Mahabharata – 54

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                            AdiParva

Seeing Garuda carrying away nectar from the heaven Indra the lord of heaven fired thunder upon Garuda.Garuda received the thunder with a smile. He was absolutely unhurt. Despite that he removed the feather from his own body & threw it away. Utterly amazed Indra rushed to Garuda & met him. Garuda said  --- Sir you are the king of heaven. Your thunder must not be dishonoured. So in response to your thunder I have plucked a feather from my body & thrown it in the air saluting your prowess. Besides I must salute the great sage Dadhichi whose bones made this thunderbolt.

The gods & mortals were astonished to see the feather of Gruda.It seemed to be longer than the space. So it had no end.The sages & the gods named him Suparna. Indra laughed in response. Indra or the king of the gods admitted silently that he is inferior in prowess to Garuda the king of the birds. In fact Garuda’s might is illimitable. He can carry the whole multiverse including the so called heavens in his wings without feeling the least fatigue. Does it thereby mean that the persons who are true to the kindred points of heaven & home are greater in prowess than the celestial beings that live in heaven? Be that as it may Indra observed before Garuda Sir we are scared of the nectar being removed from heaven.Because if the evil forces could pertake of the nectar they can not be killed or destroyed. Garuda agreed with Indra. He said that the nectar must be protected properly in the vault of the heaven. But now he must carry the nectar down to the Nagaloka for the serpents to drink. Because Garuda said ---- Unless I bring the nectar to the serpents, they will not liberate my mother from servitude. They put my mother in servitude by doing fraud. I must liberate my mother. I agree that if the serpents ever drink the nectar they will be immortals. Many of the serpents are evil. And they might create trouble in the creation.So somehow or other we must not let the serpents drink it. Once I reach the Nagaloka I will give the nectar to the serpents. It will be however placed on a network of Kusha grass. The   before drinking in the nectar must go for a bath to cleanse themselves.In the meantime you had better steal the nectar & replenish the pitchers of heaven that are earmarked for nectar. Garuda said ---- By the by let us be friends. He stretched his claw. Indra in response stretched his hands to shake the claw of Garuda.The claw was as soft as a flower petal. Indra also said  ---- Let us be friends.Indra being very happy told Garuda --- Ask for any boon. Garuda said ----  Thank you very much. If you really want to give me a boon,grant me that the snakes should be my food. Indra was taken aback. He at once consulted Naryana through meditation. Naryana told Indra that there would be no harm if Indra granted Garuda’s prayer. So Indra granted the boon that Garuda asked for. Here it should be noted that the snakes are the step brothers of Garuda.There by the episode legitimates that even step brothers could be killed & eaten if they are in the wrong. 

Thus while Garuda went from earth to heaven to bring nectar Indra should come from heaven to earth to take away nectar.Thus there is a marvelous balance in the structure of this episode.

Presently after meeting Indra, Garuda alighted on earth where his mother was plunged in prayers for the well being of Garuda. Seeing the boy come home with nectar, the mother Vinata blessed him with all her heart. Now Garuda approached his step brothers snakes & told them that the nectar they had wanted was brought for them. His mother should be a free woman henceforth.