Garuda

deity sky Hindu single tradition · 13

Garuḍas are among the spirits found in the lower heavens of Cāturmahārājakāyika and the Asura realm. They are part of the Eight Legions, which have their origins in ancient India as gods who belong to several domains. The list of figures within this category vary.

↻ synthesized from 13 sources

When

First attested
1500 BCE
Attested period
-1500 – 2020
Historical notes
Part of the Eight Legions originating in ancient India.

Relationships

allied with
Vishnu
serves
Vishnu, Vishnu
sibling of
Aruṇa
served by
Vishnu

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Sources

Source passages

“Garuda”

#4447 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“The flaming nimbus or halo behind Acala is commonly known in Japanese as the "Garuda flame" (迦楼羅炎, karura-en) after the mythical fire-breathing bird from Indian mythology.”

#13134 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Accordingly, Vinata waited, and later the fully developed mighty eagle, her second born named Garuda (the mount of Lord Vishnu) was born.”

#16457 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Garuḍa approached the pot of nectar, and Viśvakarmā who attacked him first was felled to the ground. The dust storm raised by the waving of Garuḍa’s wings blinded everybody. The Devas and Indra, nay, even the sun and the Moon lined up against Garuḍa, but he defeated them all”

#22506 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“The icon is depicted standing on a lotus pedestal or may be seated on the Garuda or Garuda (the vahana – mount – of Vishnu) as well as a tortoise or Kurma, often associated with Vishnu, but aligned with Lakshmi as her mount in this particular iconography.”

#22549 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001