The Premature Birth of Aruna and Later Birth of Garuda
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.
Five hundred years passed. The maidservants of Kadru and Vinata had kept their eggs in steaming vessels, tending them carefully. At the end of that long wait, Kadru’s one thousand eggs hatched, and her naga sons emerged.
Vinata’s two eggs showed no sign of life.
Impatient to have a son, and ashamed at being outdone by her sister, Vinata broke open one of her eggs. Inside, she saw her son. His upper body was fully formed, but his lower body was undeveloped.
The son was enraged. He cursed his mother. “Since you broke this egg out of avarice and did not allow my body to be complete, you will be enslaved for 500 years by the woman you sought to equal.” That woman was Kadru.
Then he gave her a prophecy and a warning. “Your other illustrious son will set you free from slavery, but only if you wait patiently and do not break his egg prematurely, deforming his body like you have deformed mine. If you wish for a son of unrivalled strength, you must wait for his time of birth, for 500 years.”
Having uttered this curse, the son arose into the sky. He became Aruna, the charioteer of the sun, seen as the red dawn in the morning.
Vinata waited. At the right time, her second egg hatched. Garuda, the enemy of the nagas, was born. As soon as he emerged, he deserted his mother. Hungry, the king of birds rose into the sky to search for the food the creator had earmarked for him.