Shloka 24
मन्दर-समुद्रमन्थन-वर्णनम् / Description of the Churning of the Ocean with Mount Mandara
गरुडो5पि यथाकाल जज्ञे पन्नगभोजन: । स जातमात्रो विनतां परित्यज्य खमाविशत्,तदनन्तर समय पूरा होनेपर सर्पसंहारक गरुडका जन्म हुआ। भृगुश्रेष्ठ! पक्षिराज गरुड जन्म लेते ही क्षुधासे व्याकुल हो गये और विधाताने उनके लिये जो आहार नियत किया था, अपने उस भोज्य पदार्थको प्राप्त करनेके लिये माता विनताको छोड़कर आकाशमें उड़ गये
garuḍo 'pi yathākālaṃ jajñe pannagabhojanaḥ | sa jātamātro vinatāṃ parityajya kham āviśat ||
Śaunaka said: “In due time Garuḍa too was born—destined to feed upon serpents. The moment he was born, driven by hunger, he left his mother Vinatā and rose into the sky, setting out to obtain the food that the Ordainer had appointed for him.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the force of svabhāva (innate nature) and niyati (appointed order): Garuḍa is born with a divinely fixed role (serpent-eater) and immediately acts according to that destiny, even overriding ordinary attachments.
Śaunaka narrates Garuḍa’s birth: as soon as he is born, he is overcome by hunger and leaves his mother Vinatā, flying into the sky to seek the food ordained for him—foreshadowing his future conflict with serpents.