Nag Panchami: Mythical origin of snakes from Daksha’s daughters

Nag Panchami is being celebrated today. A report by Aaj Tak says the festival is for worshipping snake deities and seeking freedom from snake fear. Hindu scriptures describe powerful serpents like Sheshnag, Vasuki, Takshak, Karkotak, and Kaliya.

According to the Mahabharat's Adi Parva, as cited by Aaj Tak, snakes originated from Kadru, one of Daksha Prajapati's two daughters who married sage Kashyap. Kadru asked for a thousand snake sons, while her sister Vinata asked for two superior sons. After five hundred years, Kadru's eggs hatched snakes. Vinata, impatient, broke one egg early, producing Arun, the sun god's charioteer, who cursed her to serve Kadru for five hundred years. Her second egg later hatched Garuda, who became Vishnu's vehicle.

The enslavement occurred after a bet on the colour of the horse Uchchaihshravas's tail. Kadru cheated by having her son Karkotak disguise as black hairs on the tail. Later, Garuda freed his mother by obtaining the nectar of immortality from the gods. The tale explains the enmity between snakes and Garuda.