Garuda (गरुडः)

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Garuda (Samskrit : गरुडः) is the son of Rshi Kashyapa and his wife Vinata. Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun, is said to be his elder brother. (MW)

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

king of birds. [He is a son of Kaśyapa by his wife Vinata. He is the chief of the feathered race, an implacable enemy of serpents, and elder brother of Aruṇa. In a dispute between his mother and Kadru, her rival, about the colour of उचैःश्रवस् Kadru defeated Vinata, and, in accordance with the conditions of the wager, made her her slave. Garuḍa brought down the heavenly beverage (Amṛita) to purchase her freedom, not, however, without a hard struggle with Indra for the same. Vinata was then released; but the Amṛita was taken away by Indra from the serpents. Garuḍa is represented as the vehicle of Visnu, and as having a white face, an aquiline nose, red wings and a golden body.] Apte Sanskrit Dictionary

कश्यपा-न्मजे विनतागर्भजाते |

१ पक्षिराजे अमरः।

“विनतापिसुसिद्धार्था वभूव मुदिता तदा। जनयामास पुत्रौ{??}-रुणं गरुडं तथा। विकलाङ्गोऽरुणस्तत्र भास्करस्यपुरःसरः। पतत्त्रिणान्तु गरुड इन्द्रत्वेनाभ्यषिच्यत” भा॰ आ॰ Vachaspatyam

Names

गरुत्मान्गरुडस्तार्क्ष्यो वैनतेयः खगेश्वरः। नागान्तको विष्णुरथः सुपर्णः पन्नगाशनः॥ 1।1।29।1।2

स्वामी : विष्णुः

सम्बन्धि1 : विष्णुः

पदार्थ-विभागः : , द्रव्यम्, पृथ्वी, चलसजीवः, मनुष्येतरः, अलौकिकप्राणी Amarkosha

Genealogy

Descended from viṣṇu thus:--brahmā -marīci--kaśyapa--garuḍa.

Lineage of Garuda

Ramayana, Aranyakanda, Canto 14.

जन्म ॥ Birth

The story of Garuda's birth occurs in Adhyaya 16 in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata.

It is said that, in the Satya Yuga, Daksha Prajapati had two beautiful daughters viz. Kadru and Vinata. They were married to Rshi Kashyapa. One day, Kashyapa who was as powerful as Prajapati Brahma, being much pleased granted both his wives a boon of their choice. Kadru chose to have a thousand nagas as her children while Vinata chose to have two sons more powerful and heroic than the thousand sons of Kadru. Both being thus satisfied with the boon, Kashyapa retreated into the forest.

After a long time, Kadru laid thousand eggs and Vinata laid two eggs. The maids were elated and preserved the eggs in hot pots. In the 500th year, the eggs of Kadru hatched and thousand serpents of various kinds emerged out of them. But Vinata's eggs did not seem to hatch. This offended her and therefore, she broke open one of the eggs with her own hands. However, she noticed that only the upper body of her son had developed. It is said that, this son cursed his mother in anger saying,

स पुत्रः क्रोधसंरब्धः शशापैनामिति श्रुतिः। योऽहमेवं कृतो मातस्त्वया लोभपरीतया ॥१८॥

शरीरेणासमग्रेण तस्माद्दासी भविष्यसि। पञ्च वर्षशतान्यस्या यया विस्पर्धसे सह ॥१९॥

sa putraḥ krodhasaṁrabdhaḥ śaśāpaināmiti śrutiḥ। yo'hamevaṁ kr̥to mātastvayā lobhaparītayā ॥18॥

śarīreṇāsamagreṇa tasmāddāsī bhaviṣyasi। pañca varṣaśatānyasyā yayā vispardhase saha ॥19॥

Meaning: Oh mother ! You have left me half grown by falling prey to your greed and did not let me develop completely. Therefore, you will become the maid of that very person (co-wife) whom you envy. However, he also uttered the means of redemption from the curse. He said,

एष च त्वां सुतो मातर्दासीत्वान्मोचयिष्यति । यद्येनमपि मातस्त्वं मामिवाण्डविभेदनात् ॥२०॥

eṣa ca tvāṁ suto mātardāsītvānmocayiṣyati । yadyenamapi mātastvaṁ māmivāṇḍavibhedanāt ॥20॥

Meaning: And O Mother ! Your second son in this other egg will relieve you from this slavery, provided you let him develop completely and not break the egg as you did in my case.

Having thus asked Vinata to wait for 500 years more for the birth of her second son, Aruna rose to the sky where he became the charioteer of the Sun. And later, at the stipulated time, Garuda, the destroyer of the serpents was born.

500 years the egg broke itself open and out came garuḍa with blazing effulgence, and he rose up in the sky. His body glowed like the sun. The devas who got themselves dimmed by his effulgence asked Agnideva the reason therefor. Agnideva told them about the birth of garuḍa and also that he was equally effulgent as himself (Agnideva). Then all of them went to garuḍa and lavished on his head all possible blessings, and garuḍa, as requested by them, controlled his effulgence and returned to his mother. (Ādi Parva, Chapter 23).

Once Prajapati Kashyapa was doing a yajna with the desire of obtaining a son. He was being helped by rshis, deities and gandharvas. Accordingly, the task of collecting samidha was entrusted to Indra, the Valakhilya rshis and other deities. The powerful Indra chose to bring wood befitting his strength. As he was carrying mountain like log of wood, he came across the Valakhilyas who were the size of half a thumb and were struggling to carry one twig of Palasha tree amongst them. Seeing this, Indra, overcome with pride, slighted and stepped across them. This enraged the Valakhilyas who took the sankalpa (vow) of obtaining a second Indra for the deities who would be a hundred times more valourous than the current Indra. This was a cause of great concern for the current Indra who then went to the resort of sage Kashyapa. Sage Kashyapa then explained to the Valakhilyas that it is due to Lord Brahma’s order that Indra rules over the three worlds. And their wish for a second Indra will defy the words of Lord Brahma. Therefore, he requested the Valakhilyas not to falsify the verdict of Lord Brahma. And in order that the wish of the Valakhilyas is also fulfilled, he suggested that may the child whose birth they seek become the Indra of birds. He requested them to bless Lord Indra who had come to them as recipient. Convinced by the speech of Rshi Kashyapa, the Valakhilyas said, “Oh Prajapati, our vow was to obtain an Indra while yours was to obtain a son. Therefore, may you accept the fruit of our vow.” Thus, Rshi Kashyapa’s wife Vinata, who at that time was following the vow of Brahmacharya to obtain a progeny was blessed to bear that great son whose birth was the result of the vows of Rshi Kashyapa and the Valakhilyas. This son, who came to be known as the Indra of birds, is none other than Garuda. Reference : Mahabharata (Adi Parva Adhyaya 31)

Garuda in Mahabharata

Adhyaya 16 (Complete), 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34.

Family

कद्रूर् नाग सहस्रम् तु विजज्ञे धरणीधरन् | द्वौ पुत्रौ विनतायाः तु गरुडो अरुण एव च || ३-१४-३२

Kadru gave birth to a thousand-headed serpent who is the bearer of this earth, and Vinata gave birth to two sons namely Garuda and Aruna. [3-14-32]

aruṇa and garuḍa were the two sons born to Vinata. (vālmīki rāmāyaṇa, Araṇyakāṇḍa, Canto 15).

Vinata, a wife of Kasyapa gave birth to Garuda and Kadru and her sister gave birth to the Nagas.

The churning of the Milk-ocean was done before garuḍa was born. indra got a horse named Uccaiḥśravas from the Ocean of Milk. Between Kadru and Vinata a dispute arose as regards the colour of the horse's tail, Kadru saying that it was black while Vinata asserted that it was white. They further agreed to test the colour the next day, betting that she who was proved to be wrong would become the slave of the victor. As the nāga sons of Kadru hung on to the tail of the horse the tail appeared to be black and Vinata lost the bet and became Kadru's slave.

It was at this juncture that garuḍa was born, and he felt highly mortified to find his mother working as a slave of Kadru.

garuḍa, extremely pained at the pitiable plight of his mother, one day asked Kadru what price she and her children demanded for freeing Vinata from slavery, and Kadru demanded Amṛta from Devaloka as the price. garuḍa decided to get it and informed his mother about his decision to fly to Devaloka.

Vinata blessed her son that his wings would be protected by vāyu, the lower half of his body by sun and moon, the rest of the body by the Vasus and the head by agni. She also promised to wait there till her son returned.

Amrtam

Amrtam which has been thus recovered after many such adventures, is still preserved carefully in devaloka. [ (1) M.B., Adi Parva, Chapter 17. (2) M.B., Adi Parva, Chapter 27, verse 16. (3) M.B. Adi Parva, Chapter 30, Verse 2. (4) Valmlki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, 35th Sarga. (5) Visnu Purana, Section 1, Chapter 9. (6) Agni Purana, Chapter 152. (7) Bhagavata, 8th Skandha. (8) Uttara Ramayana.]

After saluting his mother garuḍa set out on his quest for Amṛta. All the fourteen worlds shook at the lashing of his wings. garuḍa reached the forest where his father kaśyapa was engaged in tapas. He told him about his mission

once went to devaloka and brought Amrtam from there to be given to the Nagas, but Devendra came down and took it back. This story is given in Mahabharata from Chapter 27 onwards. Agni Purana, Chapter 19 refers to Garuda and Aruna as the sons of Vinata.

Garuda and Valakhilyas

Garuda (Eagle) who went to the realm of devas (gods) for Amrta (ambrosia) took rest on the branch of a banyan tree, and that branch was broken from the tree. Sixty thousand Valakhilyas were doing penance hanging head downwards on that branch. Garuda knew this only after the branch was broken. Fearing the curse form them he took the branch in his beak and flew about here and there. At last, according to the advice of Kasyapa, he took the branch to the mount Gandhamadana and without causing any harm to the small hermits placed it there (M.B., Adi Parva, Chapter 30).

garuḍa after saluting his father, flew up in the sky carrying in his beak the elephant and the tortoise from the pool. As trees were falling uprooted due to the terrific vibrations caused by the lashing of his wings garuḍa did not find a convenient place to sit down to eat his food. While continuing the journey garuḍa saw a big tree, its branches spread out in a circumference of a hundred yojanas. But, as soon as garuḍa set foot on a branch of the tree it (branch) crumbled down. On that broken branch were the sages called bālakhilyas doing tapas hanging their heads down. Fearing that the sages might fall down garuḍa continued his flight holding in his beak the torn branch of the tree. But he could not find a safe place to deposit the branch with the sages. So he came again to Mount gandhamādana and saw kaśyapa, who apologised to the bālakhilyas on behalf of his son and also explained to them about his mission. The bālakhilyas were pleased and they left the place for the Himālayas. As advised by kaśyapa garuḍa deposited the branch of the tree on an uninhabited mountain peak. and therefrom flew to Devaloka (Ādi Parva, Chapter 29, 30).

Birth and Family

Vinata, a wife of Kasyapa gave birth to Garuda and Kadru and her sister gave birth to the Nagas. Once there was a dispute between Vinata and Kadru. Vinata said that the hairs on the tail of Uchaishravas, Devendra's horse, were white but Kadru asserted that they were black. To settle the dispute they made a bet. The condition was that the loser must become the servant maid of the winner. As instructed by Kadru, some of the Nagas went in advance and hung down from the tail of Uccaissravas, thus giving the false appearance of a tail with black hairs. By this trick Vinata lost the bet and had to become Kadru's servant maid. As a result of it, the task of looking after Kadru's children became Garuda's duty. Kadru told him that if he fetched Amrtam from devaloka and gave it to the Nagas, she was prepared to release him from the bondage. So Garuda flew up to devaloka, fought with the gods and defeated them. He returned with the pot of Amrtam and gave it to the Nagas. The Nagas went to take their bath after placing the pot on darbha grass spread on the floor. Just then Devendra swooped down and carried away the pot of Amrtam to devaloka. When the Nagas returned after their purifying bath, the pot was not to be seen. In their greed they began to lick the darbha grass on which the pot was placed. The sharp edge of the grass cut their tongues into two. This is why the Nagas (snakes) came to have forked tongues.

गरुडः, पुं, (गरुद्भ्यां पक्षाभ्यां डयते उड्डयते । इति गरुत् + डी + डः । पृषोदरात् तलोपे साधुः । यद्वा, “गिर उडच् ।” उणां ४ । १५५ । इति उडच् ।) स्वनामख्यातपक्षी । तत्- पर्य्यायः । गरुत्मान् २ तार्क्ष्यः ३ वैनतेयः ४ खगेश्वरः ५ नागान्तकः ६ विष्णु रथः ७ सुपर्णः ८ पन्नगाशनः ९ । इत्यमरः । २ । २ । ३२ ॥ महा- वीरः १० पक्षिसिंहः ११ उरगाशनः १२ । इति जटाधरः ॥ शाल्मली १३ हरिवाहनः १४ अमृताहरणः १५ नागाशनः १६ । इति हारा- वली ॥ शाल्मलिस्थः १७ खगेन्द्रः १८ भुजगा- न्तकः १९ तरस्वी २० तार्क्ष्यनायकः २१ । इति राजनिर्घण्टः ॥ * ॥ तस्योत्पत्तिकारणं यथा, -- “यजतः पुत्त्रकामस्य कश्यपस्य प्रजापतेः । साहाय्यमृषयो देवा गन्धर्व्वाश्च ददुः किल ॥ तत्रेध्मानयने शक्रो नियुक्तः कश्यपेन ह । मुनयो वालिखिल्याश्च ये चान्ये देवतागणाः ॥ शक्रस्तु वीर्य्यसदृशमिष्मभारं गिरिप्रभम् । समुत्क्षिप्यानयामास नातिकृच्छ्रादिव प्रभुः ॥ अथापश्यदृषीन् ह्रस्वानङ्गुष्ठोदरवर्ष्मणः । पलाशवृन्तिकामेकां सहितान् वहतः पथि ॥ तान् सर्व्वान् विस्मयाविष्टो वीर्य्योन्मत्तः पुरन्दरः । अवहस्याभ्ययाच्छीघ्रं लङ्घयित्वावमन्य च ॥ तेऽथ रोषसमाविष्टाः सुभृशं जातमन्यवः । आरेभिरे महत् कर्म्म तदा शत्रुभयङ्करम् ॥ कामवीर्य्यः कामगमो देवराजभयप्रदः । इन्द्रोऽन्यो सर्व्वदेवानां भवेदिति यतव्रताः ॥ (व्यूहविशेषः । यथा, मनुः । ७ । १८७ । “वराहमकराभ्यां वा सूच्या वा गरुडेन वा ॥” “सूक्ष्ममुखपश्चाद्भागः पृथुमध्यो वराहव्यूहः । एष एवपृथुतरमध्यो गरुडव्यूहः ।” इति कुल्लूकभट्टः ॥) Shabda Kalpadruma.

Gajakacchapa Akhyana

After saluting his mother Garuda set out on his quest for Amrta. All the fourteen worlds shook at the lashing of his wings. He reached Nisadalaya, where while consuming whole lots of Nisadas a brahmin and his wife also happened to get into his throat. Garuda felt their presence immediately in his throat and requested them to get out of his mouth. Accordingly they got out and also blessed Garuda, who continued on his journey. Next Garuda reached the forest where his father Kasyapa was engaged in tapas. He told him about his mission and requested him for something to eat. Kasyapa then tells him the Gajakacchapa Akhyana (गजकच्छप-आख्यानम्) about the origin of the elephant (gaja) and kacchapa (tortoise). (Mahabharata Adiparva Adhyaya 29)