"And while that foremost of all rungers of the skies, that first of winged creatures, Garuda, was coursing through the air after wresting the Amrita, Indra hurled at him his thunderbolt. Then Garuda, the lord of birds, struck with thunderbolt, spake laughingly unto Indra engaged in the encounter, in sweet words, saying, 1 shall respect the Rishi (Dadhichi) of whose bone the Vajra hath been made. I shall also respect the Vajra, and thee also of a thousand sacrifices. I cast this feather of mine whose end thou shalt not attain. Struck with thy thunder I have not felt the slightest pain. And having said this, the king of birds cast a feather of his. And all creatures became exceedingly glad, beholding that excellent feather of Garuda so cast off. And seeing that the feather was very beautiful, they said. Let this bird be called Suparna (having fair feathers). And Purandara of a thousand eyes, witnessing this wonderful incident, thought that hird to be some great being and addressed him thus.
"And Indra said, "O best of birds, I desire to know the limit of thy great strength. I also desire eternal friendship with thee."
50 ends the thirty-third section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.
(Astika Parva continued)
Sauti continued, 'Garuda then said, 'O Purandara, let there be friendship between thee and me as thou desirest. My strength, know thou, is hard to bear. O thou of a thousand sacrifices, the good never approve of speaking highly of their own strength. nor do they speak of their own merits. But being made a friend, and asked by thee, O friend, I will answer thee, although self- praise without reason is ever improper. I can bear, on a single feather of mine, O Sakra, this Earth, with her mountains and forests and with the waters of the ocean, and with thee also stationed thereon. Know thou, my strength is such that I can bear without fatigue even all the worlds put together, with their mobile and immobile objects,
"Sauti continued, O Saunaka, after Garuda of great courage had thus spoken, Indra the chief of the gods, the wearer of the (celestial) crown, ever bent upon the good of the worlds, replied, saying. It is as thou sayest. Everything is possible in thee. Accept now my sincere and hearty friendship. And if thou hast no concem with the Soma, return it to me. Those to whom thou wouldst give it would always oppose us.' Garuda answered, "There is a certain reason for which the Soma is being carried by me. I shall not give the Soma to any one for drink. But, O thou of a thousand eyes, after I have placed it down, thou, O lord of the heavens, canst then, taking it up, instantly bring it away. Indra then said, O oviparous one, I am highly gratified with these words now spoken by thee. O best of all rangers of the skies; accept from me any boon that thou desirest.'
"Sauti continued. "Then Garuda, recollecting the sons of Kadru and remembering also the bondage of his mother caused by an act of deception owing to the well-known reason (viz., the curse of Aruna), said, 'Although I have power over all creatures, yet I shall do your bidding, Let, O Sakra, the mighty snakes become my food. The slayer of the Dunavas having said unto him, Be it so, then went to Hari, the god of gods, of great soul, and the lord of Yogins. And the latter sanctioned everything that had heen said by Garuda. And the illustrious lord of heaven again said unto Garuda, I shall being away the Soma when thou placest it down. And having said so, he bade farewell to Garuda. And the bird of fair feathers then went to the presence of his mother with great speed.
"And Garuda in joy then spake unto all the snakes, Here have I brought the Amrita. Let me place it on some Kusa grass. O ye
snakes, sitting here, drink of it after ye have performed your ablutions and religious rites. As said by you, let my mother
become, from this day, free, for I have accomplished your hidding. The snakes having said unto Garuda, 'Be it so, then went to
perform their ablutions. Meanwhile, Sakra taking up the Amrita, wended hack to heaven. The snakes after performing their
ablutions, their daily devotions, and other sacred rites, returned in joy, desirous of drinking the Amrita. They saw that the bed
of kusa grass whereon the Amrita had been placed was empty, the Amrita itself having been taken away by a counter-act of
deception. And they began to lick with their tongues the kusa grass, as the Amrita had been placed thereon. And the tongues of
the snakes by that act became divided in twain. And the kusu grass, too, from the contact with Amrita, became sacred
thenceforth. Thus did the illustrious Garuda bring Amrita (from the heavens) for the snakes, and thus were the tongues of
snakes divided by what Garuda did.
"Then the bird of fair feathers, very much delighted, enjoyed himself in those woods accompanied by his mother. Of grand
achievements, and deeply reverenced by all rangers of the skies, he gratified his mother by devouring the snakes.
"That man who would listen to this story, or read it out to an assembly of good Brahmanas, must surely go to heaven, acquiring
great merit from the recitation of (the feats of) Garuda.""
And so ends the thirty-fourth section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.
(Astika Parva continued)
"Saunaka said, 'O son of Suta, thou hast told us the reason why the snakes were cursed by their mother, and why Vinata also
was cursed by her son. Thou hast also told us about the bestowal of boons, by their husband, on Kadru and Vinata. Thou hast likewise told us the names of Vinata's sons. But thou hast not yet recited to us the names of the snakes. We are anxious to hear the names of the principal ones."
"Sauti said. O thou whose wealth is asceticism, from fear of being lengthy, I shall not mention the names of all the snakes. But
I will recite the names of the chief ones. Listen to me!
"Sesha was born first, and then Vasuki. (Then were born) Airavata. Takshaka, Karkotaku, Dhananjaya, Kalakeya, the serpent Mani, Purana, Pinjaraka, and Flaputra, Vamana, Nila, Anila. Kalmasha, Savala, Aryaka, Ugra, Kalasapotaka, Suramukha, Dadhimukha, Vimalapindaka. Apta, Karotaka, Samkha, Valisikha, Nisthanaka, Hemaguha, Nahusha, Pingala, Vahyakarna. Hastigada, Milgarapindaka, Kamvala Aswatara, Kaliyaka, Vritta, Samvartaka, Padma, Malapadina, Sankhamukha, Kushmandaka, Kshemaka, Pindaraka, Karavira, Pushpadanshtraka, Vilwaka, Vilwapandara, Mushikada, Sankhasiras, Purnabhadra, Haridraka. Aparajita. Jyotika, Srivaha. Kauravya, Dhritarashtra, Sankhapinda, Virajas, Suvahu. Salipinda,
Prabhakara, Hastipinda, Pitharaka, Sumuksha, Kaunapashana, Kuthara. Kunjara, Kumuda, Kumudaksha. Tittri. Halika. Kardama, Vahumilaka, Karkara, Akarkara, Kundodara, and Mahodara.
"Thus, O best of regenerate ones, have I said the names of the principal serpents. From fear of being tedious I do not give
names of the rest. O thou whose wealth is asceticism, the sons of these snakes, with their grandsons, are innumerable. Reflecting upon this, I shall not name them to thee. O best ascetics, in this world the number of snakes baffles calculation, there being many thousands and millions of them."
So ends the thirty-fifth section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.