Shloka 20
Garuḍa Learns the Cause of Vinatā’s Bondage and the Nāgas Demand Amṛta (Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 23)
त्वमुत्तम: सर्वमिदं चराचरं गभस्तिभिर्भानुरिवावभाससे । समाक्षिपन् भानुमतः प्रभां मुहु- स्त्वमन्तकः सर्वमिदं ध्रुवाध्रुवम्,आप उत्तम हैं। जैसे सूर्य अपनी किरणोंसे सबको प्रकाशित करता है, उसी प्रकार आप इस सम्पूर्ण जगत्को प्रकाशित करते हैं। आप ही सबका अन्त करनेवाले काल हैं और बारम्बार सूर्यकी प्रभाका उपसंहार करते हुए इस समस्त क्षर और अक्षररूप जगत्का संहार करते हैं
tvam uttamaḥ sarvam idaṃ carācaraṃ gabhastibhir bhānur ivāvabhāsase | samākṣipan bhānumataḥ prabhāṃ muhus tvam antakaḥ sarvam idaṃ dhruvādhruvam ||
أنتَ الأسمى. كما تُنير الشمسُ بأشعتها كلَّ متحرّكٍ وساكن، كذلك تُنير أنتَ هذا الكون كلَّه. وأنتَ أيضًا الزمانُ (كالا)، مُنهي كلِّ شيء؛ إذ تسحب مرارًا حتى ضياءَ الشمس نفسها، فتُحدث انحلال هذا العالم بأسره—فانيه وباقيه.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the Supreme as both the illuminator (source of knowledge and existence) and as Time/Death (the power of dissolution). It frames reality as dependent on a single ultimate principle that reveals the world and also withdraws it, reminding the listener of impermanence and the need for reverence toward cosmic order.
Śaunaka addresses a revered, supreme being with a hymn-like praise, using the sun as an analogy: just as the sun lights up all beings, the addressed divinity illumines the entire cosmos. He further identifies that same power as Antaka—Time that ends all things—capable of even withdrawing the sun’s radiance and dissolving the whole world.