Do You Know How Garuda Got His Name?

On the way to get amrita from Devaloka, Garuda was hungry. His father, Kashyapa Prajapati, told him that he can eat the huge elephant and tortoise which were fighting among themselves in a lake. Garuda picked them up with his claws, flew away to Alamba Teertha, and there sat on a 100 yojana long branch of a banyan tree which couldn’t bear his weight and it broke.

Then Garuda saw that some Maharshis were observing tapas on that branch of the tree, hanging with their face down. Garuda suddenly held the falling branch with his beak so that they are not hurt. Now Garuda’s claws are holding his food and the beak is holding the branch of the tree with the Maharshis hanging from it. They were Maharshis called Valakhilya.

The Maharshis themselves were surprised, seeing what Garuda was doing — an elephant that is 6 yojanas in height. One yojana is about 12 km. An elephant 72 kilometers in height, a tortoise 120 kilometers in diameter, and a branch of tree 1200 km in length — carrying all these and flying easily in the sky. Maharshis said:

गुरुं भारं समासाद्योड्डीन एष विहंगमः
गरुडस्तु खगश्रेष्ठस्तस्मात् पन्नगभोजनः

See this huge serpent-eater bird, how much weight he is carrying. An appropriate name for him should be Garuda.

गुरुं आदाय उड्डीन इति गरुडः — one who flies up carrying huge weight.

When you think about Garuda what comes to the mind is a small eagle — no. See the enormity of his size. When he flies, the movement of his wings causes storms. Mountains tremble as he flies near them.

Garuda kept on flying and reached Gandhamandana mountain. There he saw his father again, doing tapas. Kashyapa opened his eyes and saw what was going on. He cautioned Garuda:

Be careful. These Maharshis are very powerful. They drink the rays of the sun. Don’t offend them. Let not any harm happen to them. They can burn you to ashes.

See — Garuda so powerful, and tiny Maharshis hanging down the branch of a tree even more powerful than him. That is the power of tapas.

Kashyapa requested Valakhilyas:

Garuda is on his way to accomplish a big mission. This is for the welfare of everyone. Please allow him to go.

The Maharshis left the branch of the tree and went away to the Himalayas.

Garuda asked his father: now where should I put this down? Tell me some place where there are no people.

Kashyapa guided him to such a snow-laden mountain. Garuda reached there within a moment and put the branch down, and then, sitting on one of its peaks, ate the elephant and the tortoise.

There in Swargaloka, bad omens started appearing. Meteors started falling from the sky. The weapons of the Devas started hitting against each other. There were no clouds in the sky, but loud thunder could be heard. The garlands of Devas made of divine flowers dried up. Suddenly clouds appeared and from them blood started raining. There was a dusty storm and the crowns of Devas became lustreless in that dust.

Devas went to their Guru, Brihaspati, and asked what these are all about. What is the meaning of these bad omens?

Brihaspati said: it is your fault, Indra. Because of your arrogance this is happening. Son of Kashyapa and Vinata, Garuda, is on his way. Tapashakti of Valakhilyas is behind his birth.

He is coming to get amrita. It is extremely difficult to stop him.

Indra cautioned the Devas who were in charge of guarding the amrita kumbha.

Guruji says someone is on the way to snatch away the amrita. He says there is no comparison to his power.

Devas surrounded the amrita kumbha from all around with their weapons pulled out — spears, gadas, swords, chakras. Sparks and flames were coming out of them. Devas wore armours prepared for the fight ahead. Indra himself stood ready with his Vajrayudha.

Devas themselves are brilliant, and light reflecting from all these weapons — it was blinding.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi