Garudapurana 3.7

Śrī Garuḍa Purāṇa—7 / Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: / Born immediately after Pārvatī, Indra spoke these words: / Indra said: / Truly knowing your form in his heart, the foolish person who becomes eager to praise— / praise from one who does not know, O God of gods, that alone they call disrespect, O Wielder of the Discus!

Even so, if your name comes first, then it produces merit. / If Rudra and the others have no power to praise, then what is to be said about me having none?

In terms of fractions of virtues, I am always tenfold inferior to Rudra, and Kāmadeva is equal to me. / There is always equality in knowledge and strength, and yet Kāma is constantly a messenger.

Having praised Hari thus, the god of gods remained silent, with folded hands and bent head. / Born immediately after him, the ahaṅkāra-Brahmā spoke.

The deity of ego said: / Obeisance to you who are full of virtues! Obeisance to you whose form is knowledge! / Obeisance to you who dispel ignorance, to the Brahman whose form is infinite!

I am declared to be always tenfold inferior to Indra; I never know you, O Immeasurable One! / Even so, protect me, O Teacher of the universe, having granted me a celestial dwelling, O Viṣṇu!

Having praised thus, the deity of ego fell silent. / Born immediately after him, Śacī spoke words to praise.

Śacī said: / Unceasingly I meditate upon your lotus feet, adorned with the marks of the thunderbolt, goad, banner, and lotus. / O Lord, I recall the dust of your feet, which cannot even be held in mind by the lords of speech.

Protect me, who am always tenfold inferior in qualities to the deity of ego and prāṇa, / O Compassionate One, lover of your devotees!

Having praised thus, the divine goddess Śacī fell silent. / Born immediately after her, Rati began to praise.

Rati said: / I meditate upon the lotus face of the Man-Lion, who assumed a form out of compassion for his servants, / which is the abode of Śrī, fondled by the unborn [Brahmā], Rudra, Ramā, and others, and graced by locks of curling hair.

There is no power to praise such a face of yours; protect me constantly, O Blessed One, who am equal to Śacī. / Having performed this praise with supreme reverence, Rati remained silent right near the Lord.

Born immediately after Rati, Dakṣa began to praise.

Dakṣa said: / With devotion I contemplate the holy ford of the Lord’s foot-water, sprinkled by the Unborn [Brahmā] and worshipped by the Unborn and others, / which, issuing for purification as the descent of the foremost among the unborn, became the sacred ford named Gaṅgā, the most excellent of rivers.

Even Rudra, through holding that dust of your feet purified by his mass of matted hair, though inauspicious, became auspicious. / O Viṣṇu, Lord of compassion, incarnation of grace, I have no power to praise such a foot of yours. / Equal to Rati, versed in the scriptures, I have not attained liberation; protect such a one as me, O Embodiment of the Primal Cause!

Having praised thus, Dakṣa indeed fell silent. / Born immediately after him, Bṛhaspati began to praise.

Bṛhaspati said: / I constantly meditate upon your lotus face; grant me detachment from evil sense-objects, O Lord!

If that individual soul has attachment to these, he becomes an agent, an enjoyer, and a perpetual giver. / Woman, sons, friends, and beasts—all perish in this way; therefore, sever it quickly!

Through wandering in the wheel of worldly existence, O God, experiencing the suffering of worldly existence, I have come here. / I have no power to praise you, O God of gods; protect me constantly, who am equal to Satyā!

Having heard thus, the supreme sage remained completely silent. / Born immediately after him, Aniruddha began to praise.

Aniruddha said: / Thus abandoning the flavorful story of Hari, perpetually infatuated with the genitals and face of women, / the one of utterly deluded mind continually relishes and dwells in a hole filled with feces and entrails, just like a hog!

Filled with marrow, bone, bile, phlegm, and fruit-like [viscera], with an aperture enveloped in skin and intestines, fallen and indeed drunk / in taste: for me who walk the path of sin, O Murāri, O All-pervading One, the power of your illusion is the supreme cause.

And constantly wandering in the wheel of cyclic existence, consisting of extreme suffering, devoid of the slightest happiness, / mounting the body that spews filth through its nine gates, of utterly deluded intellect,

I bow constantly—abandoning that nectar of your tales, O god, which destroys the root of scripture— / constantly maintaining a household, giving no gifts, and dwelling in a home.

Banish far away this filth of cyclic existence, and grant constantly that nectar of divine tales; / being such, equal to Śacī, I am not able to praise the multitude of your good qualities.

Having thus praised him, Aniruddha remained silent, O lord of birds; / the one born next after him, the mind [born] of Svāyambhuva, uttered a hymn of praise.

Svāyambhuva said: / Even upon entering [the womb], the suffering of the womb does not [afflict] one who is to praise [you]; therefore I have reached your supremely venerable station.

Manu's wife Mānavī, Yama the lord of Saṃyaminī, / the moon presiding over the directions, and the sun, the director of the eye— / these indeed are equal to one another, having attained liberation from cyclic existence.

And know, O bird, that he is diminished twofold compared to Pravāha; / born next after the sun, Varuṇa proceeded to offer praise.

Varuṇa said: / In the house of the body fashioned by your will, concerning son, wife, wealth, and variety of goods, / deluded by petty intellect with 'mine' and 'I', all drown in the suffering of cyclic existence.

Therefore, O Hari, destroy such bad intellect of mine and give me servitude at your feet; / I am ever deficient by one-eighth of a foot of Manu’s virtues, O Murāri.

Having thus praised him, Varuṇa stood with folded hands; / Nārada, born next after Varuṇa, praised Hari.

Nārada said: / Beyond the listening and recounting of your name, no other sweet reality exists for me, O Viṣṇu; / therefore purify this highest boon: may another name of his abide on the tip of the tongue.

On whose tongue-tip the name of Hari does not abide, he is no brāhmaṇa, he is merely an ox or an ass; / I do not know your true nature, for I am always inferior to Varuṇa.

Having thus praised him, Nārada became silent before the God of gods, O King of Birds; / the great-souled Bhṛgu, who was born after Nārada, proceeded to offer praise.

Bhṛgu said: / What seat could be offered to you who have Garuḍa as your seat? What ornament to you who are adorned with the Kaustubha jewel? / What is there to give to you whose wife is Lakṣmī? O Lord of Speech, what can be spoken to you? / Therefore I do not know your good qualities; I am ever diminished by a quarter compared to Varuṇa.

Having thus praised the divine Hari, Bhṛgu became silent; / born next after him, Agni praised the Supreme Person.

Agni said: / By your splendour my splendour is thoroughly ignited, and I convey the oblation sprinkled with clarified butter in the sacrifice.

By your splendour, entering into the belly, possessing complete power, I cook food at all times; / therefore I do not know your good qualities, and I am ever equal to Bhṛgu.

Born next after him, Prasūti proceeded to offer praise.

Prasūti said: / Even in discerning the meaning of whose name the sages are ever bewildered, and even the gods, afraid of you, constantly stay only with their wives; / Māndhātṛ, Dhruva, Nārada, the Bhṛgus, Vaivasvata, and all the rest: with love I bow for well-being; homage to that Viṣṇu!

Therefore I do not ever know your good qualities; what kind of power do I possess? / Having thus praised him, Prasūti remained silent, O lord of birds.

Agni, whose nature is speech, the sage Bhṛgu who is the son of Brahmā, / and his wife Prasūti: these three are remembered as equals.

They are diminished by a quarter from Varuṇa and twice as low as Pravaha; / they are to be known as a hundredfold lower than Dakṣa, but twice as high as Mitra.

Born after Prasūti, Vasiṣṭha, the son of Brahmā, / bowed down in humility and proceeded to praise.

Vasiṣṭha said: / Homage to that Person, the Creator; homage, homage to the destroyer of wicked sins, homage! / Homage, homage to the one born of his own limb; I am eternally bowed, O Lord, to your lotus feet.

Protect me always, O Lord Vāsudeva; I am ever inferior to Agni, / and I am always slightly less than Mitra. Having praised the god, he remained silent there.

Marīci, the son of Brahmā born next after Vasiṣṭha, / praised Hari, Nārāyaṇa the Guru, with supreme devotion.

Marīci said: / With my intellect ruined by the god through worldly attachment, my senses turned away from the approach of all misfortune, / and constantly yearning for a tiny speck of happiness, with my mind fearing you, I will perform uninauspicious deeds.

Being such, O infinite Lord, I am ever equal to Vasiṣṭha.

Having thus praised him, Marīci remained silent then, O bird; / born next after him, Atri praised Hari with folded hands.

Manifesting for the origination of the universe, descended for its protection, blameless and likewise imperishable, / your essential nature is the root of the real meaning of reality, the essence of bliss, and therefore devoid of transformation.

Devoid of the three guṇas and divided among all, yet entering there, O Lord, one does not see it as it were; / therefore, O Murāri, I cannot praise your good qualities, being equal to Marīci.

Having thus praised him, Atri too remained silent then, O bird; / born next after him, Aṅgiras spoke words of praise.

Aṅgiras said: / I am not able to see your true form, with its endless arms, belly, and heads, / endowed with countless thousands of crowns and adorned with various costly ornaments; / unable to praise such a form without end or limit, I am equal to Atri.

Having thus praised him, Aṅgiras became silent, O lord of birds; / born next after him, Pulastya spoke words of praise.

Pulastya said: / That Hari, the Lord, who shows to his worshippers the auspicious of the world, auspiciousness itself, / homage to that Lord, the manifold one, who is the protector when one is in danger of going to hell.

I am not able to praise such virtues of yours; protect me, O Lord, for I am equal to Aṅgiras.

Having thus praised [him], Pulastya also became silent. / After him, his younger brother Pulaha spoke to praise [the Lord].

Pulaha said: / 'Water, inferior or supreme, for bathing, fruits, flowers, and food offered by one devoid of desirelessness, / worship of the Lord, and virtuous acts are in vain: so say the noble ones.

To that Lord I always bow down continually, with a desireless mind, regarding it merely as an offering to you. / Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, O Blessed One, I have no capacity to praise [you]; as such, I am equal to Pulastya—there is no doubt here.'

Having thus praised [him], Pulaha then sat silent, O bird; / after him, his younger brother Kratu began to praise.

Kratu said: / 'O Blessed One, at the time of the departure of the vital breath, your names alone destroy the suffering born of worldly existence; / I take refuge in him, having abandoned by whose [names] the taint of a single birth all at once, one attains spotless liberation.

Those who, overwhelmed by devotion, mutter only the name [of God] even once, O Viṣṇu, / they too quickly attain liberation; what then of those who meditate continually?'

Having thus praised [him], Kratu also sat silent, O Lord of Birds; / after him, his younger brother Vaivasvata Manu spoke to praise [him].

Vaivasvata said: / 'Indeed, such as I am, I am always intent on performing rituals, intent on enjoying women, infatuated with the anus, / intent on the organ of the tongue, and completely devoid of detachment regarding seeing you, overcome with supreme fear.

O Blessed One, always having devotion toward this body filled with flesh, bones, marrow, and blood, and even toward a thief, / out of distress regarding the good—such as the preceptor, fire, brāhmaṇas, and cows—I come to complete revulsion; endure [me] always.

I have supreme capacity in listening to worldly gossip, but I have no capacity to bow to Nārāyaṇa; / I have supreme capacity for pursuing worldly affairs, but indeed supreme incapacity for walking on the path toward holy places and the like.

I have great capacity toward wealthy vaiśyas and the like, but no capacity toward virtuous brāhmaṇas! Alas, O Murāri!'

Vaivasvata Manu, having praised the God, fell silent. / After him, his younger brother Viśvāmitra undertook to praise.

Viśvāmitra said: / 'The lotus feet of the Blessed One have not been meditated upon; even the twilight devotion was not performed; dharma, clever at splitting the doors of the gateway to knowledge, was not acquired; / your story, capable of striking down the taint of inner suffering, was not heard by hearing, O God; protect me, O Blessed One, who am always equal to Atri.'

The sage Viśvāmitra, having thus praised [him], indeed became silent. / Excluding Bhṛgu, Nārada, and Dakṣa, the sons of Brahmā,

seven in number, beginning with Vasiṣṭha, as well as Viśvāmitra / and Vaivasvata Manu—these are remembered as equal to one another.

They are always inferior even to Fire, and slightly superior in qualities to Mitra. / I shall declare the hymn of him who was born after that; listen, O Lord of Birds!

Thus ends the seventh chapter, named "Determination of the Hierarchy of Praise of the Gods and Others," in the Brahmakāṇḍa, the third section of the Uttarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa, in the dialogue between Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa.