Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, Vinata (, ) is the mother of Aruna and

Garuda Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the D ...

. She is one of the daughters of Prajapati

Daksha Daksha ( ,) is a Hindu god whose role underwent a significant transformation from Vedic mythology, ''Vedic'' to Itihasa-Purana, ''Itihasa-Puranic'' mythology. In the ''Rigveda'', Daksha is an ''Adityas, aditya'' and is associated with priestly ...

. She is married to Kashyapa, along with several of her sisters. She bears him two sons, the elder being Aruna and the younger being Garuda.

Legend

Vinata is a daughter of

. Kadru is her elder sister, and when they both lived with Kashyapa as his wives, and attended to all his comforts, he blessed them by granting each of them a boon. Kadru asked for a thousand naga sons who should be valiant. Prompted by her sister's demand for sons, Vinata asked for only two sons, who should be more powerful and brighter than Kadru's children. Kashyapa granted them their wishes. After his wives became pregnant, he advised them to look after the children, and then left for his penance in the forest.

Birth of Aruna

According to the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

, Kadru went on to lay a thousand eggs, and Vinata, two eggs. Both of them kept their eggs in hot pots. In their five-hundredth year, the eggs of Kadru hatched, and thousands of nagas of various kinds emerged out of them. The sight of Kadru playing with her children frustrated Vinata since her eggs had not hatched. Impatient, she broke open one of her eggs in secret, and a half-grown child stepped out of it. That child was Aruṇa. He was enraged that Vinata had forced open the egg prematurely. He told her that as punishment, she would become a slave of Kadru. Aruna also informed her of her source of redemption: After another 500 years, the remaining egg of hers would hatch, and a son endowed with exceptional power and prowess would be born to liberate her. Having proclaimed thus, Aruṇa rose to the sky, where he became the charioteer of

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

Slavery

After the events of the Samudra Manthana, Indra obtained a horse named Uccaihshravas from the Ocean of Milk. A dispute arose between Vinata and Kadru regarding the colour of the horse’s tail: Kadru asserted that it was black, while Vinata believed that it was white. They further agreed to observe the horse the next day, betting that she who was proved to be wrong would become the slave of the victor. As the naga sons of Kadrū hung on to the tail of the horse, the tail seemed to appear black. Thus, Vinatā lost the bet, and became Kadrū’s slave.

Birth of Garuda

When Garuda hatched from his egg, he was saddened to see that his mother was enslaved by her sister. When he sought an audience with Kadru, he was informed that the price of his mother's freedom was the elixir of immortality,

amrita ''Amrita'' (, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali language, Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred to i ...

, which he would have to steal from

Devaloka In Indian religions, a devaloka or deva loka is a plane of existence where deity, gods aka Deva (Hinduism), devas exist. The deva lokas are usually described as places of eternal light and goodness, similar to the concept of Heaven. Teachers ...

. Vinata instructed Garuda to consume any Nishada he came across on his journey to the realm for his sustenance, but not to devour a single

Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedas, Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rigveda, Rig, Samaveda, Sama, Yajurveda, Yajur, and Athar ...

. Garuda succeeded in his task, and the fact that he had been able to defeat a number of celestial deities allowed him to invoke a boon from

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

, becoming his mount. He brought the pot of amrita to the nagas as promised, but the nectar was stolen by Indra. Nevertheless, this secured freedom of Vinata.

Association with the Solar Dynasty

The legend by which Garuda, and by extension, Vinata, became associated with the

Suryavamsha The Solar dynasty or (; ), also called the Ikshvaku dynasty, is a legendary Indian dynasty said to have been founded by Ikshvaku. In Hindu literature, it ruled the Kosala Kingdom, with its capital at Ayodhya, and later at Shravasti. They w ...

lineage of royalty is present in the Brahmanda Purana:

References

{{reflist Hindu goddesses Daughters of Daksha