Shloka 25
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 104: Nārada on Suhṛt and Nirbandha; the Viśvāmitra–Gālava Exemplum Begins
व्यात्तास्य: स्रस्तकायश्न विचेता विह्लल: खग: । मुमोच पत्राणि तदा गुरुभारप्रपीडित:
vyāttāsyaḥ srastakāyaś ca vicetā vihvalaḥ khagaḥ | mumoca patrāṇi tadā gurubhāraprapīḍitaḥ ||
وقد أثقلته تلك الحمولة الجسيمة، ففتح الطائر (غارودا) منقاره على اتساعه، وارتخى جسده كله. وفي ذهولٍ واضطرابٍ أسقط ريشه، إذ كان مثقلاً بذلك الثقل الكاسح.
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses Garuḍa’s collapse under a ‘guru-bhāra’ to illustrate that excessive or unjust burden can break even the mighty; ethical action requires proportion, restraint, and awareness of limits—one should not impose or undertake loads beyond dharmic measure.
Kaṇva describes a bird—understood as Garuḍa—so weighed down by a heavy burden that he opens his beak, becomes slack-bodied, loses awareness, and in distress sheds his feathers, signaling extreme exhaustion and defeat under pressure.