The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section XXXIV
Section XXXIV.
( Astika Parva continued. )
Sauti continued, "And Gadura said, 'O Purandara let there be friendship between thee and me as thou desirest. My strength, know thou, is great and hard to bear. O thou of a thousand sacrifices, the good never approve of speaking highly of their own strength, nor do they speak of their own merits. But being made a friends, asked by thee, O friend, I will answer thee, although self-praise without reason is ever improper. I can bear on a single feather of mine, O Sakra, this Earth with her mountains and forests and with the waters of the ocean, and with thee also stationed thereon. Know thou, my strength is such that I can bear without fatigue even all the worlds put together, with their animate and inanimate objects.'"
Sauti continued, "O Saunaka, after Gadura of great courage had thus spoken, the chief of the gods—the wearer of the (celestial) crows, the lord bent upon the good of the worlds, replied, saying, 'It is as thou sayest. Everything is possible in thee. Accept now my sincere and hearty friendship. And if thou hast no business with the Soma, return it to me. Those to whom thou wouldst give it would always oppose us.' And Gadura, answered, 'There is a certain reason for which the Soma is being carried by me. I shall not give the Soma to any one for drink. But where I myself, O thou of thousand eyes, place it down, thou lord of the heavens canst then, taking it up, instantly bring it away.' And Indra then said, 'O thou oviparous one, I am highly gratified with this speech now spoken by thee! O thou best of all rangers of the skies, accept from me any boon that thou desirest.'"
Sauti continued, "And Gadura, recollecting then the sons of Kadru and remembering also the bondage of his mother, caused by an act of deception, owing to the well-known reason (the curse of Aruna), said, 'Although I have power over all creatures, yet I shall do your bidding. Let, O Sakra, the mighty snakes become my food!' And the slayer of the Danavas, having said unto him 'Be it so,' then went to Hari the god of gods, of great soul, the lord of Yogees. And the latter sanctioned everything that had been said by Gadura. And the worshipful lord of the heavens again said unto Gadura, 'I shall bring away the Soma when thou placest it down." And having said so, he bade farewell to Gadura. And the bird of fair feathers then went to the vicinage of his mother with great speed.
"And Gadura in joy then spake unto all the snakes, 'Here have I brought the amrita. Let me place it on some kusa grass. O ye snakes, sitting here, drink of it after ye have performed your ablutions and religious rites. As said by ye, let this my mother become from this day a freed-woman, for by me hath been accomplished your bidding.' And the snakes having said unto Gadura 'Be it so,' then went to perform their ablutions. And Sakra in the meantime taking up the amrita wended back to the heavens. And the snakes, after performing their ablutions, their daily devotions, and other sacred rites, returned in joy, desirous of drinking the amrita. And they saw that the bed of kusa grass whereon the amrita had been placed was empty, the amrita itself having been taken away by a counter act of deception. And they thereupon began to lick with their tongues the kusa grass as the amrita had been placed thereon. And the tongues of the snakes by that act became divided in twain. And the kusa gras too from contact with amrita became sacred from that time. And thus by the illustrious Gadura was amrita brough (from the heavens) and brought for the snakes, and by him thus were the snakes made of divided tongues.
"And the bird of fair feathers very much delighted, enjoyed himself in those woods accompanied by his mother. And he of grand achievements, deeply reverenced by all rangers of skies, gratified his mother by eating of the snakes.
"And that man who would listen to this story, or read it to an assembly of good Brahmanas, must surely go to heaven acquiring great merit from the recitation of (the deeds of) Gadura." And so ends the thirty-fourth Section in the Astika of the Adi Parva.