Garuda Carries the Snakes and Kadru Across the Ocean
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 great bird who could travel anywhere at will, returned to his mother’s house on the far side of the ocean. He found Vinata there, tormented by grief. She had lost the wager with her sister Kadru and was now a slave.
Some days later, while Garuda was present, Kadru summoned Vinata. Vinata bowed before her sister, the victor. Kadru gave her command: “Dear Vinata, take me to the beautiful and lovely abode of the nagas (serpents) situated in the heart of the ocean.”
Vinata, bound by her slavery, had to obey. She lifted up Kadru, the mother of the snakes, to carry her. But the journey was across the ocean, an impossible distance for her to traverse alone. So she turned to her son.
On his mother’s request, Garuda took the snakes onto his back. He was Suparna, the one with beautiful wings, Vinata’s mighty son. He did not refuse his enslaved mother. With Kadru and her serpent children clinging to him, the great bird began to rise into the sky.
He did not fly a gentle path over the water. He flew straight up, ascending directly toward the sun.
The rays of the sun grew intense, then scorching. The snakes, exposed on Garuda’s back, had no protection. One by one, they lost consciousness, overcome by the heat. Their mother Kadru, seeing her children withering, could only watch in horror as Garuda carried them ever closer to the source of their torment.