Mahabharat Adi Parva C14

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When Sauti finished, Sage Shaunaka spoke again.

“O Sauti,” he said, “tell us this story once more, but in greater detail.

We wish to hear the full account of the holy and wise Astika.

Your words are pleasing to hear. They are gentle, well-chosen, and graceful, just like those of your father.

Lomaharshana always delighted us with his narrations, and you speak with the sa skill.

Therefore, recount the story exactly as you heard it from him.”

Sauti bowed respectfully.

“Revered sages, I shall narrate the tale exactly as my father taught it to .

Listen carefully.”

He then began far earlier than the birth of Astika, at the very roots of the serpent race itself.

Long ago, in the ancient age of the gods, Prajapati had two daughters of extraordinary beauty.

They were sisters, flawless in form and radiant in appearance.

Their nas were Kadru and Vinata.

In ti, both beca wives of the great sage Kashyapa, one of the foremost progenitors of living beings.

Kashyapa was pleased with his wives.

One day, filled with affection, he offered to grant each of them a boon.

The two sisters were overjoyed.

A rare opportunity stood before them, and each carefully considered what she desired most.

Kadru spoke first.

“My lord,” she said, “grant a thousand sons, all equal in splendor, strength, and glory.”

Kashyapa nodded.

“So be it.”

Then Vinata made her request.

“My lord, I do not desire many children.

Grant only two sons.

But let them be greater than Kadru's thousand sons in strength, courage, brilliance, and power.”

Kashyapa smiled.

“So be it.

You shall have exactly what you desire.”

Both sisters were delighted.

Kadru rejoiced at the thought of a thousand glorious children.

Vinata was equally pleased, knowing that her two sons would surpass them all.

Before departing, Kashyapa gave them one final instruction.

“Guard your embryos carefully.

Raise them with patience and diligence.”

Having spoken these words, the great sage left for the forest to continue his austerities.

The two sisters remained behind, eagerly awaiting the fulfillnt of their boons.

Years passed.

Then, after a long ti, the promised children began to take form.

Kadru produced a thousand eggs.

Each one contained a future naga, destined to beco a mber of the serpent race.

Vinata, by contrast, laid only two eggs.

Yet within those two eggs rested the mighty beings whose greatness would one day surpass all of Kadru's thousand sons.

The destiny of gods, serpents, and even the future savior Astika had already begun to take shape.

For from Kadru's eggs would erge the naga race.

And from Vinata's eggs would co powerful beings whose story would beco forever intertwined with theirs.

The thousand eggs of Kadru and the two eggs of Vinata were carefully placed in warm vessels by their attendants.

The sisters waited patiently.

Years passed.

Then decades.

Then centuries.

Five hundred years went by.

At last, the eggs of Kadru began to hatch.

From them erged her thousand sons—the mighty nagas, shining in splendor and power.

The serpent race had co into being.

But Vinata's eggs remained unbroken.

Nothing erged from either of them.

As the years dragged on, Vinata grew increasingly anxious.

She watched Kadru surrounded by her children while she herself remained childless.

Jealousy, impatience, and longing consud her heart.

Unable to bear the wait any longer, she finally gave in to temptation.

She took one of her eggs and broke it open before its appointed ti.

Inside she saw a child.

But the sight filled her with horror.

The upper half of his body was fully ford and radiant.

The lower half, however, had not yet developed.

The child had been born too soon.

The mont he saw what had happened, anger blazed within him.

Looking at his mother, he spoke harshly:

“Mother, your impatience has ruined .

Driven by desire, you broke open the egg before my body was complete.

Because of your actions, I have been born imperfect.

Therefore, I curse you.

For five hundred years, you shall beco the servant of the very woman with whom you sought to compete.”

Vinata trembled in fear and sorrow.

But the child continued:

“Yet all is not lost.

The son who remains within the second egg will one day free you from that slavery.

Therefore, do not repeat your mistake.

Do not break open the second egg before its proper ti.

Wait patiently.

If you allow him to develop fully, he will possess unmatched strength and glory.

Only after another five hundred years should he be born.”

Having spoken these words, the child rose into the sky.

That child was Aruna.

From that day onward, he beca the crimson glow that appears before sunrise.

Even now, people see Aruna's presence in the reddish light of dawn that announces the coming of the sun.

Vinata was left behind, grieving and burdened by the curse.

Yet she obeyed her son's command.

This ti she waited.

Another five hundred years passed.

Then, at the destined hour, the second egg finally hatched.

From it erged Garuda.

Unlike his elder brother, he was born fully ford and magnificent.

His body blazed with divine power.

His radiance seed capable of illuminating the heavens themselves.

Garuda was destined to beco the king of birds and the eternal enemy of the serpent race.

The mont he was born, his imnse hunger awakened.

He did not remain beside his mother.

Instead, he imdiately soared into the sky.

His mighty wings shook the air and filled the heavens with their thunderous sound.

Driven by hunger, Garuda set out in search of the food that the Creator himself had destined for him.

Thus began the adventures of Garuda, whose strength would one day shake the worlds and whose actions would beco inseparably linked to the fate of Vinata, Kadru, and the serpent race.