Kadru

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Kadru (Sanskrit: Kadru, meaning “tawny”) is a figure from Hindu mythology. She is usually named as the daughter of Daksha and the wife of the sage Kashyapa, and the sister of Vinata. Kashyapa has many wives, and Kadru and Vinata compete to bear the most powerful children.

Kadru becomes the mother of the nagas, the serpent race. She bears a thousand eggs, which hatch into many snakes, including Shesha, Vasuki, Karkotaka, Takshaka, and others.

One famous story shows Kadru’s wit. Kadru and Vinata bet on the color of the tail of Uchchaihshravas, the divine white horse. Vinata says the tail is white; Kadru says it’s black. Kadru secretly orders her thousand serpent sons to coil around the horse’s tail so it looks black. Kadru wins the bet, and Vinata and her sons become Kadru’s slaves. Garuda, the mighty eagle and Vinata’s son, later helps by bringing amrita (the nectar of immortality) to free Vinata and her sons.

Another tale tells how Kadru and her sister Suparna disturbed sages on the banks of the Ganga. The sages curse them to become rivers, though Kashyapa later helps restore them to their original forms through penance to Shiva.

In many legends, Kadru is described as one of Kashyapa’s wives and the mother of the naga snakes. She remains a central, sometimes cunning, figure in these mythic stories.