' The snakes having said unto Garuda, 'Be it
so,' then went to perform their ablutions. Meanwhile, Sakra taking up the
Amrita, wended back to heaven. The snakes after performing their ablutions,
their daily devotions, and other sacred rites, returned in joy, desirous
of drinking the Amrita. 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 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 grass, too,
from the contact with Amrita, became sacred thenceforth. Thus did the
illustrious Garuda bring Amrita (from the heavens) for the snakes, and
thus were the tongues of snakes divided by what Garuda did.
"Then the bird of fair feathers, very much delighted, enjoyed himself in
those woods accompanied by his mother. Of grand achievements, and deeply
reverenced by all rangers of the skies, he gratified his mother by
devouring the snakes.
"That man who would listen to this story, or read it out to an assembly of
good Brahmanas, must surely go to heaven, acquiring great merit from the
recitation of (the feats of) Garuda.'"
And so ends the thirty-fourth section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.
SECTION XXXV
(Astika Parva continued)
"Saunaka said, 'O son of Suta, thou hast told us the reason why the snakes
were cursed by their mother, and why Vinata also was cursed by her son.
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