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Garuda was said to be the king of birds, and the Vahana of Lord Vishnu. In Hinduism, Vahana has a great significance as the Vehicles of Gods and Goddesses. Garuda was immensely powerful, and was so huge that he could even block the sun. He resembled a bird with the head, wings, talons and beak of an eagle and the body of a man.
Garuda was the eternal enemies of the nagas, or serpents, and used to kill them and eat them. Garuda’s image is often used as a charm to protect a person from snakes or snake bites, as it was thought that snakes were afraid of him, and did not harm his devotees. Garudi Vidya is a hymn used to cure all kinds of snake poison and remove all evil from this world.
He is known by various names, like Chirada, Gaganeshvara, Kamayusha, Kashyapi, among others. There is an Upanishad in his name, the Garudopanishad, and a Purana, the Garuda Purana is sang in his devotion. The earliest mention of Garuda is in the Vedas, by the name Syena. It is written that the mighty bird was responsible for bringing nectar to earth from heaven.
One of the five faces of Panchmukhi Hanuman is that of Garuda’s, which points towards the west. He is known to have powers that can heal any kind of poison from a person’s body. Garuda wears the serpent Adisesha on his left toenail and Gulika on his right cerebral vortex. His sacred thread is formed by the great snake Vasuki. The belt of his hip is formed by the dreaded cobra Takshaka. He wears Karkotaka as a necklace around his neck.
The snakes Padma and Mahapadma are his earrings. He wears the snake Shankachuda in his divine hair. He is often accompanied by his two wives, Rudra and Sukrithi. These are all mentioned in Vedanta Desika’s Garuda Panchashath. Garuda also represents the five Vayu in us, prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana by the five forms that he takes of Satya, Suparna, Garuda, Tarkshya, and Vihageshwara.
Garuda, being the eternal devotee of Lord Vishnu, plays a major role in the Dwapar Yuga when Lord Krishna, Vishu’s avatar, and Satyabhama ride on Garuda to kill Narakasura. Lord Hari rides on Garuda to save the great devotee elephant Gajendra in another instance. According to legend, Garuda’s wings chant the vedas when he is flying and they are in motion.
Garuda was born to the great rishi Kashyapa and Vinata. It is said, that when Garuda was born, he appeared as a raging inferno capable of destroying the whole universe. The gods pleaded to him and asked him to stop causing so much of destruction. He heard to their prayers and reduced his size and intensity greatly.
Garuda’s father, Sage Kashyapa, had two wives, Vinata and Kadru, who were the daughters of Prajapati Daksha. The wives wanted two wishes from their husband, and sage Kashyapa granted them with two wishes. Vinata wished to have two sons, and Kadru wished to have a thousand snakes as sons. Both of them laid eggs.
Kadru’s eggs hatched early and the thousand snakes came out. But, Vinata’s eggs took a lot of time to hatch. Impatient, Vinata tried to break open one egg. Aruna, the red rays of the Sun, was thus born, with the upper body of a human. Aruna cursed Vinata that she would be a slave to her sister Kadru, and only her second son who would hatch out of the egg be able to save her.
When the second egg hatched, Garuda was born. He radiated of brilliant energy and was of immense size and proportions. He went on to become the king of birds, and the sworn enemy of serpents, his brothers and the sons of Kadru around the world. When he came to know of his mother’s curse, he wanted to save her at any costs. So, he approached the serpents, and asked them what they wanted in return of his mother.
The serpents told him to bring the elixir of immortality, amrita in return for his mother. At that time, the amrita was in possession of the gods who guarded it very seriously, as it was the source of their immortality. They had kept the amrita amidst a great fire that covered the sky. They had also stationed two deadly poisonous snakes as the guardians of the elixir, and also set up many death traps all around it.
Garuda fought with all the gods and defeated them. To extinguish the fire, he took waters from all the rivers and poured it on the fire that was burning around the elixir. He also managed to kill the two deadly snakes who were guarding the elixir. Then, he carried the amrita to the serpents in his mouth, without swallowing it. He met Lord Indra on the way. He promised Indra that once he gave the amrita to the serpents and released his mother, he would get it back to the gods. In return, Indra promised him the serpents as his food.
He went to the serpents and gave them the elixir. They released his mother in return. He then asked them to go cleanse themselves before consuming the nectar. As the serpents left for cleaning themselves, Garuda carried the amrita in his talons all the way to heaven. He had dropped a few of the elixir, which was licked by the serpents. It led to their tongue being split into two. From that day on, Garuda became an ally of the gods, and the sworn enemy of snakes.
Garuda had six sons, Sumukha, Suvarna, Subala, Sunaama, Sunethra, and Suvarchas. From them, a warrior race of birds descended. This race of birds was very powerful, and fought against evil in the world. They were protected by Lord Vishnu, and were the main enemies of nagas. They often battled these nagas and stopped them from causing chaos and brought order to the world.
Garuda was also one of the most beloved and devoted followers of Lord Vishnu. He was the mount, or vahana of Lord Vishnu. The story goes, that when Garuda hatched from his egg, he was very hungry. He went to his father to ask for food, and his father told him to feed on the cattle of a village. Being new born, he did not know the difference between cattle and human beings, and tried to eat the villagers.
Just, then, Lord Vishnu arrived to save the villagers. He asked Garuda about the problem. Garuda told him that he was really hungry, and nothing in this world could satisfy his hunger. Vishnu smiled and offered his arm to Garuda to sit on. Garuda sat on his arm, and then Vishnu offered him some flesh from his arm. Garuda, being very hungry at the moment, fed on the flesh, and his hunger was finally satisfied.
Garuda noticed that there was no wound on Vishnu’s arm, and he realized that Vishnu was no ordinary being. Bowing to the Lord, he asked to be his servant at all times and serve him. Lord Vishnu smiled and blessed him with immortality, and made him his mount. From that day on, Garuda has been carrying Lord Vishnu on his mighty shoulders.
Garuda is also mentioned many times in the Mahabharata. Garuda was the representation of great speed, power and intelligence on the battle field. Whenever the Pandavas used to rapidly decimate their foes with their might and strength, it was likened to Garuda swooping down on serpents and killing them. Their fallen and battered enemies were likened to the serpents.
Dronacharya, the great teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas who also led the army of the Kauravas for a while, used a military formation named after Garuda. The formation was impenetrable, and caused a lot of destruction in the Pandavas camp. Lord Krishna, one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, always carried an image of Garuda on his banner. It is said that the chariot of Arjuna was unaffected even after being bombarded with so many celestial weapons because Hanuman and Garuda were present with him in the chariot.
Garuda, the king of birds and the mount of Lord Vishnu, has mention in other religions too, like Buddhism. He is also worshiped in countries like Indonesia, Mongolia, and Thailand.
