Garuda is born and is praised by the terrified gods
The egg hatches, and Garuda emerges not as a chick but as a terrifying, expanding mass of fire. The gods flee to Agni, convinced the end of the world has come. Only after extravagant praise does the great bird diminish his terrible splendour.
The time came for the egg to hatch. Without any help from his mother, Garuda broke open the shell and emerged. He did not look like a newborn bird. He looked like a mass of blazing fire, a terrifying, expanding conflagration. As soon as he was born, he grew to a gigantic size and rose into the sky.
All the beings who saw him were seized with terror. They ran for refuge to Vibhavasu — Agni, the god of fire. They bowed before the universal-form god on his seat and pleaded, "O Agni! Do not extend your body. Have you decided to burn us? Look at that huge mass of flames spreading everywhere!"
Agni corrected them. "O persecutors of the demons! It is not what you think. This is the mighty Garuda, equal to me in energy."
Hearing this, the gods and all the sages approached the blazing form of Garuda. From a distance, they began to praise him.
Their praise was a litany of divine attributes, an attempt to name and placate the unimaginable force before them. "O lord of the birds! You are a rishi (sage). You obtain the greatest share in a sacrifice. You are a god. You are our supreme protector. You are the ocean of strength, you are purity. You are beyond qualities and darkness. You are the possessor of all anger. You cannot be conquered."
They declared what they had heard of him. "You are the performer of all great acts. You are all that has not been and all that has been. You are the supreme knowledge. Surpassing the rays of the sun, you produce all that is permanent and all that is transient. Darkening the splendour of the sun, you are the destroyer of everything. You are all that perishes and all that does not perish."
They compared him to the ultimate fires. "O god! With the splendour of fire, you consume everything, just as the sun burns all beings in his anger. You are like the terrible fire which destroys everything at the end of a yuga (age), when all is consumed in the cycle of destruction."
Finally, they made their petition. "O king of the birds! Having come to you, we seek refuge in you. You move in the sky, you have unbounded energy, you are as powerful as the fire. You are the mighty bird Garuda, you reach the clouds. We have approached you. You are the granter of boons and unparalleled in strength."
Having been praised in these words by the gods and all the sages, Suparna — Garuda — decreased his energy and his splendour. The terrifying fire receded, and the beings of the world were calmed.