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Dear Members of the List,

 

Sri Mani and several other members of the list requested me to continue

the series of posts on Garuda Bhagavan.

I have attempted to summarize the first part of the Garuda Dandakam in this

post. The concluding portion of the Dandakam follows in the next post.

This is a difficult work to translate and therefore, I seek forgiveness for

any errors or inaccuracies. The translation is very loose at best. This

work resembles the Garuda Panchasat of Swami Desikan especially, in the

description of Garuda's form and more importantly with respect to the

Garuda Mantram. Sri Sampath Rengarajan posted an excellent introductory

summary of the Garuda Panchasat sometime back. I request him to continue this

series as and when his time permits.

 

SRI GARUDA DANDAKAM

 

Srimathe Nigamantha Maha Desikaaya Nama:

Sriman Venkatanaatharya: kavithaarkika Kesaree I

Vedanthaacharya Varyome Sannidhattaam sadha HrudhiII

 

Nama: pannaganaddhaaya vaikunta vasavardhineh I

Srutisindhu Sudhotpaadamandaraaya Garutmathe II

 

I salutate Garuda who possesses beautiful wings, whose limbs are adorned by

the mighty serpents, which he conquered in battle. They are his ornaments. He

performs all the intimate kainkaryas for his Lord. Garuda

is forever devoted to the Lord and engaged in his service. He is replete like

the Mandara mountain in churning the milky ocean of Vedas and to bring out

the Brahma Vidyas. One can get the benefits of these Brahma Vidyas by

offering homage to him.

 

Garudamakhila Veda Needhadhirootam Dwishad Peetanothkantithaakunta

vaikuntapeetikruta skandhameedhe svaneedhaa gatipreetha Rudraa Sukeerthi

sthanaabhogakadopakuda sphuratkantakavraata veda vyataavepamaana

dwijihavaadhikalpa vishpaaryamaana spataavatikaa ratna rochischataa raaji

neerajitham kaanti kallolinee raajitam I

 

Garuda Bhagavan has designed the Vedas as his cage and uses that cage as his

seat. It is implied here that the Vedas sing his praise. This becomes clear

in the next salutation when seen in the context of Garuda being SankarshaNa

among the Vyuha Murthis. Vyuha is one of the forms of worship of Lord

Narayana. Since, the Vedas sing the praise of Lord Narayana, and Garuda is an

Amsham of Lord Narayana, it can be inferred that the Vedas sing his praise.

 

Lord Sriman Narayana is bent upon destroying the enemies of his Bhaktas. No

one can stop Sriman

Narayana in these endeavours. When He sets about to destroy the enemies of His

devotees, he uses the shoulders of Garuda as his transport (cf: Killing of

the crocodile in the Gajendra Moksham, killing of Narakasura. Lord Krishna's

chariot always carried the banner of Garuda. This symbolized his victory)

 

When Garuda is serving as his Lord's vehicles during his Lord's campaigns,

his wives, Rudrai and Sukeerthi, miss him very much. Garuda returns to his

wives upon successful completion of the Lord's mission. His wives (who have

lusciuos bosoms) embrace him intimately with affection. Consequently,

the hairs on the body of Garuda become stiff like thorns. This

in turn hurts the serpents, which are covering his body. The serpents raise

their hoods in fright, at which time the gems on their hoods radiate

brilliant red rays. The dazzling beam of red rays which appear at that time as

the Mangala Aarathi to Garuda and he sparkles in the halo of red light.

 

Jaya Garuda Suparna Darveekaraahaara Devaadhipaahaarahaarin Diwowkaspati

Kshipta Dambholi Dhaaraa kinaakalpa Kalpaantha Vatoola Kalpodhayaanalpa

Veerayithoodhyacchamatkaara Daityaari Jaitra Dhwajaarohanirdhaaritotkarsha

Sankarshanaatman Garutman Marutpanchakaadheesa Satyaadimurthe na kascchit

samaste namaste punaste nama: II

 

Hail Garuda Bhagavan!

Due to the beauty of your wings, Garuda acquired the name Suparna.

Your natural food consists of serpents of immense size.

You brought Amrit, the nectar of immortality, from the kingdom of Indra to

release your mother from the bondage of slavery. At that time the enraged

Indra used his mighty Vajra against you. The sharp edge of that powerful weapon

caused wounds on your wings and rest of the body. The scars from those wounds

adorn your body like ornaments. These ornaments bear testimony to your

valour in defeating Indra. Your other heroic deeds stand out like the mighty

winds that sweep the universe during the time of the great deluge.

 

You are perched on your Lord's banner, which denotes His victory over His

enemies and from your position on the flag of you Lord, we are able to glean

your glories. You have incarnated as Sankarshana

among the four Vyuha Murthys of Sriman Narayana , which are Vasudeva,

Sankarshana, Pradyumna and, Aniruddha. You have divided yourself into five

forms, i.e., Satyar, Suparnar,Garudar, Taarkshyar and Vihageswarar and matched

those five forms with the five Vayus (Praanan, Apaanan, Samaanan, Udaanan and

Vyaanan) and shine thereafter as a supreme Deva. O Lord with the most

exquisitely beautiful golden Wings! There is none, who is equal to you. I

offer my salutations to you first and then again repeat my eulogy to you.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

Muralidhar Rangaswamy