Garuḷa untranslated

Garuḷa, Garuḍa, Garuḷas, Garuḍas. One of the palaces occupied by Phussa Buddha in his last lay-life (Bv.xix.15). The Commentary (Bv­a.192) calls it Garuḷapakkha.

Garuḷā, Garuḷas, Garuḍā, Garuḍas. A class of mythical birds generally mentioned in company with Nāgas (e.g., Ja.iv.181, 202).

They live in Simbali-groves (e.g., Ja.i.202) and are usually huge in size, sometimes one hundred and fifty leagues from wing to wing (Ja.iii.397). The flapping of their wings can raise a storm, known as the Garuḍa-wind (Ja.v.77). This wind can plunge a whole city in darkness and cause houses to fall through its violence (Ja.iii.188).

A Garuḷa has strength great enough to carry off a whole banyan tree, tearing it up from its roots (Ja.vi.177). The Garuḷas are the eternal enemies of the Nāgas (Ja.ii.13; iii.103) and live in places, such as the Seruma Island (Ja.iii.187), where Nāgas are to be found. The greatest happiness of the Nāgas is to be free from the attacks of the Garuḷas (Ja.iv.463). A Garuḷa’s plumage is so thick that a man – e.g., Naṭakuvera (Ja.iii.91) – could hide in it, unnoticed by the bird. Sometimes Garuḷas assume human form; two Garuḷa kings are said to have played dice with kings of Benares and to have fallen in love with their queens, whom they took to the Garuḷa city – one of the queens being Sussondī (Ja 360, Ja.iii.187) and the other Kākātī (Ja 327, Ja.iii.91). In each case the queen, being found unfaithful to her Garuḷa lover, was returned to her husband. The Garuḷas know the Ālambāyana spell, which no Nāga can resist (Ja.vi.178, 184). It is said that in olden days the Garuḷas did not know how to seize Nāgas effectively; they caught them by the head, and the Nāgas who had swallowed big stones were too heavy to be lifted from the ground; consequently the Garuḷas died of exhaustion in trying to carry them. Later the Garuḷas learnt this secret through the treachery of the ascetic Karambiya, as related in the Paṇḍarajātaka (Ja 518, Ja.vi.175f).

Garuḷas are mentioned as sometimes leading virtuous lives, keeping the fast and observing the precepts. One such was the Garuḷa king mentioned in the Paṇḍarajātaka, and another, the son of Vināta, who visited the park of Dhanañjaya Koravya and gave a golden garland as present after hearing Vidhurapaṇḍita preach (Ja.vi.261f).

The Garuḷa’s body was evidently considered to be specially formed for quick flight, for the ancient prototype of the aeroplane was based on the Garuḷa (Dhp­a.iii.135). One of the five guards appointed by Sakka to protect Tāvatiṁsa from the Asuras was formed of Garuḷas (Ja.i.204).

The Bodhisatta (Ja.iii.187) and Sāriputta (Ja.iii.400) were both, on different occasions, born as Garuḷa kings. The Simbalī is the special tree of the Garuḷa-world (Vsm.i.206). The Garuḷa is often represented in art as a winged man (see Fergusson: Tree and Serpent Worship, pl.xxvi.1; xxviii.1. etc.; also Gründwedel: Buddhistische Kunst, pp.47-50).

The Garuḷas are sometimes called Supaṇṇas (Suvaṇṇas). Vv-a.9.