śrī suparṇa stotram (mahābhārate)

The gods' hymn to Garuda from the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, and it is a hymn of fear rather than of devotion. They begin by identifying him with everything they can think of — you are the seer, the god, lord of birds, the burning Sun, Prajapati, Indra, Sharva, Brahma, Agni, the wind, Vishnu — and then the reason for the flattery shows through. You scorch these creatures as the sun does when it is enraged; you have risen like the fire at the end of an age, and you are making the change of the ages happen. We have come to the lord of birds for refuge. The last verse asks him outright to stop: do not be angry, have mercy on the world, you are the lord, come to quiet, protect us. It is a placation, addressed to a power the gods have just discovered they cannot fight.