Garuda, the great eagle who would become Vishnu’s vahana, was born to Vinata, one of the wives of the sage Kashyapa, under circumstances that placed his mother in servitude before he ever hatched.
A wager that went badly
Vinata and her co-wife Kadru, mother of the nagas, made a wager over the color of a divine horse’s tail, with the loser agreeing to become the other’s servant. Kadru, learning the horse’s tail was actually white, deceived the outcome by having her serpent sons drape themselves over it to make it appear black, winning the bet through trickery and enslaving Vinata as a result.
A son determined to free his mother
Garuda, hatching some time later and quickly growing into an enormous and powerful bird, learned of his mother’s enslavement and demanded to know what it would take to free her. The nagas set a steep price: Garuda would need to bring them amrita, the nectar of immortality, guarded fiercely by the gods themselves.
A theft that impressed even Vishnu
Garuda fought his way past the gods’ defenses and successfully retrieved the amrita, securing his mother’s freedom, though Indra later managed to reclaim most of the nectar before the nagas could fully benefit from it. Impressed by Garuda’s strength and determination rather than angered by the theft, Vishnu offered him a boon, and Garuda, in turn, asked to become Vishnu’s eternal vahana – beginning a partnership that placed one of mythology’s most devoted sons permanently at the side of one of its central deities.