birth to one thousand eggs, while Vinata gave birth to two eggs. After incubating them for five hundred years, Kadru's eggs hatched and out came her 1,000 sons. Vinata, eager for her own sons, impatiently broke one of her eggs. From this egg emerged the partially formed Aruna, looking radiant and reddish as the morning sun - but not as bright as the midday sun as he was promised to be. Aruna chided his mother, Vinata for her impatience, and warned her to not break open the second egg, cursing her to be a slave until his brother rescued her. Aruna then left to become the charioteer of Surya, the sun god. Vinata waited, and after many years the second egg hatched, and Garuda was born. After losing a bet to Kadru through trickery, Vinata was forced to become her slave. Garuda later on asked his brothers to free his mother from her slavery, to which they demanded Amrita from heaven. Garuda waged a war against gods with his extraordinary might and abilities beyond thinking, and defeated all of them, including Indra. He then took Indra's nectar vessel and flew back to earth. Vishnu then came to Garuda, and asked him to be his ride, to which he agreed. Indra requested that Garuda not give the Amrita to the Nagas though, as it would bring great trouble later, so they forged a plan. Upon reaching his brothers Garuda placed the vessel before them, and asked them to first purify themselves before drinking. Meanwhile, Jayanta (the son of Indra) stole the vessel back. On returning, the nagas were all devoured by Garuda. Some myths present Garuda as so massive that he can block out the sun. The text Garuda Purana is named after him. Garuda is presented in the Mahabharata as one who eats snake meat, such as the story about him planning to kill and eat Sumukha snake, where Indra intervenes. Garuda in anger, vaunt about his feats and compares himself to Indra's equal. Vishnu teaches lesson to Garuda and cured his pride on might. Garudas are also a race of birds who devour snakes in the epic. The Suparṇākhyāna, a late Vedic period poem considered to be among the "earliest traces of epic poetry in India," relates the legend of Garuda, and provides the basis for a later, expanded version which appears within the Mahābhārata. Symbolism Garuda's links to