The Garuda flashes wings on high,
in the hunt for its eternal foe;
Born from a mother’s binding sigh,
from bitter chains of long ago.

Dazzled by the sun-god’s splintered light,
the Naga bows again, brought low;
One tastes the freedom earned in flight,
one tastes the curse its mothers sow.

In peaceful skies, the hunter prevails
and thus, in this unending chase;
matched by trembling serpent tails,
a cosmic balance finds its place.

Based on this tale:
According to Hindu and Buddhist stories, the giant birdlike Garuda spends all of eternity killing the snake-like Nagas. The feud started when the Garuda’s mother and the Nagas’ mother married the same husband. The husband granted each wife one wish. The Nagas’ mother asked for a thousand Naga sons. Garuda’s mother wished for just two children but that each child would be equal to 1,000 Naga sons. Their rivalry continued until Garuda’s mother lost a bet and became the servant and prisoner of the Nagas’ mother. The Garuda was able to free his mother by stealing the nectar of immortality from the gods. But he swore vengeance for his mother’s treatment and has been fighting Nagas ever since.
Shared with dVerse – Tuesday Poetics – creature feature