TITBITS – Garuda

Garuda, the legendary king of birds has been a faith of powerful protector in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Garuda represented in an anthropomorphic form (human and bird), is a part of insignia in countries including India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia.

The mysterious door engraved with two large serpents in the world’s richest – Padmanabhaswamy Temple, has no locks. The prophecy of opening the door is by the utterance of Garuda Mantra (which no one currently possess the knowledge or capability).

Why is Garuda considered as our guardian against serpents? Let’s read the story of the King of birds…

Kashyapa’s boons

Kashyapa was a revered vedic sage and one of the Saptharishis (seven ancient sages). He married thirteen daughters of Daksha including Vinata and Kadru, who were jealous of one another.

The sisters served the sage sincerely and he blessed each with a boon for their choice. Kadru, the younger sister asked for one thousand valiant Serpents (Nagas) as her children. Vinata, the elder one asked for two sons, each one of her sons being mightier than the one thousand Nagas together.

Kashyapa granted their wishes and they came in possession of one thousand Naga eggs (Kadru) and two eggs (Vinata).

Aruna and his curse

After few years, Kadru’s one thousand eggs hatch and arose powerful serpents. All the serpents born in this world are regarded as the descendants of these thousand Nagas.

Vinata was jealous as her eggs dint hatch. She impatiently broke open one of the eggs and a half-formed child emerged. He looked radiant and reddish as the morning sun, but not as bright as the midday sun as he was blessed to be.

The child was enraged by his mother’s hastiness and curses her to be a slave. Later, he consoles his mother to be patient and assures that the second son will eventually, free her from slavery.

The half-formed child named as “Aruna”, then rises to be the charioteer of the sun god, Surya. He is the personification of the reddish glow of the rising Sun.

Deceit and Slavery

Once Vinata and Kadru happened to have a discussion about the tail color of Uccaissravas, the divine horse of Indra (ruler of heaven and Devas).

Vinata said the divine horse was fully white in color. Kadru said only his body was white, but his tail was black. They decided to lay a bet in this regard and agreed that whoever lost (and their children), would become the slave of the other and her children.

Kadru knew that the horse’s tail was white and she asked the Naga sons to twist themselves around the horse’s tail to look like black in color. Thus, Kadru won the bet and Vinata became Kadru and the serpents’ slave.

Vishnu’s vahana

Vinata patiently waited for the other egg to hatch on its own and went on serving Kadru and her thousand sons. After hundreds of years, the egg hatched releasing Garuda with bright blinding light.

After Garuda emerged, Vinata sent him to Kashyapa to quench his hunger. His father told him to consume a mighty elephant and tortoise who are trying to kill each other, near the ocean.

Though Garuda found the creatures, he could not see an appropriate mountain or tree that would hold himself and his prey. So, he flew until he finally perched on a huge rose-apple tree. The branch immediately snapped, but Garuda was able to catch it before it killed anyone.

Lord Vishnu watched the incidents and offered his arm to sit on, while Garuda ate. After Garuda had finished his meal, he was still hungry, so Vishnu offered the flesh on his arm to eat. Garuda ate plentifully and not a wound showed on Vishnu’s arm. Garuda thanked and offered a return favor. Lord Vishnu asked if Garuda could be his mount and he graciously accepted the offer.

Freedom from Servitude

In spite of being mighty and powerful, Garuda like his mother had to serve Kadru and her Nagas. Garuda approached the Nagas and requested them to suggest a way to end their bondage. Nagas offered freedom in exchange for amrita from heaven (elixir or nectar that offers immortal life).

Garuda waged a war in heaven and defeated all devas under the leadership of Indra. Indra then requested Garuda not to help Nagas attain immortality, as it would bring great trouble. So, they devised a plan and Garuda flew back to earth with the nectar vessel.

Upon reaching Nagas, Garuda placed the vessel and having fulfilled their orders, got deliverance from slavery for himself and his mother, Vinata. Garuda suggested the Nagas to first purify themselves before consuming the amrita. When Nagas left, Jayanta (son of Indra) stole the vessel back to heaven. Thus, they deceived the Nagas from drinking amritha and attaining immortality.

Having fulfilled his duties to his mother, Garuda left for Vaikunta (abode of Lord Vishnu) to be his vahana.

Did you know?

Kal Garuda, a stone sculpture of Garuda is the most prominent feature of the Nachiyar temple in Tamilnadu.

As per the legend, the sculptor who sculpted the idol of Garuda got frustrated as the bird flew away each time it was made. In frustration, he threw his tool at Garuda, who got injured and decided to stay at the temple as Kal Garuda.

The image of Kal Garuda is made of saligrama stone. During festive procession, the image of Kal Garuda is carried out in procession. While only four people are needed to carry the idol of Garuda out of the shrine, it multiples to 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 people when the image is taken outside the temple for procession. The weight of the idol remains the same when carried by 4 people and stays the same when carried outside by 128. On the way back, in the decreasing order 128, 64, 32, 16, 8 and only 4 people are finally required to replace the image to its shrine. The aspect is treated magical, as drops of sweat are also observed on the image of Kal Garuda during the six-hour-long procession.

End-Note

Thanks for reading this post; please leave your feedback in the comment box below.
Check the Home page for the latest posts from our blog.
Browse the Blog page to find all the posts.
Visit the About page for the introduction to the blog.
Learn about the Research, Titbits, and Bliss sections of this blog.
To know the terms and conditions of this blog, please read the Norms page.
Go to the Contact page to message me and/or to find me on social media.