The Mahabharata
Book 1: Adi Parva
Kisari Mohan Ganguli, tr.
[1883-1896]
SECTION XXVIII
(Astika Parva continued)
"Sauti said, 'Garuda, thus addressed by the snakes, then said unto his mother,
'I shall go to bring amrita, I desire to eat something in the way. Direct me to
it.' Vinata replied, 'In a remote region in the midst of the ocean, the Nishadas
have their fair home. Having eaten the thousands of Nishadas that live there,
bring thou amrita. But let not thy heart be ever set on taking the life of a Brahmana.
Of all creatures a Brahmana must not be slain. He is, indeed, like fire. A Brahmana,
when angry, becomes like fire or the Sun, like poison or an edged weapon. A Brahmana,
it has been said, is the master of all creatures. For these and other reasons,
a Brahmana is the adored of the virtuous. O child, he is never to be slain by
thee even in anger. Hostility with Brahmanas, therefore, would not be proper under
any circumstances. O sinless one, neither Agni nor Surya truly can consume so
much as does a Brahmana of rigid vows, when angry. By these various indications
must thou know a good Brahmana. Indeed, a brahmana is the first-born of all creatures,
the foremost of the four orders, the father and the master of all.'" Garuda then
asked, 'O mother, of what form is a Brahmana, of what behaviour, and of what prowess?
Doth he shine like fire, or is he of tranquil mien? And, O mother, it behoveth
thee to tell my inquiring self, those auspicious signs by which I may recognise
a Brahmana.'" Vinata replied, saying, 'O child, him shouldst thou know as the
best amongst Brahmanas who having entered thy throat would torture thee as a fish-hook
or burn thee as blazing charcoal. A Brahmana must never be slain by thee even
in anger.' And Vinata out of affection for her son, again told him these words,
'Him shouldst thou know as a good Brahmana who would not be digested in thy stomach.'
Although she knew the incomparable strength of her son, yet she blessed him heartily,
for, deceived by the snakes, she was very much afflicted by woe. And she said.
'Let Marut (the god of the winds) protect thy wings, and Surya and Soma thy vertebral
regions; let Agni protect thy head, and the Vasus thy whole body. I also, O child
(engaged in beneficial ceremonies), shall sit here for your welfare. Go then,
O child, in safety to accomplish thy purpose.'
"Sauti continued, 'Then Garuda, having heard the words of his mother, stretched
his wings and ascended the skies. And endued with great strength, he soon fell
upon the Nishadas, hungry and like another Yama. And bent upon slaying the Nishadas,
he raised a great quantity of dust that overspread the firmament, and sucking
up water from amid the ocean, shook the trees growing on the adjacent mountains.
And then that lord of birds obstructed the principal thoroughfares of the town
of the Nishadas by his mouth, increasing its orifice at will. And the Nishadas
began to fly in great haste in the direction of the open mouth of the great serpent-eater.
And as birds in great affliction ascend by thousand into the skies when the trees
in a forest are shaken by the winds, so those Nishadas blinded by the dust raised
by the storm entered the wide-extending cleft of Garuda's mouth open to receive
them. And then the hungry lord of all rangers of the skies, that oppressor of
enemies, endued with great strength, and moving with greatest celerity to achieve
his end, closed his mouth, killing innumerable Nishadas following the occupation
of fishermen.'"
So ends the twenty-eighth section in the Astika Parva of Adi Parva.
