GARUDA
Story : 48 Nov-10-2011 Thursday Krtheeka Punnami
Garuda is one of the three principal animal
headed-deities in the Hindu (Mythology) Puranas that has evolved after the
Vedic Period in Indian history. The other two are Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of the
goddess Durga, and Hanuman, the monkey god. It is after
Garuda that the Indonesian National Airlines is named. Even today, Garuda is
much revered by devout Hindus for his ethics and his strength in applying his
ethics to correct evil-doers. He is also
adored for his devotion and service to mother.
Garuda is the king of the birds. He mocks the wind with the
speed of his flight. As the appointed charger of Vishnu he is venerated by all,
including humans. Garuda is the son of Kashyap, a great sage, and Vinata, a
daughter of Daksha, a famous king. He was hatched from an egg Vinata laid. He has
the head, wings, talons, and beak of an eagle and the body and limbs of a man.
He has a white face, red wings and golden body. When he was born he was so
brilliant that he was mistaken for Agni, the god of fire, and worshipped.
Garuda was born with a great hatred for the evil and he is
supposed to roam about the universe devouring the bad, though he spares
Brahmins as his parents had forbidden him to eat them. Garuda
is also well-known for his aversion to snakes, a dislike he had acquired from
his mother, Vinata. There is a story behind this hatred of Garuda's mother. As
it is quite interesting it is told hereafter.
Kashyap, Garuda's father, is a holy sage and a pious Brahmin;
he had two wives: Kadru, the elder, and Vinata, Garuda's mother, the younger. There was great rivalry and hatred between the
two wives. They could not tolerate each other. Once, they had an argument over the color of
the horse Uchchaisravas, produced during the Churning of the Ocean of Milk,
just after the time of creation. Each
chose a color and laid a wager on her own choice. The one who lost would become
the other's slave. Kadru proved to be
right and, as part of the agreement, she imprisoned Vinata in the nether
regions, Patala, where she was guarded by venomous serpents. The serpents are the
sons of Kadru herself.
Garuda, on hearing of his mother's imprisonment, descended
to Patala and asked the serpents to release Vinata. They agreed to do so and
demanded as ransom a cup of amrita (nectar). So Garuda set off for
the celestial mountain where the amrita was kept. Before he could get to the
amrita he had to overcome three hazards set up by the gods to guard the
celestial drink. First, Garuda came upon a ring of flames fanned by high winds.
They roared and leapt up to the sky but Garuda drank up several rivers and
extinguished the flames with that water. Next, Garuda came upon a circular
doorway. A very rapidly spinning wheel with very sharp spikes on the spokes
guarded it. Garuda made himself very small and slipped through the turning
spokes. Lastly, Garuda had to defeat two fire-spitting serpents guarding the
amrita. He flapped his wings rapidly and blew dust into the eyes of the
monsters and blinded them. Then he cut them to pieces with his sharp beak. So
Garuda finally reached the amrita and started to fly back with it to the nether
regions but the gods anticipated his purpose and gave chase. Indra, king of the gods, struck him with
his thunderbolt weapon but Garuda proved a superior warrior and defeated the
gods and continued unscathed on his journey to Patala.
When the serpents got the amrita they were overjoyed and
released Vinata. Garuda got his mother back but he became an inveterate enemy
of the serpents, the sons of his mother's rival Kadru. Also the serpents, the Nagas (venomous serpants), symbolized evil
and that automatically invoked Garuda's hatred.
As
the Nagas were about to consume the amrita Garuda had just brought them, the
chasing gods entered Patala and Indra seized and took away the cup of amrita. Anyway, the serpents had just had time enough
to lick a few drops of amrita that spilled from the cup and this was enough to
make them immortal. Also, since the celestial drink was very strong, their
tongues were split and that is why, to this day, serpents have forked tongues.Moral : Garuda's love and dedication to his mother is emulative to all of us. -------------------------------
Compiler
: Prof. Komaragiri Venkata Ramana Rao. Ph.D., (Retired Professor;
Andhra University College of Engineering); Astrologer-Scienitst. Durham.
NC; U.S.A.: (Tatayya = Grand-father). My e-mail address : pandit@jyothishi.com---------- I dedicate all these stories in this blog to Sri Parama Paalakas (Supreme Rulers of this entire Universe): Bhagavan Sri Siddhi Vinayaka, Sri Lakshmi Narayana and Sri Gouri Sankara and Sri Saraswathi and Bhagavan Sri Venkateswara.
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