SRIMAD MAHABHARATA - AADI PARVA - AASTIKA (UPA) PARVA - PART 25

"Soota said, 'Then that bird (Garuda) of great strength, energy and capable of going at will to every place travelled to his mother's (Vinata's) side on the other shore of the great ocean. There lived Vinata in pain, defeated in bet and put into a state of slavery. Once Kadru calling Vinata who had herself prostrated (on the feet) before the former, addressed her (Vinata) these words in the presence of her son, 'O gentle Vinata, there is in the middle of the ocean, in a remote quarter, a delightful and fair region inhabited by the Nagas. Bear me there!'

"At this that mother of the bird of fair feathers (Vinata) bore (on her shoulders) the mother of the snakes (Kadru). Garuda also, directed by his mother's words, carried (on his back) the snakes. That traveller of the skies born of Vinata (Garuda) began to ascend towards the Sun. Thereupon the snakes (Naagaas), scorched by the rays of the Sun, fainted away.

"Kadru seeing her sons in that state prayed to (Lord) Indra, saying, 'I bow to you, O Lord of all Devas! I bow to you, O slayer of Vritra! I bow to you, O slayer of Namuchi! O you of a thousand eyes, consort of Sachi (Lord Indra's wife)! By your showers, you be the protector of the snakes scorched by the Sun. O you best of the deities, you are our great protector. O Purandara (Lord Indra), you are able to grant rain in torrents. You are Vayu (the air), the clouds, fire, and the lightning of the skies. You are the propeller of the clouds, and have been called the great cloud (i.e., that which will darken the universe at the end of Yuga). You are the fierce and incomparable thunder, and the roaring clouds. You are the Creator of the worlds and their Destroyer. You are unconquered. You are the light of all creatures - Aditya, Vibhavasu, and the wonderful elements. You are the ruler of all Devas. You are (Lord) Vishnu. You have a thousand eyes. You are a Deva, and the final resource. O deity, you are all amrita, and the most adored Soma. You are the moment, the lunar day, the bala (minute), you are the kshana (4 minutes). You are the lighted fortnight (Shukla paksha in Sanskrit), and also the dark fortnight (Krishna paksha in Sanskrit). You are kala, you kashtha, and you Truti. You are the year, the seasons, the months, the nights, and the days. You are the fair Earth with her mountains and forests. You are also the heaven, resplendent with the Sun. You are the great Ocean with heaving billows and abounding with whales, swallowers of whales, and makaras, and various fishes. You are of great fame, always adored by the wise and by the great Rishis with minds absorbed in meditation. You drink, for the good of all creatures, the Soma juice in yagnas and the clarified butter offered with sacred invocation. You are always worshipped at yagnas by Brahmanas moved by desire of fruit. O you of incomparable mass of strength, you are sung in the Vedas and Vedangas. It is for that reason that learned Brahmanas bent upon performing yagnas, study the Vedas with every care.'"

So ends the twenty-fifth section in the Aastika Parva of the Aadi Parva.