Adi Parvamu- The Story of Garuthmantha

Ugrasravana continued " As Anoora said, five hundred years passed by in Vinatha's slavery to Kadruva. The second egg of Vinatha hatched. A extremely brave and powerful Eagle(Garuthmantha) was born. He shook his wings and greeted his mother, the wind that blew from his wings shook the mountains and caused huge waves in oceans. He was like a huge mountain with wings. He bowed to his mother with respect and flew in to the openness of the sky. His body was huge and his grace was immense, all the gods and Munis(Sages) could not stand the extremely bright light that Garuthmantha emitted. They thought that the world was going to be burnt by fierce wild fire. They starting singing Hymns and songs in the praise of Lord.

Vinatha was extremely happy, she held Garuthmantha with love and hugged him. He also bowed and greeted his aunt Kadruva, but Kadruva was burning with jealousy. She couldn't stand the fact that he was so strong and powerful. She thought " How can the son of a slave be so strong?", " Come here Boy" she called with authority, " You should take care of my kids and take then on you shoulders to anywhere they want to go, all over the world. Do the work assigned to you and stay in your limits, Do you hear me?" she quoted loudly. Since his mother was a slave, he also turned in to one.

Garuthmantha did everything that Kadruva asked him to, he bore the serpents on his back and took them all over the world. He took them to various scenic places. He even took them to Surya Mandala (the territory of the Sun). The serpents could not bear the heat and they fainted and slid down Garuthmantha's back. Kadruva was angry and she prayed Indra to bring her kids to life. She scolded Garuthmantha badly and asked him to refrain from such activities without her permission.

Days passed by. Kadruva was gaining more and more pride and authority by Vinatha's submissiveness. Garuthmantha started thinking about the reason behind their slavery. He could not understand a bit, he then questioned his mother "In just a blink of an eye I can destroy a huge mountain with my beak and wings. Kadruva's sons do not possess a thousandth of my power and strength, but I still carry them on my back. Why do I have to bear all this? And why do you have to be a slave?". She explained the betting between her and Kadruva and the curse of Anoora in entirety. She said" Your brother told me that I would be relieved from slavery by you, I am living with that ray of hope. I feel so happy by seeing your face, I forget all the pain and agony. What can I do my dear, you are suffering because of me" and cried bitterly.

Garuthmantha wiped his tears and felt that his mother was suffering more than he did. One day he went to Kadruva's sons and said " I will get you anything you need from any part of this world, please relieve us of our slavery". They all consulted their mother and came with an order "Get Amrutham for us and we will let you go". Garuthmantha agreed to their demand and bowed to his mother and told her goodbye. Vinatha happily blessed her son " Go ahead my son, your wings will be protected by Wind (Vayu), your head by Fire (Agni), your body by Sun (LordSurya). All the Gods will help you succeed your goal, you will win and relieve me of this bond, Victory is yours".

" I am hungry mother, If I have to go fetch Amrutham, I will need more energy. Please show me food so I can satiate my hunger." said Garuthmantha. Vinatha said " Son, there are so many Nishadas in the middle of the Ocean, they cause troubles to human beings. Go and eat them and satisfy your hunger. But one more thing, do not eat a Brahmin". Garuthmantha asked "How would I know it is a Brahmin?", then she says " You will know it when you swallow, it will be very difficult for you to swallow". Garuthmantha flew away and reached the mid of the Ocean, he started to eat Nishadas. One among them was stuck in the throat like Vinatha said. Garuthmantha asked him to come out, the Brahmin came out and told that his wife was Nishada and he cannot come out without her. Garuthmantha agreed to get her out for the sake of the Brahmin. Except for these two he ate the rest of all Nishadas and burped, but he was not satiated. He flew in to the sky and reached Mount Gandhamadana.

Sage Kashyapa was doing penance on Mount Gandhamadana. Garuthmantha greeted him and said " Oh Great Sage! I will have to relieve my mother from slavery, I will have to fetch Amrutham and I am extremely hungry. Can you please give me some food?". Kashyapa was impressed by his son Garuthmantha and said " Your mother wanted a son like you, Very good. Nearby there is an Elephant and a Tortoise. That is no normal Elephant, it measures six Yojanas in width and twelve Yojanas in height. Similarly the Tortoise measures three Yojanas in width and length is ten Yojanas. You will be satiated with these two animals. There were two Brahmanas named Vibhavasa and Suprateeka, they were brothers. Vibhavasa deceitfully took their ancestral property instead of sharing it with his brother. Suprateeka was left penniless. " Our ancestral property should be divided equally, give it back to me" Suprateeka demanded. Vibhavasa got extremely angry and cursed Suprateeka to become an elephant. Suprateeka retaliated and gave him a curse that he become a Tortoise. They are the Elephant and Tortoise I mentioned to you, they have been wandering near mountains and lakes and have been fighting on every encounter due to their enmity. Go eat them and satiate your hunger and you will have victory".

Garuthmantha reached the place where Elephant and Tortoise wandered and held them both in each hand. He then flew above the clouds to Alamba Theertha. He flew with great speed. Alamba Theertha was beautifully filled with Kalpavrikshas which had golden creepers. There was a huge tree which had branches with hundred Yojanas length each, its name was Rohinam. She(Rohinam) invited Garuthmantha to sit on her branch and eat the Elephant and Tortoise. As Garuthmantha stepped on the branch it broke. There were ValaKhilya Sages who were doing there penance hanging upside down on the tree branch. There were sixty thousand of them and they were the size of a thumb. Their father was Sage Krathuvu and mother was Sannathi. The Valakhilya Sages lived on Sun's rays for their food and penance was their only world. Garuthmantha was worried on seeing all of them, If the branch fell down then it would cost their lives. So he pierced the branch with his beak and flew in to the sky with the Elephant and the Tortoise in his hands and the hundred Yojanas branch in his beak. He did not know where to rest the branch, so he went back to Mount Gandhamadana. Sage Kashyapa noticed him and realized what happened, he then started praying Valakhilyas and said " You are the ones who blessed me to have this son when I performed Putrakameshti. You blessed me that I would have a son who was more powerful than Indra, he is the one who will do good to the world, he has been flying with the branch in his beak so you sages don't get hurt. Please help him out".

Valakhilyas heard the plea of Prajapathi Kashyapa and they left the branch and went to Himalayas. " Fallen anywhere this branch will cause casualties. There is a NishPurusha Mountain(A mountain where there are no men) hundred Yojanas from here, it is topped with snow and ice and no one can reside on it including Lord Shiva. Throw the branch there." said Prajapathi Kashyapa.

Garuthmantha reached the NishPurusha Mountain in a few minutes, he threw the branch there. He then flew to Himalayas and ate the Elephant and the Tortoise and gained immense strength. Now its the time to go to IndraLoka( Abode of Indra). He shook his wings and the flower bearing trees on Himalayas shed their flowers on him, it was like the Gods showering flowers on him. Garuthmantha started from Himalayas and there was a rain of fire in IndraLoka. Vajrayudha seemed bleak, the eight elephants knows as Diggajas namely Airaavana, Pundareeka, Vaamana, Kumuda, Anjana, Pushpadanta, Sarwabhouma, Suprateeka. whose wives are Abhra, Kapila, Pingala, Anupama, Taamraparni, Subhradanti, Angana, Anjanaavati were all terrified. The AshtaDigpalakas were frightened by this fire storm, Indra questioned " what could be the cause of this strange hapenning?". Brihaspati replied " Garuthmantha is coming towards Indra Loka for Amrutham. Remember when Kashyapa performed Putrakameshti, you and Valakhilyas helped him. That day you were bringing Samidhas( An offering for sacred fire) based on your strength and Valakhilyas who were as small and tiny as fingers and who perform Upavasam day in and day out were carrying grass (Darbha) on their heads. You made fun of them and laughed at them, they were insulted by your behaviour. When they uttered Mantras in Kashyapa's Putrakameshti Yaga, they prayed that there should be another Indra born who is more powerful than Indra himself. When you heard this you went to Kashyapa and asked him to calm Valakhilyas anger. Kashyapa pleaded Valakhilyas and said" If Indra has been appointed by Brahma to be the Lord of Gods. It is not fair to create another Indra, it will be dual government. This is not good for the whole world. So please calm down, all you wish is the person being born should be Indra right, this will happen but please consider an amendment. Instead of becoming Devendra he will become Pakshindra ( Lord of Birds)." Somehow the Valakhilyas agreed to this. Devendra was releived then. That Pakshindra is this Garuthmantha. He is going through various difficulties to free his mother of slavery. Kadruva and her sons demanded Amrutham in order to grant freedom for Vinatha. He flew with a giant elephant and Tortoise and a branch of Rohinam which was hundred Yojanas in length. He is a Kamarupi (A person who can change his physical appearance with mystical powers). Even though he is your brother, he is more stronger than you and you cannot defeat him".

Devendra was horrified. He alerted the security guards and asked them to save Amrutham from being taken at any cost. He appointed thousands of soldiers to defend Amrutham, he built a very huge army. Everyone was alerted. In the meantime Garuthmantha landed in Indra Loka. It felt like there was a meteor shower and thousands of thunder bolts striking at the same time. The clouds got destroyed with this impact, he directly landed close to where Amrutham was kept. The army attacked Garuthmantha and started to fight him fiercely. It was as if the rats were trying to combat an elephant, he shook his wings with full force and the whole Indra Loka was shaken. The gods were worried about the commotion and Devendra was unable to control the situation. A DevaKinkara named Bhoumana came with a huge army. Garuthmantha destroyed the whole army in no time. Sadhyas came and tried to battle Garuthmantha, he chased them and sent them away towards the East Direction. Vasuvas and Rudras were chased to the Southern direction. Adityas were chased to the western direction and Ashwini Gods to the North Direction. All the Lords, Agni, Vayu, Yama, Kubera , were defeated by Garuthmantha. All the Gods were being defeated and they went to Devendra for rescue.

All the guardians of Amrutham ,Renuka, Kradhana, Hralihaka, Praruja, Ashwikuntha, Padhanaka were all torn apart by Garuthmantha's nails. Garuthmantha reached Amruthabhanda ( a pot where Amrutham is preserved). It was surrounded by fierce fire which was rising very high. Garuthmantha filled his mouth with water from all water bodies on Earth and sprayed it on the fire surrounding the Amrutham. The fire was put off. There was a Yantra which was still rotating around the Amrutham. Garuthmantha took the form of a micro organism and he went past through the Yantra and reached Amrutham. He then saw two huge serpents wound around the Amruthabhanda. They started hissing on seeing Garuthmantha, he then shook his wings and filled the eyes of serpents with dirt and held their heads with his feet. He flew in to the sky along with Amruthabhanda.

Lord Vishnu was observing all this and was very impressed and said " He got the Amrutham as intended, but he is not even taking a sip. He is very modest and honest." He appeared before Garuthmantha and asked him to ask for anything that he wanted. Garuthmantha bowed to Lord Vishnu and said " Please let me stay with you forever. You are a Purushottama and I would not want anything except being with you. If possible give me immortality without having to drink Amrutham. Life and Death are worldly and I would like to overcome them". Lord Vishnu granted Garuthmantha's wish and asked him to be his mount ( Vahana) and the flag on his chariot. In the mean time Devendra sent his Vajrayudha, which was emitting fire. Garuthmantha laughed looking at the Vajrayudha and said " Why are you emitting fire, you will fall bleak in front of me. But since I am a son of a Sage, you should not be wasted. Hence pierce in to a hair on my wing and leave right away." All the Gods were surprised by this. Devendra thought that he had no other option than to compromise. He then went to Garuthmantha and said " Dear Brother, Let us be in peace. You are immortal and no one can defeat you, you are a very brave person with immense strength. Why do you need Amrutham? If it falls in to the wrong hands then they will destroy us. I will give you anything else, please give me back the Amrutham".

Garuthmantha said " I am not taking the Amrutham for myself, it is for releiving my mother from Slavery. Kadruvas sons asked for Amrutham, I promised them I would. I dont have any other option but I do agree with you that it is very dangerous to give it to them. Let me give you an idea. I will give it to them and releive my mother, please get it from them before they can have it ." Devendra was very pleased with Garuthmantha's advice and said " I have seen your bravery and strength and also your modesty and honesty. I am extremely happy and I am willing to do anything that you want". " Me and my mother faced a lot of problems because of Kadruva, she made my mother her slave by cheating her. Hence I want her sons to become my prey. Please grant me the permission, you are the one who rules the world and I would like to ask you before I take a step." said Garuthmantha. Devendra granted his wish.

This way Garuthmantha got the Amrutham with great victory. He then called all the thousand sons of Kadruva. He made a stand of Darbhas and placed the Amrutham on it. He said " As per the agreement I brought the Amrutham. From today onwards me and my mother are no more your slaves. Lords, Agni, Vayu, Surya and Chandra are the witnesses. Take bath and purify yourself before having the Amrutham". He then bore his mother on his back and flew away. Devendra reached the place where the serpents were trying to have Amrutham and hid in a corner. All the serpents went to take a bath, Devendra took the Amruthabhanda and disappeared. All the serpents returned after having bath and found nothing. There was a commotion and then they started licking Darbhas. Their tongues split in to two, thats the reason snakes have split tongues and hence the great importance of Darbhas in Yagnas and sacred offerings.