Shloka 4
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 33: Vāsuki’s Council on Averting the Sarpa-satra
तस्यान्तरं स दृष्टवैव पर्यवर्तत खेचर: । अरान्तरेणाभ्यपतत संक्षिप्याडुं क्षणेन ह,पक्षी गरुड उसके भीतरका छिद्र--उसमें घुसनेका मार्ग देखते हुए खड़े रहे। फिर एक क्षणमें ही वे अपने शरीरको संकुचित करके उस चक्रके अरोंके बीचसे होकर भीतर घुस गये
tasya antaraṃ sa dṛṣṭvaiva paryavartata khecaraḥ | arāntareṇābhyapatat saṃkṣipyāḍuṃ kṣaṇena ha |
Śaunaka said: Having spotted the opening within it, the sky-ranging Garuḍa paused and circled, judging the passage. Then, in a single instant, he compressed his body and darted through the narrow space between the spokes of the whirling wheel, entering within.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Strength succeeds when joined with discernment and restraint: Garuḍa first identifies the precise opening, then controls and compresses his body to pass safely through danger—an image of disciplined power guided by intelligence.
Garuḍa sees the entry-gap inside a dangerous, fast-moving wheel with spokes, circles to assess it, and then swiftly contracts his body and slips between the spokes to get inside.