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

Кадру сказала: «О сестра с чистой улыбкой, я полагаю, что у этого коня чёрный хвост. Иди же — поспорь со мной об этом, поставив на кон рабство, о гордая. Если твои слова окажутся верны, я буду жить твоей служанкой; если нет — ты станешь моей».

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.