Shloka 4

गरुडजन्म तथा विनतादास्यवृत्तान्तः

Garuḍa’s Birth and Vinatā’s Enslavement

Devanagari script

कटूरुवाच कृष्णवालमहं मन्ये हयमेनं शुचिस्मिते । एहि सार्ध मया दीव्य दासीभावाय भामिनि,कद्रूने कहा--पवित्र मुसकानवाली बहन! इस घोड़े (का रंग तो अवश्य सफेद है, किंतु इस)-की पूँछको मैं काले रंगकी ही मानती हूँ। भामिनि! आओ, दासी होनेकी शर्त रखकर मेरे साथ बाजी लगाओ (यदि तुम्हारी बात ठीक हुई तो मैं दासी बनकर रहूँगी; अन्यथा तुम्हें मेरी दासी बनना होगा)

Transliteration

kadrūruvāca—kṛṣṇavālam ahaṃ manye hayam enaṃ śucismite | ehi sārdha mayā dīvyā dāsībhāvāya bhāmini ||

Translation

قالت كَدْرُو: «يا أختَاه ذاتَ الابتسامة الطاهرة، أرى أن لهذا الحصان ذَنَبًا أسود. هلمّي—راهني معي على ذلك، ولتكن العبوديةُ هي الرهان، يا متعزّزة. إن صدق قولُك عشتُ خادمةً لك؛ وإلا وجب عليكِ أن تصيري خادمتي.»

Word by Word

• {'kadrūḥ': 'Kadrū (one of Dakṣa’s daughters

• mother of the Nāgas)', 'uvāca': 'said', 'kṛṣṇa-vālaḥ': 'having a black tail/mane (vāla = tail

• in context, tail)', 'aham': 'I', 'manye': 'think, consider, maintain', 'hayam': 'horse', 'enam': 'this (accusative singular)', 'śuci-smite': 'O one with a pure/bright smile (vocative)', 'ehi': 'come', 'sārdham': 'together, with', 'mayā': 'with me', 'dīvyā': 'let us gamble/wager (from √div, to play/gamble)', 'dāsī-bhāvāya': 'for the state of being a female slave/servant (as the stake)', 'bhāmini': 'O passionate/proud/angry woman (vocative

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• कद्रू (Kadrū)
• विनता (Vinātā) (implied by address)
• उच्चैःश्रवस् (Uccaiḥśravas) (the horse, implied by context)
• horse (haya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how pride and rivalry can lead to ethically dangerous choices: a seemingly small dispute becomes a wager that risks personal freedom, foreshadowing how adharma (especially deceit and coercive betting) can create long-term bondage and conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kadrū challenges her sister (Vinatā) to a wager about the color of the divine horse’s tail, proposing servitude as the stake. This sets up the later deception by which Vinatā is made a slave, shaping the background for Garuḍa and the Nāgas.