Garuda, or Garutman, is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. He is the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata. He is the younger brother of Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun. Garuda is described as the king of the birds.
In Hinduism, Garuda is a divine eagle-like sun bird and the king of birds. A Garutman is mentioned in the Rigveda, described as a celestial deva with wings. The Shatapatha Brahmana embedded inside the Yajurveda text mentions Garuda as the personification of courage.
In the Mahabharata, Garutman is stated to be the same as Garuda, then described as the fast one, who can shapeshift into any form and enter anywhere. He is a powerful creature in the epics, whose wing flapping can stop the spinning of heaven, earth and hell.
Garuda is also the half-brother of the Devas, Gandharvas, Daityas, Danavas, Nāgas, Vanara and Yakshas.
Iconography
If in the bird form, he is eagle-like, typically with the wings slightly open as if ready and willing to fly wherever he needs to.
In part-human form, he may have an eagle-like nose, beak or legs, his eyes are open and big, his body is the colour of emerald, and his wings are golden-yellow. He may be shown with either two or four hands. If he is not carrying Vishnu, he holds a jar of amrita (immortality nectar) in one hand in the rear and an umbrella in the other, while the front pair of hands are in anjali (namaste) posture. If he is carrying Vishnu, the rear hands support Vishnu’s feet.
In some iconography, Garuda carries Vishnu and his two consorts by his side: Lakshmi and Bhumi.
Mythology:
One version had him born based on the great austerities (tapas) of his mother, Vinata. She and her rival, Kadru, were given boons by their husband Kasyapa-Prajapati. Kadru chose to have a thousand sons, the nagas (snakes), and they hatched first. Vinata chose only to have two sons, but ones greater than Kadru’s. In her impatience, Vinata opened one of her two eggs and brought Aruna (the red one) half-hatched into the world. Aruna cursed his mother with servi¬tude and left to become Surya’s charioteer. Garuda was born from the second egg and then served the god who appropriated Surya’s powers and attributes as a solar deity, Vishnu. Vinata became the humiliated servant of Kadru, helping tend to her sons.
Other versions told of Garuda as the product of Kasiyapa’s practices (yajnas) combined with the magical practices (yagasakti) of the Balakhilyas, a class of tiny divine sages, each the size of a thumb. They gave their accumulated merit to Kasyapa to have a son who would defeat Indra. Garuda was the result: so brilliant that he hurt the gods’ eyes and was worshipped by them mistakenly as Agni. Garuda was a shape-changer, going wherever he pleased, stopping the rotation of the worlds with the wind from his wings, with eyes of fire, and an enemy of snakes.
The above two mythic versions merged. Garuda had to free his mother from the tyranny of Kadru and her naga children. A bargain was made for an exchange of the pot of divine nectar (amrita) for his mother’s freedom. Garuda flew to heaven, and fought the devas (gods), blinding them with a sandstorm from his great wings and taking the pot of amrita.
