Garuda

Garuda
the birds

Garuda: Vahana of Lord Vishnu
Devanagari गरुड़
Sanskrit transliteration Garuḍa
Affiliation Mount of Vishnu
Abode Vaikuntha,
Ksheer Sagar
Texts Garuda Purana
Personal Information
Parents
  • Kashyapa (father)
  • Vinata (mother)

The Garuda is a large legendary bird, bird-like creature, or humanoid bird that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Garuda is the mount (vahana) of the Lord Vishnu. Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila. The brahminy kite and phoenix are considered to be the contemporary representations of Garuda.[1] Indonesia adopts a more stylistic approach to the Garuda's depiction as its national symbol, where it depicts a Javanese eagle (being much larger than a kite).[2]

About Garuda

Brahminy kite
Vishnu
The brahminy kite (left) is considered as the contemporary representation of Garuda. Garuda may be also identified with an eagle. Vishnu riding Garuda, depicted as a large bird in this painting by Raja Ravi Varma.

In Hinduism, Garuda is a Hindu divinity, usually the mount of the Lord Vishnu. Garuda is depicted as having the golden body of a strong man with a white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak and with a crown on his head. This ancient deity was said to be massive, large enough to block out the sun.

Garuda is known as the eternal sworn enemy of the Nāga serpent race and known for feeding exclusively on snakes. Such behaviour may have referred to the actual short-toed eagle of India. The image of Garuda is often used as the charm or amulet to protect the bearer from snake attack and its poison, since the king of birds is an implacable enemy and "devourer of serpent". Garudi Vidya is the mantra against snake poison to remove all kinds of evil.[3]

His stature in Hindu religion can be gauged by the fact that a dependent Upanishad, the Garudopanishad, and a Purana, the Garuda Purana, is devoted to him. Various names have been attributed to Garuda – Chirada, Gaganeshvara, Kamayusha, Kashyapi, Khageshvara, Nagantaka, Sitanana, Sudhahara, Suparna, Tarkshya, Vainateya, Vishnuratha and others. The Vedas provide the earliest reference of Garuda, 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 Garuda as doing the same thing, which indicates that Śyena (Sanskrit for eagle) and Garuda are the same. One of the faces of Śrī Pañcamukha Hanuman is Mahavira Garuda. This face points towards the west. Worship of Garuda is believed to remove the effects of poisons from one's body. In Tamil Vaishnavism Garuda and Hanuman are known as "Periya Thiruvadi" and "Siriya Thiruvadi" respectively.

Vishnu and Lakshmi riding on the Garuda – Painting in LACMA from Rajasthan, Bundi, c.1730

In the Bhagavad-Gita (Ch.10, Verse 30), in the middle of the battlefield "Kurukshetra", Krishna explaining his omnipresence, says – "as son of Vinata, I am in the form of Garuda, the king of the bird community (Garuda)" indicating the importance of Garuda.

Garuda wears the serpent Adisesha on his left wrist and the serpent Gulika on his right wrist. The serpent Vasuki forms his sacred thread. The cobra Takshaka forms his belt on his hip. The snake Karkotaka is worn as his necklace. The snakes Padma and Mahapadma are his ear rings. The snake Shankachuda adorns his divine hair. He is flanked by his two wives ‘Rudra’ and ‘Sukeerthi’ or (Sukirthi). These are all invoked in Vedanta Desika's Garuda Panchashath and Garuda Dandaka compositions. Garuda flanked with his consorts 'Rudra' and 'Sukirthi' can be seen worshipped in an ancient Soumya Keshava temple in Bindiganavile (or Mayura puri in Sanskrit ) in Karnataka state of India.

Garuda at Chakri Maha Prasat Hall, Thailand

Garuda Vyuha is worshiped in Tantra for Abhichara and to protect against Abhichara. However, the interesting thing is that Garuda is the Sankarshna form of the lord who during creation primarily possesses the knowledge aspect of the lord (among Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha forms). The important point is that Garuda represents the five vayus within us : prana, apana, vyana, udana, samana through his five forms Satya, Suparna, Garuda, Tarkshya, Vihageshwara. These five vayus through yoga can be controlled through Pranayama which can lead to Kundalini awakening leading to higher levels of consciousness.

Garuda plays an important role in Krishna Avatar in which Krishna and Satyabhama ride on Garuda to kill Narakasura. On another occasion, Lord Hari rides on Garuda to save the devotee elephant Gajendra. It is also said that Garuda's wings when flying will chant the Vedas.

With the position of Garuda's hands and palms, he is also called 'Kai Yendhi Perumal', in Tamil.

In the Mahabharata

Birth and deeds

The Heliodorus pillar (2nd century BCE) was a dedication to Garuda, commissioned by an ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas circa 100 BCE.

The story of Garuda's birth and deeds is told in the first book of the great epic Mahabharata.[4] According to the epic, 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. He had two wives, Vinata and Kadru, who were daughters of Prajapathi Daksha. Kasyapa, on the pleadings of his wives, granted them their wishes; Vinata wished for two sons and Kadru wished for a thousand snakes as her sons. Both laid eggs. While the thousand eggs of Kadru hatched early (after steaming the eggs to hatch) into snakes, the hatching of the two eggs of Vinata did not take place for a long time. Impatient, Vinata broke open one egg, which was half formed, with the upper half only as a human and was thus deformed. Her half-formed son cursed her, decreeing that she would be a slave for her sister (she was her rival) for a long time, by which time her second son would be born who would save her from his curse. Her first son flew away and came to prominence as Aruna, the red spectacle seen as the Sun rises in the morning, and also as charioteer of the Sun. The second egg hatched after a long time, during which period Vinata was the servant of her sister as she had lost a bet with her. When the second egg hatched, a fully grown, shining and of mighty size, bird form emerged as Garuda, the king of birds. Garuda was thus born.[5]

Vishnu swoops down from heaven on an eagle named Garuda, who has four arms in this image, two of which hold vessels that probably contain the nectar of immortality

One day, Vinata entered into and lost a foolish bet, as a result of which she became enslaved to her sister. Resolving to release his mother from this state of bondage, Garuda approached the serpents and asked them what it would take to purchase her freedom. Their reply was that Garuda would have to bring them the elixir of immortality, also called amrita. It was a tall order. The amrita at that time found itself in the possession of the gods, who guarded it zealously, 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 deadly guardians.

Garuda, Belur, India

Undaunted, Garuda hastened toward the abode of the gods intent on robbing them of their treasure. 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. En route, he encountered Vishnu. Rather than fight, 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. The serpents came back from their ablutions and saw the elixir gone but with small droplets of it on the grass. They tried to lick the droplets and thereby split their tongues in two. From then onward, serpents have split tongues and shed their skin as a kind of immortality. 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.

Descendants

Balinese wooden statue of Vishnu riding Garuda, Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Museum, Jakarta

According to the Mahabharata, Garuda had six sons (Sumukha, Suvarna, Subala, Sunaama, Sunethra and Suvarchas) from whom were descended the race of birds. The members of this race were of great might and without compassion, subsisting as they did on their relatives the snakes. Vishnu was their protector.[6]

As a symbol

Throughout the Mahabharata, Garuda is invoked as a symbol of impetuous violent force, of speed, and of martial prowess. Powerful warriors advancing rapidly on doomed foes are likened to Garuda swooping down on a serpent.[7] Defeated warriors are like snakes beaten down by Garuda.[8] The field marshal Drona uses a military formation named after Garuda.[9] Krishna even carries the image of Garuda on his banner.[10]

In Buddhism

Garuda vanquishing the Naga clan. Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, 2nd century CE.

In Buddhist mythology, the Garuda (Pāli: garuḷā) are enormous predatory birds with intelligence and social organization. Another name for the Garuda is suparṇa (Pāli: supaṇṇa), meaning "well-winged, having good wings". Like the Naga, they combine the characteristics of animals and divine beings, and may be considered to be among the lowest devas.

The exact size of the Garuda is uncertain, but its wings are said to have a span of many miles. This may be a poetic exaggeration, but it is also said that when a Garuda'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 Garuda 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.

Garudas are the great golden-winged Peng birds. They also have the ability to grow large or small, and to appear and disappear at will. Their wingspan is 330 yojanas (one yojana being 8 miles long). With one flap of its wings, a Peng bird dries up the waters of the sea so that it can gobble up all the exposed dragons. With another flap of its wings, it can level the mountains by moving them into the ocean.

Garuda in Preah Khan, Angkor, Cambodia.

The Garudas 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 Garuda kings have had romances with human women in this form. Their dwellings are in groves of the simbalī, or silk-cotton tree.

The Garuda are enemies to the nāga, a race of intelligent serpent- or dragon-like beings, whom they hunt. The Garudas 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 Garudas, wearing them out and killing them from exhaustion. This secret was divulged to one of the Garudas 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 Garudas were among the beings appointed by Śakra to guard Mount Sumeru and the Trāyastriṃśa heaven from the attacks of the asuras.

13th century Cham sculpture depicts Garuda devouring a nāga serpent

In the Maha-samaya Sutta (Digha Nikaya 20), the Buddha is shown making temporary peace between the Nagas and the Garudas.

The Sanskrit word Garuda has been borrowed and modified in the languages of several countries. In Burmese, Garudas are called galone (ဂဠုန်). In Burmese astrology, the vehicle of the Sunday planet is the galone.[11] In the Kapampangan language of the Philippines, the native word for eagle is galura. In Japanese a Garuda is called karura (however, the form Garuda ガルーダ is used in recent Japanese fiction - see below).

In the Qing Dynasty fiction The Story of Yue Fei (1684), Garuda sits at the head of the Buddha's throne. But when a celestial bat (an embodiment of the Aquarius constellation) flatulates during the Buddha’s expounding of the Lotus Sutra, Garuda kills her and is exiled from paradise. He is later reborn as Song Dynasty General Yue Fei. The bat is reborn as Lady Wang, wife of the traitor Prime Minister Qin Hui, and is instrumental in formulating the "Eastern Window" plot that leads to Yue's eventual political execution.[12] It is interesting to note The Story of Yue Fei plays on the legendary animosity between Garuda and the Nagas when the celestial bird-born Yue Fei defeats a magic serpent who transforms into the unearthly spear he uses throughout his military career.[13] Literary critic C. T. Hsia explains the reason why Qian Cai, the book's author, linked Yue with Garuda is because of the homology in their Chinese names. Yue Fei's courtesy name is Pengju (鵬舉).[14] A Peng (鵬) is a giant mythological bird likened to the Middle Eastern Roc.[15] Garuda's Chinese name is Great Peng, the Golden-Winged Illumination King (大鵬金翅明王).[14]

As a cultural and national symbol

Garuda according to Ida Made Tlaga, a 19th-century Balinese artist

In India, Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia the eagle symbolism is represented by Garuda, a large mythical bird with eagle-like features that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology as the vahana (vehicle) of the god Vishnu. Garuda became the national emblem of Thailand and Indonesia; Thailand's Garuda is rendered in a more traditional anthropomorphic mythical style, while that of Indonesia is rendered in heraldic style with traits similar to the real Javan hawk-eagle.

India

India primarily uses Garuda as a martial motif:

Indonesia

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Balinese dancers including a man dressed as Garuda (1935)

Indonesia uses the Garuda, called the Garuda Pancasila, as its national symbol, it is somewhat intertwined with the concept of the phoenix.

A part of planned 120-metre tall Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue in Bali, currently under construction.

Japan

Wingless statue of Garuda or Karura in Kofukuji Temple, Nara, Japan, 8th century

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nepal

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Nepal uses the Garuda (Nepali: गरुड) as The Winged God.

Suriname

Thailand

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Garuda as the masthead of Thai royal barge.

Thailand uses the Garuda (Thai: ครุฑ, khrut) as its national symbol.

Philippines

The Garuda is one of the Philippine mythical creatures. In the Malayan Literature, the Epic of Bidasari of Mindanao, they are briefly mentioned as half-man half-bird creatures that are strong and are capable of flight. They could swoop and catch humans, but upon touching fresh waters they turn into attractive men with muscular bodies.

In Kapampangan mythology, Garuda is known as Ápûng Galúra who dwells on Bunduk Aláya (Eastern Mountain, referring to Mount Arayat), and is the alíli or "representative" of Ápûng Sínukuan, the Sun-God, and the úkum of all souls in the afterlife. Today, Galúra and its hispanicized counterpart, Gallora, is a surname among Kapampangans and a few Filipinos elsewhere in the country, especially those of Kapampangan descent.

In other media

"Garuda Team" is the 2-plane flight of the unnamed protagonist pilot (Callsign: Talisman - your player) and his wingman, Marcus Lampert (Callsign: Shamrock) in the popular video game Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.

Garuda is an evil character in the TV-series Lost Girl, fighting his antagonist - a Naga.

A Garuda voiced by Robin Williams appears in the film Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.[19][20]

In Kids TV show: Power Rangers Mystic Force, the base Zord of the yellow ranger was a Garuda.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Russel, RV & Lal, H. 1916 The tribes and castes of the central provinces of India. Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration In Four Volumes Vol. I. Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin’s Street, London. pp. 2231
  2. 1 2 Archived 27 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "Shakti Sadhana". Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Mahabharata, Book I: Adi Parva, Sections 23 ff.
  5. ↑ Ashok, Banker K (2012). Forest of Stories. Westland. pp. 173–175. ISBN 978-93-81626-37-5. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  6. ↑ Mahabharata, Book V: Udyoga Parva, Section 101.
  7. ↑ "Loud was the noise with which Arjuna faced his foes, like that made by Garuda in days of yore when swooping down for snakes." (Mahabharata, Book VIII: Karna Parva, Section 77.) "The impetuosity of Ashvatthama, as he rushed towards his foe, resembled that of Garuda swooping down for seizing a large snake." (Mahabharata, Book VIII: Karna Parva, Section 59.) Arjuna "seized Drupada as Garuda seizeth a huge snake after agitating the waters of the ocean." (Book I: Adi Parva, Section 140.)
  8. ↑ Mahabharata, Book VIII: Karna Parva, Section 85.
  9. ↑ Mahabharata, Book VII: Drona Parva, Section 20.
  10. ↑ Mahabharata, Book VIII: Karna Parva, Section 94.
  11. ↑ "Myanmar Travel - Myanmar Planetary Post". Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  12. ↑ Hsia, C.T. C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press, 2004 (ISBN 0231129904), 154
  13. ↑ Hsia, C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature, pp. 149
  14. 1 2 Hsia, C.T. C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature, pp. 149 and 488, n. 30
  15. ↑ Chau, Ju-Kua, Friedrich Hirth, and W.W. Rockhill. Chau Ju-Kua: His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, entitled Chu-Fan-Chi. St. Petersburg: Printing Office of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1911, p. 149, n. 1
  16. ↑ Garuda Team, http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=tim+garuda&hl=en&prmd=ivnsfd&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=_T2WTaaVBY_EsAO6-om7BQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=878
  17. ↑ Michael Kohn. Mongolia. Lonely Planet, 2005. p. 52.
  18. ↑ Garuda Radio & TV Suriname NV
  19. ↑ curl=https://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/family_visits/night_at_the_museum/fact_vs_fiction.aspx
  20. ↑ url=http://www.aol.com/video/view/553a45d6e4b0a945ff3b76cc/?ft=1
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