Garudapurana 3.6

The glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — [Chapter] 6
The glorious Kṛṣṇa said:
Residing here and there in the elements, the respective presiding deities of those elements,
in their respective abodes, on his limbs, and for that purpose, O King of Birds,

duly undertook to praise Hari, Nārāyaṇa.
In Viṣṇu, who possesses conceivable and inconceivable attributes, opposing good attributes exist;

each one is infinite, [thinking:] "Where is my ability to praise his attributes?"
With such a thought, bowed down with modesty, she spoke.

Śrī said:
I bow to your lotus feet, O Lord; I know nothing else except your feet.
In you, the Supreme Lord, there are attributes heard of, and unheard of too, O God of gods!

Having duly created my abode and given it [to me], O Govinda, O Dāmodara, protect me!
Made full of joy by my praise, there is no beloved person other than you.

Brahmā said:
O Lord of Lakṣmī, O Abode of the whole universe, O Universal Form, where are you, an ocean of knowledge,
and where am I, an ignorant one? Your power exists; I indeed am ignorant, and small is my power.

Knowledge, dispassion, and devotion truly like that of Lakṣmī are ever very meager in me;
it is by your grace, O Abode of the Universe; mastery over that never exists, O Viṣṇu.

Do not give me egoism and possessiveness ever, O Murāri, let only this much be obtained:
comprehensible knowledge of your worthy qualities, O Lord of Ramā; or let there be no error, none at all today and always.

Therefore, let my senses, [though] falling onto the bad path, fall ever upon your lotus feet;
I am inferior to Lakṣmī by a crore of degrees; I have no capacity to praise you, be fully pleased!

Having thus offered praise to the qualities of Viṣṇu, the Creator stood with folded hands before him on Garuḍa.
Then the great-souled Vāyu, God of gods, seeing Viṣṇu, his soul magnified with devotion,

with a voice arising from affection and with stumbling syllables, shedding tears, with folded hands spoke to him.
Vāyu said:
These gods are indeed your servants; your supreme lotus feet are very difficult to attain.

I pray for the four aims of human life, O Lord of Ramā, and for that always, O God!
Seeing that, the very māyā of Hari is indeed the good cause; there is none other.

Therefore, O Infinite One, I am not eager to enjoy anything else, / being eager [only] to serve your lotus feet on behalf of humanity, which turns away from Kṛṣṇa through its actions, lacks virtue, and suffers greatly.

Your incarnation is solely for the sake of grace, O Lord, and there is no other purpose for you, / [accomplished] through the supreme incarnations for the sake of cows, brāhmaṇas, trees, and also the gods.

Playing, Vāsudeva brings about welfare and benefits, and nothing else. / Our minds are never satiated while praising the ambrosial deeds of the foremost in noble deeds.

To me, your unbroken devotee, O Mukunda, grant constant devotion to your lotus feet. / Let that alone always be, and nothing else, in whatever person you abide, O God of gods!

Through your grace I am there where you are, O Great Lord, and you are there where I am. / This is my expanse within the body, and [that of] the Four-faced One, and of none other than this.

My sleep is bowing to you, O Lord; my walking around is circumambulation; / my speech should be your praise. Knowing this thus, I offer it [to you].

Seeing all objects fit for my growth as forms of Hari alone, / thinking thus, O God of gods, I will always worship the forms of Hari stationed within them.

Whatever sandalwood, whatever flower and incense, cloth, and whatever food, eaten and enjoyed— / I will continually observe this vow: 'All this is solely for the pleasure of Viṣṇu.'

I will always censure non-Vaiṣṇavas, and I will protect true Vaiṣṇavas, O Murāri. / I will cut out the tongues of those who hate Viṣṇu, and I will fill the ears of those who listen to them with molten lead.

Such is my power, O God, O Viṣṇu, though I am [merely] strong by your grace. / Even so, I am not capable of praising [you], for I am deficient by ten million times in comparison to Lakṣmī.

May my everlasting love always belong to those who study this hymn of ours. / Those who recite this hymn here in the world are true Vaiṣṇavas, and they are beloved of Hari.

Hari, Keśava, is fully pleased with those who recite it daily / and continually offer it to Hari. When Hari is pleased, what is unattainable?

Having thus praised, the great-souled Baladeva stood silent with folded hands before Hari. / Sarasvatī said: / O Lord Murāri, Hari, who that has taste [for praise] would ever reach satiety from praising or glorifying your virtues,

O God of gods, you who are constantly praised by Brahmā and the others? / Reaching the channel of a person's ear, [your praise] severs the bodily attachment that causes worldly existence.

It not only cuts away attachment to the body, but constantly severs attachment / to unrighteous households, lands, wives, sons, cattle, wealth, and priceless gems.

Though taught by infinite Vedas, even Lakṣmī does not fully know your true nature. / The Four-faced One does not know it, nor does Vāyu; what wonder is there that this one does not know it?

Where is my power to praise one such as you, O Lord, since from Brahmā and Vāyu / I am always inferior by a hundred degrees? Therefore, O Hari, protect me with compassion!

Having thus praised Hari, she fell silent, O King of Birds. / Then Bhāratī began to praise Hari.

Bhāratī said: / O Lord of Brahmā, Lord of Lakṣmī, Hari, Murāri, to one who always has faith in your virtues / and thus praises them, [the praises] produce an ever-growing detachment from unworthy sense objects

in this world and the world beyond; thereafter, likewise firm devotion, / and beyond that, O God of gods, they continually produce the favor of Hari toward you.

Direct perception arises for him through that; therefore, my delight is in the praise of [your] virtues. / When that [delight] arises continually for a person, it cuts away the suffering of worldly existence.

Then it bestows the fruit known as bliss on the qualified person whose suffering has been severed; / and it destroys the sin of those who praise Hari's virtues, while it diminishes [the merit] of their detractors.

Knowing thus, my supreme teacher Vāyu, who is compassionate and my beloved, / took up Hari's virtues—an expanse of all qualities, which are suitable for me and foremost in bliss—

as if from merits, a friend to the afflicted. And the auspicious one does not harm your meritorious renown. / Through your grace, the grace of Śrī, and the grace of Vāyu, it belongs to me always.

Whatever Vāyu does, he always does continually. / The Lord does not oppose Vāyu, nor does he ever oppose Him.

Vāyu does not oppose Hari, nor does Viṣṇu oppose Vāyu. / Through Vāyu's grace I lack nothing, and through your grace there is no deficiency.

Just as in the original form, so in an incarnation there is no suffering or the like for the Wind god; / Vāyu and the others, both, and Mukunda are free from the nature of suffering in incarnations.

The god Vāyu appears as if powerless while preserving the worldly norms according to the cosmic ages. / In an incarnation as a man, O Murāri, it should not be thought that there is powerlessness in that god.

Suffering and the like in the form of an incarnation should not be conceived by the wise, O God of gods. / When I went at times to a place where joy was destroyed to slay the daityas,

not by that much should a succession of suffering be imagined for me or for Vāyu. / Being such a one, where is my power to praise your virtues, O Lord Madhusūdana, / since I am inferior in quality to Vāyu, O God, both in worldly form and in the liberated state?

Having thus praised, Bhāratī fell silent, O King of Birds. / After her, Śeṣa, who was born next, spoke to Keśava with folded hands.

Śeṣa said: / I do not know your lotus feet; Rudra does not know, Garuḍa does not know. / I am a hundredth part inferior to Vāṇī; granting me a dwelling, protect me, O Vāsudeva!

Having thus praised, Śeṣa fell silent, O King of Birds. / After him, the Lord of Birds began to praise.

Garuḍa said: / How can I offer praise to your feet? My mind is fixed upon your lotus feet. / Born from an avian womb, how can I, with my mouth, be capable of praising such virtues?

Having thus praised, Garuḍa fell silent with humility. / After him, Rudra began to praise.

Rudra said: / Whatever devotion, O Lord, O Blessed One, that I do not know, O Infinite One, may it be at the root of your auspicious lotus feet. / Even if it is concealed, truly it is never mine, O God; therefore I act with hostility in opposition to you.

What power is there in the speech of me who am foolish-minded, [compared to that] of Hari, Murāri, who has all-food intelligence? / Always inferior by a hundred times to Sarasvatī, protect me, O Lord, and having given me my dwelling!

Having praised thus, that Rudra, best of the twice-born, fell silent. / Born immediately after Śeṣa, the goddess Vāruṇī spoke these words.

Vāruṇī said: / O Lord of Lakṣmī, Lord of Brahmā, Lord of Manu, Lord of Speech, Lord of Rudra, Lord of men! / I am not capable of praising your qualities, nor is Pārvatī, nor the wife of Garuḍa.

I am tenfold inferior to Śeṣa; protect me constantly, O Sovereign of the worlds!

Having praised thus, Vāruṇī indeed fell silent, O Lord of Birds. / Born immediately after her, the Brahminic Sauparṇī began [to praise].

Sauparṇī said: / There is no power in my voice to praise your qualities, O Hari, Sovereign of the universe, nor in my hearing to listen to your narrative, O Hari. / Whoever remembers your real nature, O God, who indeed on earth knows that meaning of the Supreme Lord?

Therefore, there is no power in me to praise [your] qualities, and I am always tenfold lower than the King of Birds.

Having praised thus, Sauparṇī fell silent, O Lord of Birds. / Born immediately after Rudra, Girijā began to praise.

Pārvatī said: / O Govinda, Nārāyaṇa, Vāsudeva! Indeed, I have no purpose whatsoever with you, / O Master; your single form of good fortune is always beyond name and speech.

And your single name, 'Nārāyaṇa', is supremely effective in producing the power of dispassion and devotion, / and in destroying the sin of killing innumerable Brahmās and destroying crores of [violations of] the guru's wife.

I am eligible [only] for the name; O Great Lord, I have no power to praise your qualities. / I am tenfold lower than Rudra,

and always inferior [to him]; no deliberation should be made in this matter. / Having praised thus, Girijā fell silent, O Lord of Birds.

Thus ends the sixth chapter, named 'The Description of the Hierarchy of the Various Deities and the Praise of Viṣṇu by the Presiding Deities of the Principles', in the Brahmakāṇḍa of the latter third part in the venerable Garuḍa Purāṇa, in the dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa.