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Upanishads · Gāruḍa 2.10
॥
Devanāgarī
यदि महापद्मकदूतोऽसि यदि वा महापद्मकः स्वयं सचरति सचरति तत्कारी मत्कारी विषनाशिनी विषदूषिणी हतं विषं नष्टं विषं हतमिन्द्रस्य वज्रेण विषं हतं ते ब्रह्मणा विषमिन्द्रस्य वज्रेण स्वाहा
Transliteration (IAST)
yadi mahāpadmakadūto'si yadi vā mahāpadmakaḥ svayaṃ sacarati sacarati tatkārī matkārī viṣanāśinī viṣadūṣiṇī hataṃ viṣaṃ naṣṭaṃ viṣaṃ hatamindrasya vajreṇa viṣaṃ hataṃ te brahmaṇā viṣamindrasya vajreṇa svāhā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यदि महा-पद्मक-दूतः असिyadi mahā-padmaka-dūtaḥ asiif you are the messenger of Mahāpadmaka
यदि वा महा-पद्मकः स्वयम्yadi vā mahā-padmakaḥ svayamor if you are Mahāpadmaka himself
सचरति सचरतिsacarati sacaratimoving, moving
विष-नाशिनी विष-दूषिणीviṣa-nāśinī viṣa-dūṣiṇīdestroying poison, corrupting poison
हतं विषं नष्टं विषम्hataṃ viṣaṃ naṣṭaṃ viṣampoison is slain, poison has perished
हतम् इन्द्रस्य वज्रेण स्वाहाhatam indrasya vajreṇa svāhāslain by the thunderbolt of Indra — svāhā
Translation
«If you are the messenger of Mahāpadmaka, or if you are Mahāpadmaka himself — "moving, moving… poison is slain, poison has perished, slain by the thunderbolt of Indra, slain in you by brahman — svāhā».
Version
6108eb369e3a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It is worth speaking of the nāgas as a class, for we have now run through half the list. Nāga means both “serpent” and “elephant”; in this literature it denotes a being midway between serpent and human: nāgas have a serpent's form, but speak, have kingdoms, daughters, and grievances. They live in pātāla, the nether worlds, and their world is described as the richest: full of jewels, palaces, and gardens.
This detail matters for reading this book: nāgas are not beasts, and the charm addresses them as persons — hence the question “if you are the messenger, or yourself.” The Vaiṣṇava side speaks of the nāgas without hostility and does not war with them; its attitude is visible in the story of Kāliya, discussed reading the fourth verse of contemplation. Kāliya was poisoning the Yamunā, and Kṛṣṇa danced on his heads; but when Kāliya's wives came to plead, He released him and told him to go to an island Garuḍa would not reach.
Note the detail: Kāliya fled to the Yamunā from Garuḍa, for on that island the latter would overtake him. That is, in its story, Garuḍa is precisely the terror the serpent hides from; and Kāliya's punishment turned out a deliverance for him — the mark of the footprints on his heads made him untouchable. This, to my mind, deserves noting when reading the charm: where this book asks for extermination, its own story exiles and marks.