O thou of Bhrigu's race, hearken now to the mighty achievement of
Garuda.'"
So ends the thirty-first section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.
SECTION XXXII
(Astika Parva continued)
"Sauti said, 'O foremost of Brahmanas, the gods having prepared for battle
in that way, Garuda, the king of birds, soon came upon those wise ones.
And the gods beholding him of excessive strength began to quake with fear,
and strike one another with all their weapons. And amongst those that
guarded the Soma was Brahmana (the celestial architect), of measureless
might, effulgent as the electric fire and of great energy. And after a
terrific encounter lasting only a moment, managed by the lord of birds
with his talons, beak, and wings, he lay as dead on the fields. And the
ranger of the skies making the worlds dark with the dust raised by the
hurricane of his wings, overwhelmed the celestials with it. And the latter,
overwhelmed with that dust, swooned away. And the immortals who guarded
the amrita, blinded by that dust, could no longer see Garuda. Even thus
did Garuda agitate the region of the heavens. And even thus he mangled the
gods with the wounds inflicted by his wings and beak.
"Then the god of a thousand eyes commanded Vayu (the god of wind), saying,
'Dispel thou this shower of dust soon. O Maruta, this is indeed, thy task.
Then the mighty Vayu soon drove away that dust. And when the darkness had
disappeared, the celestials attacked Garuda.
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