We’re at a very interesting phase of the Kadru-Vinata fight, wherein one is trying to outsmart the other and enslave each other. We’ve witnessed that Kadru’s sons were all the snakes, and Vinata’s sons were all the eagles. As both of them spotted the white “Deva-Lokha” horse by name “Ucchashravas”, both entered into a “silly” argument with regards to the color of the horse. Kadru was steadfast on her argument that the horse is black in color. On the other hand, Vinata was steadfast in her argument that the horse is white in color and her eyes do not fail her for silly things like these. This became a huge fight between the two of them, and finally a contest was set up the next day wherein the final “decision” would be taken as to whether the horse is black or white and color and who wins the contest. The agreement doesn’t end here – If tomorrow the contest is won by Kadru, Vinata would become her slave. On the other hand, if Vinata wins the contest, Kadru would become her slave automatically. As these “terms and conditions” were decided upon, Kadru was impatiently waiting for the next dawn to arise.
Meanwhile, Kadru tried to act a bit smart here – She called upon all her sons and ordered them to coil up the horse entirely, in such a way that if the horse was spotted from a distance, it would “appear” to be black in color. This would pave the way for Kadru’s victory as she would be able to dump Vinata’s argument that the horse is white in color. However, the snakes were against this plan of Kadru! They all gathered together and started teaching “Ethics” to their mother! 🙂 They started telling her thus, “Oh Mother Kadru! You’re doing something wrong here – For no fault of Vinata, you’re trying to enslave her. This is not “Dharma” in anyway. Moreover, even if you want to go ahead with what you’re doing, please do not endanger us into performing this “Adharma” act. We would not budge to your “Adharma”. If you still want to go ahead, you may look for someone else who could satisfy your wish!” Saying thus, the snakes backed out! This left Kadru fuming with anger! Kadru replies thus, “Oh sons! You’re all grown up adults now isn’t it? With this, you’ve forgotten your mother and you’ve decided to desert her completely especially at a time of need! You would like to see your mother being enslaved by Vinata and experiencing her tortures, isn’t it? Go away from me! However, I’m not going to leave you just like that – So here’s my curse to all of you!”
We’re witnessing here how a mother herself becomes stone-hearted to curse her own sons! Kadru continues thus, “Oh sons! In the near future, there would be an occasion wherein a king would perform a “Sarpa-Yaaga” in the world. All of you would fall into that fire and die! That “Sarpa Yaaga” would be an eye-opener and a huge threat to your entire existence!” With this curse inflicted on the snakes, this is where all of them started to fall prey to King Janame-Jaya’s “Sarpa-Yaaga”. The “Sarpa-Yaaga” which Kadru was referring to was none other than the one that King Janame-Jaya was about to perform now. Thus, the knowledge of this curse is very important for readers to remember. This is one side of the story.
Amidst all these snakes that were cursed by Mother Kadru, there was a snake by the name “Karkotaka”. He was an exception from the other snakes here. Fearing that the curse that his mother inflicted upon is going to lead him to a great danger, Karkotaka quickly changed his stance. He separated himself from all the other snakes and silently went up to his mother, folded his hands and told thus, “Oh Mother! I understand your pain and frustration. Although what you’re doing is “Adharma”, it is the duty of the son to obey the mother’s words. Thus, I’m ready to execute whatever you want me to do. Please tell me my task!” Upon hearing this from Karkotaka, Kadru was extremely happy and gave him the necessary instructions. Thus, within the next morning, Karkotaka went to the horse, coiled himself up around its tail and made it appear black from a distance! Next morning when both Kadru and Vinata come up the contest venue where the horse was standing, Kadru sees that its tail is appearing black! She immediately points out the “black tail” to Vinata with all happiness and exclaims thus, “Oh Vinata! See the horse’s tail now. Isn’t it black in color? I told you yesterday that the horse is black in color isn’t it? Now see! I’ve won the contest, isn’t it? Do you accept your defeat atleast now?”
Now what is Vinata’s argument going to be? Is she going to accept Kadru’s slavery, or, is she going to pick up a new argument again to corner Kadru? Let’s wait for the next episode to witness the interesting “verdict” of this contest! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 