Thread by @Pareshaan_aatma

After months of reading, I wish to present to you one of the best, yet most unheard story from the Mahabharat.
It will leave you in awe of the level of detail to which Ved Vyasa wrote it, and make you wonder how little we know about the great epic.

Please RT. (Thread)

It is from the Adi Parva of Mahabharat. Although it might seem unconnected from the central plot, but it has massive relevance to the overall epic, and even the entire Hindu Mythology.

The story of son's of Kadru and Vinata.

Kadru and Vinata were two wives of Rishi Kashyap. Pleased by their good behavior, he offered them a boon each.
Kadru asked for 1000 Naga sons, all valiant and splendid.
Vinata asked for 2 sons, but stronger and powerful than Kadru's sons.

After a long period of pregnancy, Kadru brought forth thousand eggs, and Vinata two.
After 500 years, Kadru's 1000 eggs cracked open and her mighty Naga sons were born.
Jealous, Vinata cracked open her own egg, but she found that only the upper limbs of her child were developed.

The lower part was still undeveloped. The child cursed Vinata for breaking his shell prematurely. He curses that she'll become a slave, and only if she take tremendous care of the other egg, the child born five hundred years later will free her from slavery.

The first child of Vinata, born prematurely, was the mighty Aruna.
Since he was underdeveloped, his radiance is only as much as the morning sun. He is none other than the charioteer of Surya Dev.

Surya dev even offered Aruna to his son, Karna, during the Kuruksheta war. Karna, however, denied the offer because he did not want to be dependent on someone, unlike Arjun, who was dependent on Sri Krishna.
I love how this adds another layer to the awesome story of Karna!

Coming back to the original story, Kadru and Vinata decided to place a bet on the color of the tail of the Uchchaihshravas, the divine horse which emerged out of the ocean during Samudra Mantha. Kadru said it would be black, Vinata said white.

They decide that the one who wins the bet will make the other her slave. Not wanting to lose the bet, Kadru asked her Naga sons to reduce their sizes and stick on the strands of Uchchaihshravas's tail, so that it would appear black.

The Naga sons deny doing it for her, because they knew it was wrong. Enraged, Kadru curses them that the entire Naga race will be ended by the Kaurav king Janamejaya (Arjun's great grandchilren).

Terrified of the curse, the Nagas decide to do what their mother had asked, hoping that she might reverse the curse. With the help of her sons, Kadru wins the bet and makes Vinata her slave.

Among the thousand Naga sons of Kadru, I would like to mention the significant ones.
First one is Shesha. You might not have realized, but you've seen him in posters of Lord Vishnu. Balaram and Lakshan are believed to be human manifestations of Adi Shesha, the first Naga.

The second is Vasuki, the Naga king you've always seen around the neck of lord Shiva. Vasuki was used as a rope to churn the ocean during the Samudra Manthan.

The third is Takshaka. He was the one who killed Arjun's grandchild, Parikshit. The entire Mahabharat which we read today was recited during a Sarpa Yagna conducted by Jamanejaya to kill Takashaka.

Meanwhile, the second son of Vinata is born. He is Garuda, the god of birds. You've probably seen him as the Vahana of lord Vishnu. He is supremely powerful, and is radiant as the sun. He is believed to be the enemy of the snakes.

When Garuda was born, Vinata was still a slave of Kadru. As mentioned by Aruna in his curse, Garuda decides to free his mother from slavery. He strikes a bargain with the Nagas. The Nagas ask him to bring the Amrit in exchange of his mother's freedom.

Garuda defeats the Devas and wins the amrit from them. However, he does not even drink drop himself. Pleased with his selfless act, Lord Vishnu gives him the boon of immortality, and asks him to be his vehicle. Also, while he is returning to the Nagas, he meets Indra on his way.

Indradev asks Garuda to not give the amrit to the Nagas, for it will have grave consequences. Garuda agrees, and asks for Indra to let the Nagas be his food. Since then, Garuda is know as the eater of serpents.

When he returns to the Nagas with the amrit in a vessel, he asks them to purify themselves in the river before consuming it.
Thus, Garuda frees his mother.
Meanwhile, Indradev appears and takes away the Amrit, acting on his plan with Garuda to save the amrit from the Nagas.

When the Nagas return, they find that the vessel is not there. In desperation, the Nagas lick the Kusa (druva) grass, because they last saw the amrit on it. It is believed that till date, the snakes are born with their tounge bisected because they licked the sharp grass.

Even today, the Kusa grass is considered sacred and used in Pujas because the amrit was once placed on it.

That's all, folks. I find it fascinating that the story connects everywhere, from our gods, to our daily lives.

While I've tried my best to convey the gist of the story, I've omitted a lot of details due to the word constraints. I would urge the scholars reading it to add on to the details that I've missed, because I've missed a lot. Twitter does not allow a thread to go beyond 25 tweets😭

Would be great if @TrueIndology could add on to details that I've missed, if any. Would also urge @karanacharya7 sir to consider making artworks of Adi shesha and Garuda 🙏

Please have a read, @neha_aks ma'am.

Please have a read, @davidfrawleyved sir.