Garuda
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The Garuda (Sanskrit: Garuḍa गरुड, Pāli Garuḷa) is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.
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[edit] Garuda in Hinduism
In Hindu mythology, a Garuḍa is a lesser Hindu divinity, usually the mount (vahanam) of Vishnu. Garuḍa is depicted as having a golden body, white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak and wings but a man's body. He wears a crown on his head. He is ancient and huge, and can block out the sun.
His stature in Hindu religion can be gauged by the fact that an independent Upanishad, the Garuḍopaniṣad, and a Purana, the Garuda Purana, is devoted to him. Various names have been attributed to Garuḍa - Chirada, Gaganeshvara, Kamayusha, Kashyapi, Khageshvara, Nagantaka, Sitanana, Sudhahara, Suparna, Tarkshya, Vainateya, Vishnuratha and others. The Vedas provide the earliest reference of Garuḍa, though by the name of Śyena, where this mighty bird is said to have brought nectar to earth from heaven. The Puranas, which came into existence much later, mention Garuḍa as doing the same thing, which indicates that Śyena (sanskrit for Eagle) and Garuḍa are the same. One of the faces of Śrī Pañcamukha Hanuman is Mahavira Garuḍa. This face points towards the west. Worship of Garuḍa is believed to remove the effects of poisons from one's body.Hanuman is also one of the Avatara's of Garuda.In Tamil Vaishnavism Garuda and Hanuman are known as "Periya Thiruvadi" and "Siriya Thiruvadi" respectively.
In the Bhagavad-Gita (Ch.10, Verse 30), in the middle of the battlefied "Kurukshetra", Krishna explaining his omnipresence, says - "Of birds, I am the son of Vineeta(Garuda)" indicating the importance of Garuda.
[edit] Garuda in Mahabharata
The story of Garuda's birth and deeds is told in the great epic Mahabharata. See Mahbharata, Astika Parva, Sections XXIII ff. The epic tells us that when Garuda first burst forth from his egg, he appeared as a raging inferno equal to the cosmic conflagration that consumes the world at the end of every age. Frightened, the gods begged him for mercy. Garuda, hearing their plea, reduced himself in size and energy.
Garuda's father was the creator-rishi Kasyapa. His mother was Vinata, whose sister was Kadru, the mother of serpents. One day, Vinata entered into and lost a foolish bet, as a result of which she became enslaved to her sister. Garuda took it upon himself to release his mother from this state of bondage. He approached the serpents and asked them what it would take to purchase his mother's freedom. Their reply was that Garuda would have to bring them the elixir of immortality, also called amrita.
Now the amrita at that time found itself in the possession of the gods, who guarded it jealously, since it was the source of their immortality. They had ringed the elixir with a massive fire that covered the sky. They had blocked the way to the elixir with a fierce mechanical contraption of sharp rotating blades. And finally, they had stationed two gigantic poisonous snakes next to the elixir as a last line of defense.
Undaunted, Garuda hastened toward the abode of the gods intending to rob them of the precious elixir. Knowing of his design, the gods met him in full battle-array. Garuda, however, defeated the entire host and scattered them in all directions. Taking the water of many rivers into his mouth, he extinguished the protective fire the gods had thrown up. Reducing his size, he crept past the rotating blades of their murderous machine. And finally, he mangled the two gigantic serpents they had posted as guards. Taking the elixir into his mouth without swallowing it, he launched again into the air and headed toward the eagerly waiting serpents.
As Garuda flew through the air, he encountered Vishnu the Preserver. Rather than fight, however, the two exchanged promises. Vishnu promised Garuda the gift of immortality even without drinking from the elixir, and Garuda promised to become Vishnu's mount. Flying onward, he met Indra the god of the sky. Another exchange of promises occurred. Garuda promised that once he had delivered the elixir, thus fulfilling the request of the serpents, he would make it possible for Indra to regain possession of the elixir and to take it back to the gods. Indra in turn promised Garuda the serpents as food.
At long last, Garuda alighted in front of the waiting serpents. Placing the elixir on the grass, and thereby liberating his mother Vinata from her servitude, he urged the serpents to perform their religious ablutions before consuming it. As they hurried off to do so, Indra swooped in to make off with the elixir. From that day onward, Garuda was the ally of the gods and the trusty mount of Vishnu, as well as the implacable enemy of snakes, upon whom he preyed at every opportunity.
[edit] Garudas in Buddhism
In Buddhist mythology, the garuḍas (Pāli: garuḷā) are enormous predatory birds with intelligence and social organization. Another name for the garuḍa is suparṇa (Pāli: supaṇṇa), meaning "well-winged, having good wings". Like the Nāgas, they combine the characteristics of animals and divine beings, and may be considered to be among the lowest devas.
The exact size of the garuḍa is uncertain, but its wings are said to have a span of many miles. This may be poetical exaggeration, but it is also said that when a garuḍa's wings flap, they create hurricane-like winds that darken the sky and blow down houses. A human being is so small compared to a garuḍa that a man can hide in the plumage of one without being noticed (Kākātī Jātaka, J.327). They are also capable of tearing up entire banyan trees from their roots and carrying them off.
The garuḍas have kings and cities, and at least some of them have the magical power of changing into human form when they wish to have dealings with people. On some occasions Garuḍa kings have had romances with human women in this form. Their dwellings are in groves of the simbalī, or silk-cotton tree.
The garuḍas are enemies to the Nāgas, a race of intelligent serpent- or dragon-like beings, whom they hunt. The garuḍas at one time caught the nāgas by seizing them by their heads; but the nāgas learned that by swallowing large stones, they could make themselves too heavy to be carried by the garuḍas, wearing them out and killing them from exhaustion. This secret was divulged to one of the garuḍas by the ascetic Karambiya, who taught him how to seize a nāga by the tail and force him to vomit up his stone (Pandara Jātaka, J.518).
The garuḍas were among the beings appointed by Śakra to guard Mount Sumeru and the Trāyastriṃśa heaven from the attacks of the asuras.
In the Mahasamyatta Sutta, the Buddha is shown making temporary peace between the Nagas and the garuḍas.
The Sanskrit word garuḍa has been borrowed and modified in the languages of several Buddhist countries. In Thai the word for a garuḍa is Krut (ครุฑ). In Burmese, garuḍas are called ga-lon. In Japanese a garuḍa is called Karura (the form Garuda (ガルーダ is however used in recent Japanese fiction - see below).
Thailand and Indonesia use the garuḍa as their national symbols; the Indonesian national airline is Garuda Indonesia. One form of the garuḍa, used in Thailand as a sign of Royal family, is called Krut Pha, meaning "garuḍa with outstretched wings."
The Garuda is the symbol of the city of Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
 Garuda as national symbol of Indonesia |
 Garuda as national symbol of Thailand |
[edit] External links
- Section on Garuda in the article, Vishnu - the Cosmic Protector by Madhuri Guin (the contents of this link cannot be viewed in India)
- Garuda Purana
- Website of the Sri Viswaroopa Panchamukha AnjaneyaSwami Foundation,which also includes Garuda as one of the faces.
- Images of Garuda
- Gauruda, arch-enemy of the naga
- Photos of Garuda as represented at Preah Khan and Angkor Wat in Cambodia
- Patinated Bronze Figure of Khangard
| Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Indian epic poetry |  |
|---|---|
| Female Deities: Saraswati | Mariamman | Lakshmi | Dakshayani | Gayatri | Parvati | Durga | Shakti | Kali | Sita | Devi | Radha | Mahavidya | more... | |
| Male Deities: Brahma | Vishnu | Shiva | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Murugan | Hanuman | Ayyanar | Indra | Surya | more... | |
| Texts: Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata | Rigveda | |
