Introduction
Garuda is a huge, mythical bird of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain tradition. He is the king of birds and the vehicle (vahana) of Vishnu, and the sworn enemy of serpents. He is the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata, and the brother of Aruna, the charioteer of the sun. His name is often derived from the root gri, "to devour", and he is described as the devourer of snakes.
Family
- Father: Kashyapa
- Mother: Vinata
- Siblings: Vishnu, Surya, Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Dhata, Amsha, Pushan, Tvashtri, Savitri (aspect of Surya), Aruna
Names
He is called Suparna, "beautiful-winged", Garutman, Tarkshya, Vainateya, "son of Vinata", Khageshvara, "lord of birds", and Nagantaka, "destroyer of snakes".
Early history
Garutman and Suparna are mentioned in the Rigveda and later Vedic texts as a bird associated with the sun and soma. The Garuda of the epics is fully developed in the Mahabharata, where his story is told at length in the Adi Parva. One of the earliest known temples of Vishnu, at Besnagar (Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh), is marked by a Garuda pillar (the Heliodorus pillar), erected around 100 BCE by a Greek ambassador to the court of the Shunga king, in honour of Vasudeva, the "god of gods". The Gupta emperors used Garuda as their emblem.
Birth and the theft of the nectar
Garuda emerged from the second egg of Vinata, and was so bright that the gods took him for Agni. To free his mother, who had been enslaved by Kadru, he flew to heaven to get the nectar of immortality from the gods. He passed through a ring of fire, a spinning blade and two guarding serpents, and defeated the gods. Indra struck him with his thunderbolt, and Garuda respected it by dropping a feather. Vishnu, impressed, offered him a boon, and Garuda asked to be above Vishnu, and Vishnu granted him a seat on his banner. Garuda in turn offered to be Vishnu's vehicle. Garuda gave the nectar to the serpents for his mother's freedom, but Indra took it back before they could drink it.
Other stories
- The elephant and the tortoise: Garuda ate a giant elephant and a giant tortoise, who were reborn brothers, fighting in a lake, in an episode of the Mahabharata.
- Nagapasha: in the Ramayana, when Indrajit bound Rama and Lakshmana with serpent arrows, Garuda came and freed them.
- Kaliya: Kaliya, a serpent, fled to the Yamuna river where Garuda could not go because of a curse by a sage, and so lived there until Krishna defeated him.
Iconography
Garuda is shown as a bird-man, with the face of an eagle, wings, a golden body and a human torso, in a kneeling posture with folded hands facing the shrine of Vishnu. He is also shown carrying Vishnu, or with a snake in his beak. In Vaishnava temples, a Garuda image or pillar faces the sanctum. The Brahminy kite is called Garuda in India.
The Garuda Purana
The Garuda Purana is one of the eighteen Puranas, presented as a dialogue between Vishnu and Garuda, and deals with a wide range of subjects, including the fate of the soul after death. It is often read in Hindu households during the mourning period after a death.
Worship
Garuda is worshipped in Vaishnava temples and on Garuda Panchami. The Nachiyar Koil in Tamil Nadu is famous for its Garuda (Kal Garudan) carved in stone.
In Buddhism and other traditions
In Buddhism, the garuda (Pali garula) is a class of bird-like beings who are enemies of the nagas, and appear in the Jataka tales. In Japan, Karura is one of the eight kinds of guardian beings (Hachibushu). In Tibet, a similar bird, the khyung, is important in Bon and Buddhist traditions.
National symbols
Garuda is the national emblem of Indonesia (Garuda Pancasila) and the name of its national airline. In Thailand, Garuda (Krut) is the royal emblem, and the symbol of the king's authority.
Meaning
Garuda represents speed, strength and the power of devotion. His enmity with snakes is understood as a symbol of the conflict between higher aspirations and lower instincts.