A ship was once wrecked in mid ocean and only a man called Karambiya survived. He was cast upon an island, where he wandered about naked and destitute. The people thought he was an ascetic and built him a hermitage. Among his followers were a Garuda king, and also a Nāga king named Pandara (or Pandaraka). One day, at the instigation of the Garuda, the ascetic wheedled out of Pandara the secret of how the Nāgas prevented themselves from being carried off by the Garudas. They swallowed large stones, thus making themselves very heavy. If the Garudas seized them by their tails, they would have to disgorge the stones and could easily be carried off. Karambiya betrayed this secret to the Garuda king who, thereupon, seized Pandara in the right way and carried him away. Pandara begged for mercy, and the Garuda set him free, warning him never again to tell his secret. Thereafter the Garuda and Pandara lived as friends. Pandara cursed Karambiya and his head split in seven pieces.
The story was related in reference to the wickedness of Devadatta, who is identified with Karambiya.
Pandara was Sāriputta and the Garuda the Bodhisatta. J.v.75ff.; vi.177.