The lord of the celestials — Indra — was on his way to attend Sage Kashyapa’s yaga. On the way, he saw a group of tiny sages. Water had collected in a hoof mark left on the ground by a passing animal, and the small sages fell into the puddle. Since the sages were the size of a human thumb, even this was too big a hole for them to get out of easily. Indra mocked them and sped on his way, said M.V. Anantapadmanabhachariar, in a discourse. But he found sage Kashyapa anxiously waiting for the tiny sages, called Valakilyas. Indra narrated what had happened. Kashyapa said that Indra had committed a grave mistake, and his position as king of the celestials was therefore under threat. He explained that the Valakilyas would now perform a yaga to get a replacement for Indra. And sure enough, they were performing a yaga to replace Indra. Sage Kashyapa requested them to spare Indra, and the sages made a concession. They said that the one to come from their penance would not be Devendra, lord of the celestials, but Pakshindra, head of all birds, and that bird was Garuda.
But Indra had not learnt a lesson. When Garuda was engaged in penance, Indra sent Urvasi, the celestial beauty to distract Garuda. A king inside a strong fort cannot be harmed. Garuda was protected by the fort called bhakti and hence he could not be disturbed. Garuda was also successful in seizing nectar from the world of the celestials, despite Indra protecting it. Thus Indra was humbled by sages who were small in size, and also by Garuda.
Indra made the mistake of judging people by their outward appearance, without giving a thought to their spiritual powers.
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