O, diminish this thy body resembling Agni. At the
sight of the splendour resembling that of Yama when in wrath, our hearts
lose all equanimity and quake. O thou lord of birds, be propitious to us
who solicit thy mercy! O illustrious one, bestow on us good fortune and
joy.'
'And that bird of fair feathers, thus adored by the deities and diverse
sections of Rishis, reduced his own energy and splendour.'"
And thus ends the twenty-third section in the Astika Parva of the Adi
Parva.
SECTION XXIV
(Astika Parva continued)
"Sauti said, 'Then hearing of and beholding his own body, that bird of
beautiful feathers diminished its size.'
"And Garuda said, 'Let no creature be afraid; as ye are in a fright at the
sight of my terrible form, I shall diminish my energy.'
"Sauti continued, 'Then that bird capable of going everywhere at will,
that ranger of the skies capable of calling to his aid any measure of
energy, bearing Aruna on his back, wended from his father's home and
arrived at his mother's side on the other shore of the great ocean. And he
placed Aruna of great splendour in the eastern regions, just at a time
when Surya had resolved to burn the worlds with his fierce rays.'
"Saunaka said, 'When did the revered Surya resolve at the time to burn the
worlds? What wrong was done to him by the gods that provoked his ire?'
"Sauti said, 'O sinless one, when Rahu was drinking nectar among the gods
at the time of the churning of the ocean he was pointed out to the gods by
Surya and Soma, and from that time he conceived an enmity towards those
deities.
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