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Dear Members of the Bhakti List,

 

(Garuda Vaibhavam Continued)

 

Sage Kashyapa was very pleased to see his son. Upon enquiring about the

welfare of Vinata, Garuda narrated the entire story of deceit practised on

her and informed his father of his journey to Indra's capital to obtain

Amrit. Garuda also asked his father if he could find food to satisfy his

ravenous hunger before proceeding on his mission. Sage Kashyapa blessed his

son and pointed Garuda to a tortoise and and an elephant who were constantly

at war and told him that they would be the right food for satisfying his

hunger. Garuda located them and carried them away in search of a suitably place

(which could withstand his weight) to perch on and enjoy his meal. He found a

tree branch which he thought would be a good place to perch on. However,

the tree branch, which had a few Rishis hanging on it and engaged in Tapas,

gave way under his tremendous weight. Concerned about the interruption of

their penance and causing any harm to the Rishis, Garuda grabbed the tree

branch with his beak before it could touch the ground and carried the branch

and the rishis to the top of a mountain. The Rishis were pleased with his feat

and his concern for their welfare and named him as Garuda (one of great

strength). After setting the Rishis on firm ground, Garuda enjoyed his

meal and set out to get Amrit.

 

Meanwhile evil omens were seen in the Indra's kingdom. The concerned Devas

headed by Indra approached their perceptor, Brihaspati, to learn from him

what these omens portended. Brihaspati informed them that a mighty bird,

possessing immense strength, in search of Amrit was about to invade Indra's

kingdom. He advised the Devas to prepare for Garuda's attack by arming

themselves with their favorite weapons and guard the pot of Amrit from all

sides. Accordingly, the Devas took up their positions around the pot of

Amrit, which was located at the center of a revolving wheel with sharp edged

teeth capable of tearing to shreds anything that came in contact with it. The

wheel itself was protected by a massive wall of fire. Finally, two venomous

serpents from under the spinning wheel stood guard around the pot of Amrit.

Thus, the pot of Amrit was located in an impregnable fortress.

 

Garuda's flight from the mountain to the city of Indra raised a loud noise.

Perhaps, Swami Desikan had this in mind when he describes the flight of

Garuda as "Bam" in the Garuda Dandakam. The approach of Garuda threw up

blinding dust. Indra ordered Vayu clear up the dust, which Vayu promptly

obeyed. Thus, the Devas were able to see their enemy and attack him.

They used their deadly weapons against Garuda. However, these weapons

harmlessly grazed Garuda's body. Garuda then launched a telling attack

which instilled fear in the hearts of the Devas and put them to flight, thus

abandoning their posts around the pot of Amrit. Next, Garuda had to contend

with the wall of fire. He changed his form to one of a bird with many

beaks and filled them with water from several oceans and used this to

put out the deadly fire. Garuda shrunk his body and slid under the

rotating wheel. As the serpents prepared to sting him, he flapped his wings

to raise a lot of dust. Before the blinded serpents realized what happened,

they were slain by Garuda. Garuda then increased his size and broke the

spinning wheel into smithereens. Finally, Garuda laid his hands on the pot of

Amrit.

 

Having obtained the pot of Amrit, Garuda

was on his way to secure his mother's freedom. Lord Narayana observed that

although Garuda had the nectar of immortality in his hand, he did not

partake of even a single drop. Pleased with Garuda's self-denial, Lord

Narayana summoned him to grant him a boon. Garuda asked that he be

ever free from all diseases, constantly be by the side of the Lord. Lord

Narayana made him a Nitya Suri right there and then and asked Garuda to

perch on his flagstaff. Thus, Lord Narayana came to be known as Garudadwaja.

In return for this blessing, Garuda asked Lord Narayana how he could be of

service to the Lord. The Lord requested Garuda to be his vehicle.

 

Garuda promised Lord Narayana that he would return to serve the Lord as soon

as he procured his mother's freedom. As Garuda departed, Indra had caught

up with him and decided to attack him. Indra used the mighty

Vajrayudha against Garuda. Due to the grace of Lord Narayana, the Vajra

proved ineffective and could not even ruffle a single feather of Garuda.

Amazed by the strength of this bird (which had withstood the Vajra that

destroyed Vritra), Indra became a humbled person and desired eternal

friendship with Garuda and wanted to know the extent of Garuda's strength.

Garuda revealed to Indra that on a tiny feather, he could carry the weight

of the three worlds including all its animate and inanimate objects.

 

Indra also realized that Garuda did not seek Amrit for his personal benefit

and therefore, he requested Garuda to return the pot of Amrit to him

(Indra), because anyone who partook of the Amrit would oppose the Devas.

Garuda informed Indra that the pot of Amrit was necessary to win his

mother's freedom from slavery. However, he devised a plan according to

which Indra could recover it. Indra was pleased to hear this and wished to

grant Garuda a boon. Garuda thought of the deception practised by the snakes

on his mother and requested Indra "Henceforth let snakes become my natural

food". Indra granted his wish and disappeared. Thus, Garuda had unrestrained

power to vent his hatred and anger on the sons of Kadru.

 

Garuda carried the pot of Amrit to the overjoyed serpents and sought his

mother's freedom in return. The overjoyed seprents declared that Vinata

was free from that moment. Garuda told the serpents that he would place

the pot of Amrit near a river and instructed the serpents to have a bath

before partaking of the Amrit. As the serpents headed to the river, Indra

appeared and took away the pot of Amrit as per his agreement with Garuda.

Garuda returned to serve Lord Narayana as his vehicle.

 

Garuda is famous for:

 

(1) His Tapas to Lord Narasimha at Ahobilam and being blessed with a

brilliant Darshanam of Jwala Narasimhar.

 

(2) His penance for Lord Srinivasa at Garudachala.

 

(3) His service to Lord Rama and Lakshmana when they were bound by the

Nagapasha of Indrajit. Indrajit had used poisonous snakes in his

Astram. As a result, Rama and Lakshmana were bound by the coils of the

Astra. However, the snakes fled in terror at the arrival of Garuda, who

was their nemesis. Garuda embraced Rama and Lakshmana and restored their

bodies to their original form. It is said in the Ramayanam that the two

brothers appeared more resplendent than ever before due to the embrace of

Garuda.

 

(4) His famous battle with Kaliya (the serpent who was later subdued by

Lord Krishna). Kaliya was an arrogant young snake who thought of defying

Garuda. In an attempt to secure peace, the Nagas had agreed to provide

Garuda with a Bali, periodically. Kaliya argued with the Naga king and

convinced him to stop this practice. When Garuda came to know about this,

he was enraged and decided to teach Kaliya a lesson. Kaliya tried to

stand up bravely to Garuda. Kaliya attempted to sting Garuda with his

poisonous fangs. However, the blessings of Lord Narayana rendered these

stings futile. Garuda dismissed Kaliya's attack with contempt and struck

him with a powerful blow. Kaliya was sent reeling as a result of the

impact and was bleeding profusely. Realizing that Garuda was too strong,

Kaliya began to flee, with Garuda in hot pursuit. Kaliya chanced to see

a lake (Madu) which could give him sanctuary, since Garuda could not

enter it due to the curse of a rishi. Kaliya began to pollute the lake

with poison until Lord Krishna decided to stop the carnage.

 

(5) As Periyazhwar, he was the father of Andal and subsequently became the

father-in-law of Lord Ranganatha himself. Periyazhwar's Pasurams about

Lord Srinivasa are very moving indeed.

 

Garuda and Swami Desikan had a special relationship. Swami Desikan belonged

to the family of ApuLLar (ApuLLar is the Tamizh equivalent of Garudachar, a

last name frequently amongst Iyengars in Karnataka). Swami Desikan engaged in

worship of Garuda and hence, was blessed with constant protection by Garuda.

Pleased with Swami Desikan's worship Garuda appeared before him and instructed

him to proceed to Oushadadri and engage in the worship of Bhagavan Hayagriva.

Garuda also initiated Swami Desikan to the practice of the Hayagriva Mantram.

 

A snake charmer once challenged Swami Desikan to his title of Sarvatantra

Svatantarar and asked the latter to handle his poisonous serpents. Swami

Desikan drew a line with a piece of chalk and declared that none of the

serpents would cross this line. However, when one of the serpents crossed

the line and advanced menacingly towards, Swami Desikan, he meditated on

Garuda. Garuda promptly appeared and took away all the serpents. Realizing

the greatness of Swami Desikan and his own Apacharam, the snake charmer

begged to be forgiven, and requested Swami Desikan to restore the snakes

to him since his livelihood would be deprived. Full of compassion for the

sanke charmer, Swami Desikan meditated again on Garuda and pleaded with

Garuda to restore the serpents to the snake charmer. Garuda again heeded

the request of his protege.

 

Swami Desikan has two brilliant works in praise of Garuda, i.e., the

Garuda Panchasat and Garuda Dandakam. These two works contain the essence of

the Garuda Mantram. Daily recitation of Garuda Dandakam while meditating

on the vehicle of Lord Vishnu, keeps the recantor ever free from the fear of

serpents. Sri Sadagopan posted an excellent translation of the Garuda Dandakam

a sometime ago. I request him to re-post this article for the benefit

of new members on this forum, if he has the article archived.

 

Tat PurushAya VithMahe SwarNa PakshAya Dheemahe Tanno Garuda PrachodayAt,

 

Muralidhar Rangaswamy