Kakbhushundi explains Garuda the true identity of Lord Rama

Then answered Kakabhushundi, who had no small affection for the lord of the feathered creation : My lord, you are in everyway entitled to my homage, a recipient as you are of Shri Rama's favour. You had neither doubt nor infatuation, nor delusion; it was only an excuse, my lord, for doing me a kindness. By sending you, O king of the birds, under the pretext of infatuation the Lord of the Raghus has conferred an honour on me. Yet, my lord, there is nothing peculiar in that delusion of yours of which you have told me, O king of the birds; for the celestial sage Nårada, Bhava (Lord Shiva) and Viranchi (the Creator), as well as Sanaka and the other great sages, exponents of the truth of the Spirit which of these has not been blinded by infatuation? Again, is there anyone in this world whom lust has not made a puppet of? Who has not been maddened by the thirst for enjoyment and whose heart has not been inflamed by anger? (1-4)




Is there any sage, ascetic, hero, seer, man of learning or man of virtue in this world, whom greed has not batrayed? Again, whom has the pride of pelf not perverted? Who has not been deafened by power? And is there anyone who has not been smitten by the shaft-like glances of a fawn-eyed woman? (70 A-B)




Who is not thrown out of his mental equipoise by the combined action of the three Gunas (modes of Prakriti) as by the synchronous derangement of the three humours of the body (which generally proves fatal to the victim according to the principles of Åyurveda)? None has escaped the stings of pride and arrogance. Who does not get wildly excited under an attack of fever in the form of youth and whose good reputation is not marred by worldly attachment? Who does not incur obloquy through envy and who is not shaken by the blast of grief? Who is not bitten by the serpent of care? And is there anyone in this world who is not overcome by Måyå (the delusive potency of God)? Again, is there anyone so resolute of mind, whose body is not being consumed by desire as a piece of wood is eaten away by a wooded-borer? Whose mind has not been polluted by the threefold desire of the desire of progeny, the desire of wealth and the desire of fame? All these constitute the retinue of Måyå, formidable and infinite in number, more than any can tell. Even Lord Shiva and the four-faced Brahmå (the Creator) are ever afraid of these; of what account, then, are other creatures? (1-4)


Måyå's formidable army is spread over the whole universe. Concupiscence and others (viz., Anger and Greed) are its generals; Hypocrisy, Deceit and Heresy its champions. That Måyå, however, is Shri Råma's own handmaid; though unreal when understood, there is no release from her grip except by Shri Råma's grace: I declare this with the utmost confidence. (71 A-B)







The same Måyå that has made a puppet of the whole world and whose ways are unknown to anyone, dances with all her troups like an actress on the stage to the play of the Lord's eyebrows, O king of birds. Such is Shri Råma, who is devoid of birth, the totality of Existence, Knowledge and Bliss, wisdom personified, the home of beauty and strength. He is both pervading and pervaded, fractionless, infinite and integral, the Lord of unfailing power, attributeless, vast, transcending speech as well as the other senses, all-seeing, free from blemish, invincible, unattached, devoid of form, free from error, eternal and untainted by Måyå, beyond the realm of Prakriti (Matter), bliss personified, the Lord indwelling the heart of all, the actionless Brahma, free from passion and imperishable. In Him error finds no ground to stand upon; can the shades of darkness ever approach the sun? (1-4)