tatraikadÄ jala-caraá¹
garuá¸o bhaká¹£yam Ä«psitam
nivÄritaḥ saubhariṇÄ
prasahya ká¹£udhito 'harat
tatra - there (in that lake); ekadÄ - once; jala-caram - an aquatic creature; garuá¸aḥ - Garuá¸a; bhaká¹£yam - his proper food; Ä«psitam - desired; nivÄritaḥ - forbidden; saubhariá¹‡Ä - by Saubhari Muni; prasahya - taking courage; ká¹£udhitaḥ - feeling hunger; aharat - he took.
In that very lake Garuá¸a had once desired to eat a fish — fish being, after all, his normal food. Although forbidden by the sage Saubhari, who was meditating there within the water, Garuá¸a took courage and, feeling hungry, seized the fish.
Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« is now explaining why Garuá¸a could not approach the lake in the YamunÄ River. It is the nature of birds to eat fish, and thus, by the arrangement of the Lord, the great bird Garuá¸a does not commit any offense by nourishing himself with fish. On the other hand, Saubhari Muni’s forbidding a much greater personality to eat his normal food did constitute an offense. According to ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura, Saubhari committed two offenses: first, he dared to give an order to a supremely exalted soul like Garuá¸a, and second, he obstructed Garuá¸a from satisfying his desire.
