The Mahabharata, Book 5: Udyoga Parva: Bhagwat Yana Parva: Section CV

SECTION CV

"Kanwa said, 'Meanwhile, O Bharata, the mighty Garuda heard what had happened, viz., the bestowal by Sakra of length of days on the Naga Sumukha. And inflamed with great anger, that ranger of the firmament, Suparna, smiting the three worlds by the hurricane caused by the flappings of his wings, quickly came to Vasava. And Garuda said, 'O illustrious one, disregarding me why hast thou interfered with my sustenance. Having granted me a boon of thy own will, why dost thou now withdraw it? The Supreme Lord of all creatures hath, from the beginning, ordained what my food is to be. Why dost thou then stand in the way of that divine decree? I had selected this great Naga and had fixed time, for O god, I had intended to offer the meat of his body, as sustenance to my numerous progeny. When he, therefore, hath obtained a boon from thee and hath become indestructible by me, how can I henceforth dare kill another of his species? Dost thou sport thus, O Vasava, as thou listest? I, however, shall have to die, as also the members of my family' and the servants whom I have engaged in my house. That will, I think, gratify thee, O Vasava! Indeed, O slayer of Vala and Vritra, I deserve all this, nay more, since being the lord of the three worlds in might. I yet consented to become the servant of another. O monarch of the three worlds, Vishnu, however, is not the only cause of my inferiority, for though, O Vasava, I am quite thy equal, yet the sovereignty of the three worlds resteth on thee, O chief of the celestials. Like thee, I also have a daughter of Daksha for my mother and Kasyapa for my father. Like thee, I also can, without any fatigue, bear the weight of the three worlds. I have strength that is immeasurable and incapable of being resisted by any creature. In the war with the Daityas I also achieved grand feats. Srutasri and Srutasena and Vivaswat, and Rochanamukha, and Prasrura, and Kalakaksha amongst the sons of Diti were slain by me. Perching yet on the flag-staff of thy younger brother's car I carefully protect it in battle, and sometimes also I bear that brother of thine on my back. It is, perhaps, for this that thou disregardest me. Who else in the universe is there that is capable of bearing such heavy burthens? Who is there that

"Kanwa continued, 'In the same way, O son of Gandhari, thou livest, O son, as long as thou approachest not the heroic sons of Pandu in battle. Who is there whom Bhima, that foremost of smiters, that mighty son of Vayu and Dhananjaya, the son of Indra, cannot slay in battle?

Rishi, Duryodhana contracted his eye-brows and began to breathe heavily. And casting his eyes then on Radha's son, he burst out into a loud laughter. And setting at naught those words of the Rishi, that wicked wretch began to slap his thigh that resembled the trunk of an elephant. And addressing the Rishi, he said, 'I am, O great Rishi, precisely what the Creator hath made me. What is to be, must be. What also hath been ordained in my case must happen, I cannot act otherwise. What can these senseless declamations, therefore, avail?'"