Shloka 11
Garuḍa’s Assault on the Devas and the Fire-Barrier (अमृत-रक्षा-युद्धम्)
दहेदज्भारवत् पुत्र त॑ विद्या ब्राह्मणर्षभम् विप्रस्त्वया न हन्तव्य: संक्रुद्धेनापि सर्वदा,विनता बोली--बेटा! जो तुम्हारे कण्ठमें पड़नेपर अंगारकी तरह जलाने लगे और मानो बंसीका काँटा निगल लिया गया हो, इस प्रकार कष्ट देने लगे, उसे वर्णोमें श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मण समझना। क्रोधमें भरे होनेपर भी तुम्हें ब्रह्महत्या नहीं करनी चाहिये
garuḍa uvāca | dahed aṅgāravat putra taṁ vidyā brāhmaṇarṣabham | vipras tvayā na hantavyaḥ saṁkruddhenāpi sarvadā ||
Garuḍa said: “My son, know that being—who, when lodged in your throat, burns like a live coal and torments you as though a fishhook had been swallowed—to be a foremost Brāhmaṇa. Even when you are inflamed with anger, you must never kill a Brāhmaṇa.”
गरुड उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even under extreme provocation and anger, one must not commit violence against a Brāhmaṇa; the verse underscores restraint and the grave ethical weight of brahmahatyā (killing a Brāhmaṇa).
Garuḍa instructs his mother’s son (addressed as ‘putra’) to recognize a tormenting being lodged in the throat as a Brāhmaṇa and therefore not to kill him, despite the intense pain and anger it causes.