Kadru- Hindu GodDeity"Mother of Serpents"

Mother of the Nagas

Kadru is a daughter of Daksha and one of the wives of the sage Kashyapa. When Kashyapa offered each wife a boon, Kadru asked for a thousand powerful serpent sons, while her co-wife Vinata asked for only two sons who would surpass Kadru's children in power. Both boons were granted. After a long gestation Kadru's thousand eggs hatched, producing the Nagas, chief among them Shesha and Vasuki.

The Wager and Deception

Kadru wagered with Vinata over the color of Uchchaihshravas, the divine white horse that emerged from the churning of the ocean. Kadru bet that the horse's tail was black; Vinata insisted it was white. Kadru, knowing the tail was in fact white, instructed her serpent sons to coil around it and darken it with their bodies. Some obeyed. Those who refused she cursed to perish in the great snake sacrifice that King Janamejaya would one day perform. When Vinata saw the darkened tail, she conceded defeat and became Kadru's slave.

Garuda's Liberation of Vinata

Vinata's second son Garuda, born with tremendous power, burned with anger at his mother's enslavement. The Nagas demanded he bring them amrita as the price of Vinata's freedom. Garuda stormed the heavens, defeated the gods guarding the nectar, and brought it to the serpents. But acting on Vishnu's counsel, he placed the vessel on the grass and told the Nagas to purify themselves first. While they bathed, Indra reclaimed the nectar. The serpents licked the grass where drops had fallen, splitting their tongues. The Adi Parva says this is why snakes have forked tongues. The enmity between Garuda and the serpent race, born from Kadru's deception, became permanent.