**"Now, having settled his brother's employment situation and prevented universal solar incineration,"** I began with the kind of satisfaction that comes from a job well done, "Garuda turned his attention to the family crisis that would define his legendary status for all eternity."
I let my voice take on the heavier emotional tone appropriate for what was about to unfold.
"He flew across the great ocean to find his mother Vinata in a state that would break any devoted son's heart—living in affliction, defeated by fraud, reduced to slavery, and forced to prostrate herself before her own sister who had cheated to achieve victory."
The injustice of the situation clearly still rankled the assembled sages.
"Slavery through deception," murmured one with disgust.
"The innocent suffering while the guilty enjoy triumph," added another grimly.
"Exactly the kind of situation," I continued, "that tends to bring out either the best or the worst in those who witness it. And as we're about to see, Garuda's response would be thoroughly characteristic of his cosmic nature."
"But before Garuda could even properly greet his enslaved mother," I continued, "he got to witness firsthand exactly what Vinata's new life looked like under Kadru's ownership."
I took on Kadru's imperious tone as she addressed her sister.
"'O gentle Vinata,'" I said with mock sweetness that dripped with condescension, "'there is in the midst of the ocean, in a remote quarter, a delightful and fair region inhabited by the Nagas. Bear me thither!'"
The casual cruelty of this command clearly struck the assembled sages.
"'Bear me thither,'" repeated one sage with distaste. "Like she's ordering around a common servant."
"Not even 'please' or 'when convenient,'" observed another. "Just a direct command to transport her across the ocean."
"And this," I continued grimly, "was apparently the new normal. Vinata, who had once been Kadru's equal, now had to prostrate herself before her sister and serve as personal transportation for wherever the serpent queen wanted to travel."
I showed Vinata's humiliating compliance.
"And that mother of the bird of fair feathers bore on her shoulders the mother of the snakes, carrying her tormentor like a common beast of burden."
"Now here's where we see something that really defines Garuda's character," I said, my voice taking on a tone of deep respect mixed with concern.
"Garuda, despite being the cosmic force whose birth had shaken the universe, despite being acknowledged by all gods as the embodiment of ultimate principles, despite having every reason to refuse such a demeaning request..."
I paused to let the weight of his choice sink in.
"Followed his mother's lead."
"Directed by Vinata's words—because she had told him to comply with Kadru's demands—Garuda carried the snakes on his back, serving as aerial transportation for the very creatures whose deception had enslaved his beloved mother."
The moral complexity of this choice clearly impressed the sages.
"He honored his mother's wishes even when those wishes involved serving her oppressors," observed one thoughtfully.
"Family loyalty even in the face of injustice," added another with growing appreciation.
"Exactly! But what makes this choice even more remarkable," I continued, "is that Garuda could have ended this slavery instantly. One word from him, one display of his cosmic power, and Kadru's fraudulent victory would have become meaningless."
"Instead, he chose to honor his mother's position, even when that position required him to humble himself before those who had wronged his family."
"So Garuda, that ranger of the skies born of Vinata, began to ascend with his unwelcome passengers toward the path of the Sun," I continued, my voice taking on the epic tone appropriate for describing divine flight.
"Picture this magnificent scene: the cosmic bird whose birth had required the combined recognition of all gods, soaring through the heavens carrying serpents on his back while his enslaved mother bore their imperious queen on her shoulders."
"But here's where Garuda's choice of flight path reveals something about his character that makes this story even more interesting," I said with a knowing grin.
"Because Garuda, being a cosmic being with perfect knowledge of celestial mechanics, certainly knew what would happen to serpents exposed to close proximity to solar radiation."
The implications of this began to dawn on several sages.
"He knew the snakes would be affected by the sun's heat," said one with growing understanding.
"He chose a route that would make his passengers extremely uncomfortable," added another with the beginning of a smile.
"Exactly! And as they ascended toward the Sun's path, the inevitable happened. The snakes, scorched by the increasingly intense solar rays, began to swoon away from heat exhaustion!"
"And this," I said with building excitement, "is where we get to witness one of the most spectacular prayer sessions in mythological history!"
"Because Kadru, seeing her thousand serpent sons wilting under solar radiation like cut flowers left in the desert, suddenly realized that her victory tour was turning into a potential extinction event for her entire family!"
I showed her growing panic as the heat intensified.
"The serpents weren't just uncomfortable—they were literally dying from sun exposure! Kadru's moment of triumphant travel was becoming a disaster that could wipe out the species she'd worked so hard to bring into existence!"
"And in her desperation," I continued with relish, "she did something that reveals just how quickly pride can transform into panic when survival is at stake."
I let anticipation build before delivering the climax.
"She prayed to Indra with what might be the most comprehensive, desperate, and thoroughly impressive hymn of supplication ever offered by a mother trying to save her children!"
The assembled sages clearly recognized they were about to hear something spectacular.
"Listen to how Kadru approached the king of gods when faced with her children's potential incineration," I said, taking on the voice of desperate maternal pleading.
"'I bow to you, Lord of all the gods! I bow to you, slayer of Vritra! I bow to you, slayer of Namuchi! O you of a thousand eyes, consort of Sachi!'"
"She's not just asking for help," I explained with growing appreciation. "She's reciting Indra's greatest victories and most impressive titles, reminding him of his power over the very forces she desperately needs!"
I continued with her increasingly frantic litany:
"'By your showers, be the protector of the snakes scorched by the Sun! O best of deities, you are our great protector!'"
"And then," I said with building excitement, "she launches into what might be the most thorough theological identification of Indra's cosmic functions ever attempted by someone suffering from heat stroke!"
I began rattling off her desperate catalog:
"'You are Vayu the air, the clouds, fire, and the lightning of the skies! You are the propeller of clouds, the great cloud that will darken the universe! You are fierce thunder and roaring storms! You are Creator and Destroyer! You are unconquered light, Aditya, Vibhavasu, and all wonderful elements!'"
The sheer comprehensiveness of this theological panic was clearly impressive the sages.
"She's basically saying 'You are everything that could possibly help with weather control!'" observed one with amusement.
"Divine name-dropping under extreme duress," agreed another.
"But Kadru wasn't finished!" I continued with delight. "Because when you're watching your children get cooked by solar radiation, apparently no amount of divine flattery is too much!"
"She continued: 'You are Vishnu! You have a thousand eyes! You are the final resource! You are all amrita and the most adored Soma!'"
"And then," I said, building to the climax of her desperate theological catalog, "she launches into what might be the most detailed breakdown of time divisions ever recited during a weather emergency!"
I began listing her frantic temporal identifications:
"'You are the moment, the lunar day, the minute! You are the four-minute interval! You are the lighted fortnight and the dark fortnight! You are time itself in every possible measurement—kala, kashtha, truti!'"
"'You are years, seasons, months, nights, days! You are Earth with mountains and forests! You are the firmament with the Sun! You are the Ocean with whales and makaras and every possible fish!'"
The escalating desperation of this temporal catalog clearly amused the assembled sages.
"She's identifying him with literally everything that exists," observed one with growing laughter.
"Time, space, matter, energy—everything!" agreed another. "Just in case one of those identifications might convince him to provide cloud cover!"
"And finally," I said, building to the grand finale of Kadru's theological panic attack, "she concluded her desperate weather request with what amounts to a scholarly dissertation on Indra's role in religious practice!"
I took on her breathless, heat-exhausted voice for the conclusion:
"'Thou art always adored by the wise and great Rishis! Thou drinkest Soma juice and clarified butter at sacrifices for the good of all creatures! Thou art worshipped by Brahmanas seeking spiritual fruit! O thou of incomparable strength, thou art sung in Vedas and Vedangas!'"
"'It is for this reason that learned Brahmanas study the Vedas with such care—to properly worship your magnificent cosmic functions!'"
I settled back with satisfaction at having delivered this epic prayer in full.
"So there you have it," I concluded with delight. "Kadru's victory celebration turned into the most comprehensive, desperate, and theologically thorough prayer for divine weather intervention in mythological history!"
"From imperious commands to her enslaved sister to frantic pleading with Indra for emergency cloud cover in the space of one uncomfortable flight toward the sun!"
"But what makes this prayer so remarkable," I continued thoughtfully, "isn't just its comprehensive scope or its desperate timing. It's what it reveals about the nature of pride and its relationship to cosmic forces."
I looked around at the engaged faces of the sages.
"Kadru started this journey as the triumphant victor, ordering around her enslaved sister and enjoying the fruits of her fraudulent success. She was literally riding high on her deception, being carried by those she had wronged."
"But the moment her children's lives were threatened by forces beyond her control, all that pride and triumph vanished instantly. She went from imperious commands to desperate supplication, from enjoying power over others to pleading for power from above."
One of the older sages nodded thoughtfully. "Pride is always vulnerable to forces beyond our control."
"And maternal love trumps personal triumph when children are in danger," added another.
"Exactly! And here's what makes this even more profound," I continued. "Kadru found herself praying to Indra—the king of gods—while being carried by Garuda, whom those same gods had recently acknowledged as the embodiment of cosmic principles equal to themselves!"
"She was seeking divine intervention from one cosmic force while literally riding on the back of another cosmic force who could have solved her problem instantly, if she'd been willing to acknowledge the injustice she'd committed against his mother."
"And this perfectly illustrates the impossible situation Garuda found himself in," I concluded with deep appreciation for the moral complexity involved.
"He was serving as transportation for the very beings whose deception had enslaved his mother, while possessing the power to end their suffering but being constrained by family loyalty and honor from using it."
"He could have solved Kadru's weather emergency instantly—but doing so would have meant openly defying his mother's wishes and the slavery arrangement she had accepted."
"So instead, he continued flying toward the sun, carrying passengers who were slowly being cooked by solar radiation, while their mother offered increasingly desperate prayers to other gods for relief that he could have provided with a thought."
I let the profound irony of this situation settle over the clearing.
"Sometimes," I said softly, "the greatest heroes are those who have the power to solve problems instantly but choose instead to honor higher principles, even when those principles require them to witness suffering they could easily end."
"And sometimes," I added with a knowing smile, "the universe has its own ways of responding to desperate prayers, especially when those prayers are offered in the presence of cosmic forces capable of granting them."
The forest clearing fell into contemplative silence as everyone absorbed the complex layers of pride, desperation, family loyalty, cosmic power, and moral constraint that had all converged in this single dramatic flight toward the sun, setting up what would clearly become an even more complex confrontation between divine forces, maternal love, and the endless complications of trying to do the right thing in an unjust situation.