‘Swooping upon the bird that was carrying off the amrita by force — the enemy of the gods, the ranger of the sky — Indra struck him on the body with the vajra. But Garuda, the best of flying creatures, struck by the vajra, laughing, spoke to Indra in that clash with a gentle word: “I shall pay honor to the sage (Dadhichi) from whose bone the vajra was born; I shall pay honor also to the vajra, and to you, O Shatakratu. See, I let fall a single feather, whose end you will never find; for from the blow of the vajra I feel no pain at any time.” Then all beings, astonished, seeing that wondrous [fallen] feather (su-parna), said: “Let him be called Suparna (the Fair-Feathered).” Beholding this wonder as well, thousand-eyed Purandara (Indra), deeming him a great being, addressed him: “I wish to know your supreme, unsurpassed strength; and I wish to make an eternal friendship with you, O best of birds.”’