Shloka 9
गरुड उवाच माता मे कुशला शाश्वत् तथा भ्राता तथा हाहम् | नहि मे कुशलं तात भोजने बहुले सदा,गरुडने कहा--मेरी माता सदा कुशलसे रहती हैं। मेरे भाई तथा मैं दोनों सकुशल हैं। परंतु पिताजी! पर्याप्त भोजनके विषयमें तो सदा मेरे लिये कुशलका अभाव ही है
garuḍa uvāca | mātā me kuśalā śāśvat tathā bhrātā tathā hāham | nahi me kuśalaṃ tāta bhojane bahule sadā ||
Garuḍa said: “My mother is ever well; my brother too is well—and so am I. Yet, dear father, as for abundant food, for me there is never any well-being at all.”
गरुड उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts ordinary well-being (family members being safe) with a deeper lack—unmet basic needs. It highlights that welfare (kuśala) is not merely social or emotional; it also includes sustaining life through proper nourishment, and it implicitly calls attention to responsibility toward dependents.
Garuḍa replies to his father’s inquiry about the family’s welfare. He reports that his mother and brother are fine, but he himself suffers from a constant lack of sufficient food, setting up the motive for his subsequent actions in the Garuḍa episode.