HARIVAHANA , THE STORY OF GARUDA, edited✅

10, the confrontation.

After Indra had stormed out of his courtroom, leaving Garuda behind, Garuda flew off through the open window of Indra's courtroom. He knew now that the war was inevitable. He had done his part of trying to negotiate in peace with the king of the Devas, but Indra was bothered the least about the destruction that was to happen the following day.Garuda flew far away from the realm of Indra, resting finally under the shade of a huge banyan tree. Fortunately, he was not feeling hungry, and he prayed to all the possible gods not to make him hungry until he had fought Indra. He was least bothered about the result. He didn't care if he won or lost the fight with Indra. He would get the amrita. No, not by trickery or treachery, but by the honesty and love he had for his beloved mother.Due to the continuous flight with no ounce of rest for days, Garuda drifted off, his mother's miserable face making its way again and again to his troubled mind.(Amaravati).Indra was fuming. How dare a little eagle challenge him for a fight? The pot of amrita was so precious to him and his Devas. He knew the difficulties they faced during the churning of the Ksheera Sagara. It is the nectar of immortality. How can he give the pot of amrita to the wrong hands? So what if Garuda were his half brother. He was going to give the amrita to the Nagas, which was not going to end well. Though, for some reason, he felt fighting Garuda was not going to be nice. It seemed like Garuda was someone so different; he was not like his external appearance.Indra called on to the regiment of the Devas: Vayu, Agni, Varuna, Yama, etc."Be ready for there is an approaching war to be fought the next day. You all know why Vinata's son had come here. He wanted the pot of amrita to free his mother from slavery. We have challenged each other. Also."Indra stopped as he felt the astonished eyes of the Devas stare at him."Vinata's son, Garuda? Devraj? Are you serious?""Yes, Vinata's son Garuda.""No more protests, dear Devas. You know how much the pot of amrita is precious to us, and how Lord Narayana had ordered for us to keep the amrita safely."(vaikuntha).The waves of Ksheera played merrily as it felt the eternal joy of the Lord and the Goddess of the universe's presence.Lakshmi stared at her husband, who had a mischievous glint on his beautiful face. He was reclining peacefully on Ananta, who was gently floating over the ocean of milk, with full of love and devotion to the protector of the Trilok."Will he succeed? Swami?"Lakshmi asked, her eyes filled with concern."For sure, Priye. He will succeed. His love and his determination will make him use his strength to the fullest."Vishnu's words made a frown appear on Lakshmi's face, that shone like the full moon at night."Swami, how can we rest assured of Garuda not partaking the amrita before he gives it to the Nagas? And what if the Nagas?"Vishnu laughed, cutting Lakshmi's words in the middle."No, Chanchala. He is no such kind of a being. Tomorrow, the world is going to witness the power of love, strength, and determination."Lakshmi smiled, catching on with Vishnu's words.Next day.Garuda flew to Indraloka at a great speed.He had taken his father's blessings and asked his permission to fight his brother.His father had replied, "do what is right, puthr. If you wish to fight him to achieve what you want, if there is no other way out, then do it."He reached Devaloka to find Indra ready at the gates of Amaravati with a whole regiment of Devas besides him.Seeing Garuda alone, Indra scoffed."Are you alone, Vinata's son?. Where is the army?"Garuda smiled and replied humbly, "accept my greetings Devraj. I don't have an army, but according to my Mata and Pitashri, I alone am enough."Indra felt fury bubble through him. So what if Garuda had succeeded in defeating him and the Devas. He cannot get to the amritakalasha because there are 2 more obstacles that he'd have to cross through before he could achieve his goal.Indra was sure about Garuda's defeat, and with full confidence, he ordered his army to attack Garuda.Garuda, who had been in the form of a small eagle, started to expand. He started to grow bigger and bigger. The Devas alongside Indra stared at Garuda in amazement. Indra himself was astonished to find his opponent in such a form.Garuda had transformed himself into a huge half man half eagle, his divine form.He flapped his wings and sharpened his talons.As the Devas attacked, Garuda swooped down, attacking a few of them with his beak and pecking a few of them.Still not losing their courage, the Devas fought on.Vayu blew air out, and this was a plus point for Garuda.He flapped his wings vigorously, making the dust in the atmosphere fly hither and thither.He flapped his huge wings a little more as the clouds of dust clouded the vision of the Devas."Stop blowing, Vayuuuu."Indra shouted at the top of his voice, making the wind god flinch.Next was the turn of Varuna, the god of oceans.He splashed water all over the place, drenching all the Devas themselves. Garuda flew down and flapped his wings in the body of water, making the water rise up and pour all over the Devas, along with the still accumulating dusts.This made the Devas impossible to see.They ran helter-skelter searching for some way out.After this session was over, Indra was furious. He asked the Devas to attack with astras.But Garuda's talons were no match for the astras. He had protections from the astras, according to the boon.The sharp talons of Garuda wounded the Devas severely, making them scattered.Indra was left alone in the battlefield. He was blinded by rage as he took his vajra and hurled it at a now sweating Garuda.As the vajra hit its target, both Garuda as well as Indra were amazed.The vajra had hit Garuda, but Garuda had no scratch on his bodyIt happened that only a single golden feather from his body fell down due to the force of vajra.Indra felt defeated as he closed his eyes in fury.Taking the opportunity, Garuda transformed himself into his normal form and flew off, in great speed to the chamber where the amrita was protectively kept.Indra opened his eyes to find Garuda gone.He ran to the chambers of amrita but stopped as he remembered his Devas and ran to their aid.Garuda reached the chambers, but had another obstacle on the way.There was a huge ball of fire through which none could pass.If anyone dared to, they would be nothing but a pile of ashes.Garuda thought and thought until he was struck with an idea.