Garuda
Also called Garuḍa, Suparṇa.
In Hindu and Buddhist mythology of India and Southeast Asia, Garuda is the great divine eagle-man who serves as Vishnu's mount and the sworn enemy of serpents.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Indian folkloreBuddhist mythology
- Region
- Indonesia (sighted there)
- Kin
- Jataya (derived from this figure)
Kinship
Lines of descent added by hand and approved one at a time.
- Jataya derived from this figure
why
Jataya is described in the sources as a huge, fabulous bird with a human head, counted as a descendant of Garuda, the great bird who serves as the mount of Vishnu
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Bird is image-domain The bird denotes the soul and its flight between worlds, carrying aspiration, prophecy and divine essence, and moving freely where the earthbound cannot follow.
why
Garuda is a paramount divine bird figure of Hindu and Buddhist mythology, with roots in the Indian subcontinent and a continuing sacred and civic presence across South and Southeast Asia.
- Eagle is image-domain The eagle denotes sovereign ascent and solar majesty, flying highest of birds, messenger of heaven and emblem of empire, renewing itself in fire and sun.
why
In Hindu and Buddhist mythology of India and Southeast Asia, Garuda is the great divine eagle-man who serves as Vishnu's mount and the sworn enemy of serpents.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Human-headed bird hybrid
why
Garuda is typically depicted as part man and part eagle, with a golden human torso and limbs, a white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak and talons.
- Giant wingspan
why
his body is said to blaze like fire and to be so vast that his wingbeats can still the ocean or blot out the sun
Sight and sound
- Body wreathed in flames
why
his body is said to blaze like fire
Offensive powers
- Superhuman strength
why
To free his mother from bondage, Garuda undertook the theft of amrita, the nectar of immortality, from the gods, fighting his way past their guardians and Indra himself to bring it to the nagas in ransom.