The story of Garuda's birth and deeds is told in the first book of the great epic Mahabharata. His father was the creator-rishi Kasyapa, while his mother was Vinata. Garuda was born out of a huge egg with the torso and limbs of a human male and the talons, wings and beak of an eagle. When he first burst forth from his egg, Garuda appeared as a raging inferno equal to the cosmic conflagration that consumes the world at the end of every age. Frightened by his power, the gods begged him for mercy and Garuda complied with their requests, significantly reducing himself in both size and vigor.
One day, Vinata entered into and lost a foolish bet with her sister Kadru, mother of serpents. As a condition of her defeat, she became her sister's slave. Resolving to release his mother from her newfound state of bondage, Garuda approached Kadru and her serpents and asked them what it would take to emancipate his mother. Kadru decreed that Garuda would have to bring them the elixir of immortality, also called amrita. This was a tall order indeed, considering that the amrita was at that time in the possession of the gods in heaven. Indra, the mighty king of the gods, guarded it jealously. In order to protect the elixir, the gods ringed it with a massive fire that covered the sky. They had also blocked the way to the elixir with a fierce mechanical contraption of sharp rotating blades. Lastly, they had stationed two gigantic poisonous snakes next to the elixir as deadly guardians.