who has stolen the amrita, and asks for friendship and the return of the divine drink. Garuda agrees, but first he boasts of his impossible strength — he can carry all the worlds on a single feather — and then asks for a single, specific reward.

Garuda returns to the snakes and places the amrita on kusha grass, demanding his mother's immediate freedom. The snakes agree and rush off to purify themselves. In that moment, Indra swoops in to reclaim the divine drink, leaving the snakes with nothing but grass to lick.