Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.59.17-19
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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su - parṇena
—
by him of the great wings (Garuḍa)
Compound: su (good, great) + parṇa (wing/feather). Suparṇa is one of Garuḍa's classical names; also denotes the soul in the Mundaka Upaniṣad image of two birds — though in Vaiṣṇava reading the two birds are jīva and Paramātmā.
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tuṇḍa - pakṣa - nakheḥ
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beak, wings, talons
The three instruments by which Garuḍa fights — every part of the Lord's vāhana is weaponized. Gauḍīyas note that the Lord's associates need no separate armaments; their bodies are sufficient sevā-instruments.
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kuru - udvaha
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O hero of the Kurus (Parīkṣit)
Compound: Kuru + udvaha (uplifter). Śuka turns to address his royal listener mid-narrative — a Bhāgavata convention that re-anchors the kathā in the speaker-hearer relationship that is itself bhakti.
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narakaḥ
—
Naraka (Bhauma)
Now alone on the field. The verse's syntax centers him for the climactic single combat to come — the Lord has cleared the periphery.
After describing cutting up the arms of the enemy troops, cutting up of their weapons is described. Astras are arrows and other missiles and sastras are swords and other hand weapons. One by one he shot down each weapon with three arrows. Before the weapons thrown could reach their target, he had killed the throwers of the weapons, and then destroyed the missiles while they were still in the air, each with three arrows. And the arrows were shot one after the other, not three at once. So quick was Krsna to shoot that in amazement Sukadeva cried out "O kurudvaha, Parksit!" Such swiftness had not be conceived by any of the Kurus such as Bhims and Arjuna though they had been taught by Krsna.
Śastra means swords etc. and astrāṇi means arrows etc. The Lord was carried on Garuḍa, who flew here and there with great speed at ease. This appeared most glorious and indicates Garuḍa’s power. Though he was carrying the Lord, with his wings he beat the elephants. From this it is understood that the fighters were not riding the elephants. The elephants were situated separately. Some were killed and some injured. Naraka, remaining in the battle (yudhi), continued to fight. This indicates that he was fearless.
Śastra means swords etc. and astrāṇi means arrows etc. The Lord was carried on Garuḍa, who flew here and there with great speed at ease. This appeared most glorious and indicates Garuḍa’s power. Though he was carrying the Lord, with his wings he beat the elephants. From this it is understood that the fighters were not riding the elephants. The elephants were situated separately. Some were killed and some injured. He attacked those in front with his beak, those on the sides with his wings, and those behind with his claws. This shows his speed and prowess. Naraka, remaining in the battle (yudhi), continued to fight. This indicates that he was fearless since he stayed after the elephants and troops were all defeated.
Garuḍa flogs the war-elephants with wings, beak, and talons until they retreat into the city — and Bhauma is left alone, exposed, like a man whose furniture has been removed mid-conversation. The Lord's strategy is not to overwhelm but to isolate; only when the soul is alone does it actually look up.
Garuḍa is the eternal vāhana of Viṣṇu — Mahābhārata records his negotiation with Indra for the soma, and his eventual surrender to Viṣṇu, who placed him on His own flagstaff. From that day onward Garuḍa's labor is no longer for his mother's freedom from Kadrū's snakes; it is for the Lord's līlā.
In this chapter, Garuḍa beats elephants with wings and talons exactly as he would treat the snakes he natively eats. The Vaiṣṇava reading: every faculty turned toward the Lord regains its proper appetite.
My note
Source: vedabase.io