The tortoise who holds up the mountain on his back is referred to as the "Tortoise king;" there is no mention of Kurma, the avatar of Vishnu.
Vishnu gives the ambrosia to only the Devas because the demons tried to take it for themselves. In other stories, the gods do not want to share the nectar with the demons.
The eclipse of the sun is caused by the Asura Rahu, who lost his head when he tried to drink the nectar.
Uttanka cursed the king for giving him unclean food. Who curses someone to blindness because their food is cold and has a hair in it? Is seems very outrageous to me that Uttanka, who just received the Queen's earrings for free, would curse the king.
The Indian year has 6 seasons
King Kashyapa's wife, Queen Kadru, wants to be mother of 1000 snakes. When her sons refuse to do her bidding, she curses them to be consumed in a snake sacrifice. What mother curses her own children? It seems like the characters in these tales curse each other so freely. What is particularly interesting to me is their ability to make some of these curses. How can they just say that another person will be blind or not have any children and then it happens?
King Kashyapa's other wife, Vinata, has two sons. The first curses her to slavery for breaking his egg, and the second son is a bird. How does a naga have a bird for a son?
After Indra steals back the ambrosia, the snakes but their tongues on the sharp grass, which is why snakes now have split tongues.
In addition to curses, the characters of these Indian stories also seem to make strange promises. Jaratkaru promises only to marry someone with his same name that will cost him nothing. This requirement seems so arbitrary and unnecessary.
When Jarakaru finally gets a wife, he curses her for waking him up so he can say a prayer. Once again, this seems very backwards. His wife was only trying to help him and he punishes her for this.
One of One Thousand Snakes
Image by Carolyn
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