As per the epic, Mahabharata, Shesha was born to the sage Kashyap and his wife, Kadru. Kadru gave birth to a thousand snakes, one of them was Shesha and he was the eldest. A lot of Shesha's brothers were cruel and were intent on inflicting harm upon others. They were even unkind to Garuda, who was Kashyapa's son through Vinatha, sister of Kadru. Shesha, disgusted by the cruel acts of his brothers, left his mother and kin, and took to austere penances. He lived on air and meditated in places including Gandhamadhana, Badrikashrama, Gokarna, Pushkara and Himalayas. His penances were so severe that his flesh, skin and muscles dried up and merged with his frame. Brahma, convinced of Shesha's will, asked him to request a boon. Shesha asked that he be able to keep his mind under control so that he could continue to perform ascetic penances. Brahma gladly accepted the request. Brahma then asked a favour of Shesha: to go beneath the unstable earth and stabilize it. Shesha agreed and went to the netherworld and stabilized her with his hood. He is known to support her even today, thus making Patala his perennial residence.

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