Garuda is the divine eagle of Hindu myth — the magnificent king of birds, the mighty eagle-mount (vahana) of the great god Vishnu, the eternal enemy and devourer of the serpents (Nagas), a being of immense power and speed who carries Vishnu across the worlds. The king of birds and mount of Vishnu, Garuda is the mighty eagle who bears the preserver-god and devours the serpents.
The King of Birds
Garuda (Sanskrit Garuḍa) is the king of birds and a great divine being — an enormous, magnificent eagle (or eagle-human being), the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata. He is a being of immense power, speed and strength, able to fly between the worlds with tremendous swiftness, and his great wings can darken the sky. He is depicted as a powerful eagle, or as a being with the body of a man and the wings, beak, talons and often the head of an eagle, golden and radiant, fierce and mighty. He is one of the great and beloved beings of Hindu myth, second in might among the divine beings.
The Mount of Vishnu
Garuda's great role is as the vahana (mount) of the supreme god Vishnu — the mighty eagle upon whom Vishnu rides across the heavens and the worlds. As Vishnu's eternal mount and devoted servant, Garuda bears the preserver-god swiftly wherever he must go, carrying him into battle against demons and across the cosmos. The image of Vishnu mounted upon the great golden eagle Garuda, soaring through the heavens, is one of the iconic images of Hindu myth. Garuda is utterly devoted to Vishnu, his strength and swiftness placed in the service of the great god, and he is honoured as Vishnu's mount and the bearer of the preserver of the universe.
The Enemy of the Serpents
Garuda is the eternal enemy and devourer of the serpents (Nagas) — a famous and ancient enmity. The origin of this enmity lies in the rivalry between Garuda's mother Vinata and the Nagas' mother Kadru (co-wives of the sage Kashyapa): through a wager and a deception, Vinata was enslaved by Kadru and the Nagas, and to free his mother, Garuda was set the task of obtaining the amrita (the nectar of immortality) for the Nagas. Garuda flew to the heavens, fought past the gods (and even Indra and Vishnu, who, impressed by his might, granted him boons — Vishnu making him his mount, Indra his ally), and obtained the nectar — but through a trick, the Nagas never actually drank it, and Garuda freed his mother. Ever after, Garuda became the devourer of serpents, his great enmity with the Nagas making him their eternal foe and predator. As the eagle who devours serpents, he is also worshipped as a protector against snakes, snakebite, poison, and the serpent-associated evils.
The Mighty Eagle of the Preserver
Garuda endures as the divine eagle of Hindu myth — the magnificent king of birds, the mighty eagle-mount of Vishnu, the eternal enemy and devourer of the serpents, the being of immense power and speed. He embodies power, swiftness, devotion (in his service of Vishnu), and the protective power against serpents and poison; and he stands as the king of birds and the mount of the preserver — the mighty golden eagle who bears Vishnu across the worlds, devours the serpents, and is worshipped as a powerful protector and a beloved being of Hindu myth. (His image and name endure across South and Southeast Asia, including as a great national symbol.)
The magnificent king of birds and mighty eagle-mount of Vishnu — the golden eagle who bears the preserver-god across the worlds and is the eternal devourer of the serpents.