Kadru, sometimes called Aditi, was an Indian one-eyed goddess who also went by the name Sarpamatar, or "Mother of Serpents." She wagered with her sister Vinata as to who could see the farthest, but then attempted to cheat and, as a result, had to forfeit one of her eyes. Kadru prayed to become the mother of a thousand snakes, while her sister prayed for two children more powerful than all of her sister's.

Kadru laid a thousand eggs, Vinata laid two. For 500 years they rested together in a jar of water, then Kadru's eggs hatched into a thousand splendid snakes. Anxiously, Vinata broke open one of her two eggs to see if anything was alive within. She found a son, but the lower half of his body was malformed by hatching too early.

He cursed his mother to serve her sister Kadru for another 500 years. When this service was ended, the second of Vinata's eggs hatched into the giant snake-eating bird Garuda, who avenged his mother by consuming Kadru's offspring.

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