Garuda (Lectures, Conv. and Letters)

Expressions researched:
"garuda" |"garuda's" |"garudas"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 6.16-24 -- Los Angeles, February 17, 1969:

Devotee: "As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean. But the big ocean carried them away on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal and so she decided to dry up the ocean."

Prabhupāda: Just see, a sparrow is trying to dry up the ocean. (laughs) This is called determination. Just like our Gandhi. He declared war against the Britishers. War is that non-violent, noncooperation. You see? But the determination was there. That "I must drive away the Britishers." And he did it. And what is the weapon? Nonviolence. "All right, you fight, you kill me, I shall not attack you." You see? He became, what is that? Determination. People laughed. "Gandhi is declaring war with the Britishers, so powerful, British Empire." And actually after the Britishers lost India, they lost all Empire. Because that was the jewel of British Empire. They lost all possession in the Far East, they lost possession in Egypt, they lost possession on Suez Canal, everything lost. So determination is so nice thing. Go on.

Devotee: "She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuḍa, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, heard it." (end)

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.16.11 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1974:

So each king had different colored horses and differently marked flag on the top of the chariot. Just like Arjuna's chariot was drawn by white horses. Śveta. Śveta means white. And his grandson, his horses are of blackish. Not... Śyāma is not black. Blackish. Swarthy. No, blackish. Turaṅga, jeweled. They have four horses in chariot, and there is a charioteer and flag marked with lion. This lion is not to be considered an ordinary lion. This lion is Mṛgendra or Narahari, Nṛsiṁha-deva. Arjuna's chariot was with flag marked with Vajrāṅga, Hanumānjī, Hanumānjī. Kṛṣṇa's chariot flag is marked with Garuḍa. So these are the distinctive marks. One will understand immediately, "This is such and such king's chariot." That mark is there.

Lecture on SB 6.1.45 -- Laguna Beach, July 26, 1975:

Why not devote this life for Kṛṣṇa? I shall go back to home, back to Kṛṣṇa"? This is intelligence. I am suffering so many lives, accepting this fish life or the tree life, the plant life, the moth life, the insect life, the serpent life, the bird's life. And not only bird's life—there are so many varieties of birds, beginning from the eagle. There is a big eagle bird. We have no information. They are very big bird. They are flying in the sky, and their rest is from one planet to another. Just like here you find the birds, they are flying from one tree to another. Similarly, there are so big birds... They are called garuḍa. So garuḍa, these birds, they start their flying from one planet and sits in another planet. Just try to understand what is their flying. Not only that, they also lay eggs while flying, and the eggs, while falling down, it becomes another bird. And these birds can pick up elephants for eating. So this is God's creation. So if you want to become such a big bird, you can become. (laughter) Yes. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante (BG 4.11). God is so kind. Whatever you desire, you will get.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Dr. Arnold Toynbee, Famous Historian, at his home or office -- July 22, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: I have been in Indonesia.

Dr. Arnold Toynbee: You've also... Yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Their culture is Hindu culture. But by religion they have accepted Muslim. They still, their names are Hindu names.

Dr. Arnold Toynbee: Yes, yes.

Prabhupāda: Names are Hindu. There Garuḍa, Garuḍa. The airway is Garuḍa. Garuḍa is the carrier of Viṣṇu.

Dr. Arnold Toynbee: I've seen their shadow plays, and all the subjects and the heroes are from the Indian history, the Indian epics, not from Muslim. So...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 12, 1974, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Just like, Śrīla Prabhupāda, a vulture. When the vulture wants to take off, he will run just like an aeroplane for a certain distance. They cannot just get up immediately. Vulture.

Prabhupāda: So you scientists, you are like vultures. (laughter) You have imitated vultures.

Umāpati: The symbol of the United States is an eagle, which is a bird of prey.

Prabhupāda: No, eagle... Our symbol is also Garuḍa, big eagle. Yes. Big eagle, Garuḍa. And you know Garuḍa is not vegetarian. You know that?

Prajāpati: Snakes.

Prabhupāda: Yes. He is not vegetarian. So if one becomes a sincere devotee like Garuḍa, you can allow him to become non-vegetarian. If he cannot give it up. (break)

Nara-nārāyaṇa: Garuḍa is from the jīva-tattva or he is an expansion?

Prabhupāda: No, he is jīva-tattva. Nitya-siddha.

Nara-nārāyaṇa: Does that mean that there is some soul who can come under influence of māyā in the spiritual sky and some soul who cannot?

Prabhupāda: Yes, that potency is there always.

Morning Walk Excerpts -- May 2, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Ah. So this is our one of the items, to vanquish all these rascals, so-called swamis. They say that "Why you criticize others also?" Because we have to vanquish them. Now these people cannot rise. When there is sunrise, there is no use of these glowworms. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Therefore they must be finished, all over the world. So-called religionists, so-called philosophers, so-called avatāras, swamis, yogis—finished. Our program should be like that. (break) ...all these rascals, anymore to flourish. That is one of our program. (Hindi) (break)

Girirāja: Garuḍa put some nectar on the tree to preserve it.

Prabhupāda: Yes, nectar, ambrosia. Amṛta, amṛta.

Girirāja: Is it spiritual?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Amṛta means spiritual. (break) But this grief is for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is spiritual.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- November 29, 1975, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: And he said "Hare Kṛṣṇa"?

Indian devotee (1): Yes. "Hare Kṛṣṇa." He said "Hare Kṛṣṇa." And he told me that "You come later on, and we will sit and talk."

Prabhupāda: So go and sit and talk. What is his grievance?

Devotee (1): His wife is very devoted. She has a small Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. She is... (indistinct)

Tejās: He is a very dirty man. His wife sometimes likes to give even a little flower, and she is afraid he will beat her if she gives anything to the temple.

Prabhupāda: (break) ...sign? Rāmacandra?

Tejās: Garuḍa and Hanumān.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Tejās: Rāmacandra, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Garuḍa, and Hanumān.

Prabhupāda: (break) Unnecessarily there are so many parties, and they fight one another. This is democracy. Today is ekādaśī?

Tejās: Today.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 18, 1976, Mayapur:

Harikeśa: They never said anything more than you'll just get good sex life and good health.

Prabhupāda: That is.... Becoming God means the same, money and sex. That's all.

Harikeśa: Wouldn't it be handy, though, to be able to fly around without having to use airplanes?

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Harikeśa: I mean, if you had some mystic opulence like being able to fly.

Prabhupāda: Yes, the yogis can do that.

Harikeśa: Wouldn't that be handy? Couldn't a devotee utilize that?

Prabhupāda: What is the use?

Harikeśa: Well, instead of taking airplanes here and there, you could just...

Prabhupāda: No, no. What is the difference? If by practicing severe yogic means you fly, the birds are also flying. They are flying without airplane. Does it mean that it has become very great? There are many birds, garuḍa bird. They can fly from one planet to another. Just like small birds—they fly from one tree to another, take rest again—so they fly from this planet to another. Take rest, again another. What is the value of your airplane? You cannot go to another planet. There are birds; they catch up elephants and take it away for eating. Does it mean he has become, it has become God? There are Siddhaloka planets where the people can go without any airplane from one planet to another, Siddhaloka. They have got all yogic siddhi automatically, by birth. Just like we cannot fly, but a small bird, a small fly, from the birth it can fly. There are so many. So similarly, by birth they have got all yogic siddhis. This is called Siddhaloka.

Morning Walk -- April 15, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: (break) Garuḍa. He is perfect vegetarian. You know what is his food? Snakes. (Dr. Patel laughs) And he is carrying the Lord. It is a devotee, you see? He is not vegetarian. And how powerful he is that one sparrow, a small bird, lost his egg. The samudra took it away. And he decided, "I shall dry this samudra." So he began to pick up some water. So Nārada Muni was passing. So he asked, "What you are doing?" And "Sir, yes, the samudra has taken my egg, so I shall dry it up." So he said, "But how you can do it? You are so small. You just pray to your head. You are bird, and he is the head of the birds. You just pray to Garuḍa. He can do it." So he prayed Garuḍa, and Garuḍa came and asked samudra, "Immediately deliver; otherwise I shall take step." Immediately it was delivered. Such powerful. Yes. And he was not a vegetarian. (Hindi with Dr. Patel) You become Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is the... (Hindi with Dr. Patel)

Room Conversation -- April 20, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Give them some prasāda. (break)...yogi(?). There are many animals. They are also doing.... (background conversation) And Garuḍa also, vegetarian.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Garuḍa.

Prabhupāda: Garuḍa. But he carries the Lord Viṣṇu. That is not the point. How to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, that is really.... To become vegetarian, nonvegetarian, that is not very important. But we are interested in Kṛṣṇa's prasādam. We are not in the group of vegetarians or nonvegetarians. We are Kṛṣṇized. We take Kṛṣṇa's prasādam. That is our.... We are servant of Kṛṣṇa, so whatever is left over by Kṛṣṇa, we take. If Kṛṣṇa eats meat, we shall take Kṛṣṇa prasādam. What can we do? Therefore we offer Kṛṣṇa whatever He wants to eat, and we take the remnants.

Garden Conversation -- June 23, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuḍa, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuḍa was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuḍa at once asked the ocean to return her eggs lest he himself take up the work of the sparrow. The ocean was frightened at this, and returned the eggs. Thus the sparrow became happy by the grace of Garuḍa. Similarly, the practice of yoga, especially bhakti-yoga in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, may appear to be a very difficult job, but if anyone follows the principles with great determination, the Lord will surely help, for God helps those who help themselves."

Room Conversation -- July 31, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Hari-śauri: People in Thailand are quite pious.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They are Indian culture. Their original culture is Indian. It is called Siam. (pronounces like Śyāma) Kṛṣṇa's name. And they have got the airplane, Garuḍa.

Hari-śauri: Yes. Garuḍa Airlines.

Prabhupāda: So they are devotees originally, all Kṛṣṇa devotees.

Devotee (1): The king is speaking Sanskrit.

Prabhupāda: Yes. It was known, it has been changed now. Formerly, it was known as Syam state, Siam. Syam is the name of Kṛṣṇa. Whole state was named under Kṛṣṇa. So, and they manufacture very nice idol of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. They're accustomed.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Rāmānuja preached. All the ācāryas preached.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, either in writing or by traveling and speaking. You have done both, though.

Prabhupāda: That is the duty of ācārya. Otherwise he is not... Not that three dozen ācāryas in Māyāpur. Each one has a temple and a few dozen... Not few dozen—one dozen disciples. Bring some rice and eat. They are ācārya. That day I said that, khāi laya khasi bhaja,(?) then everybody became angry. Collecting some money, taking to the holy place, collecting fifty rupees and keeping twenty rupees and spending thirty rupees. This is... In this way they are making livelihood, ācāryas. They say, "Whatever is in our capacity, we are doing." The capacity means when they are speaking that the cockroach is as good a bird as the Garuḍa. Cockroach is also a bird and Garuḍa is also a bird.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Quite a difference, though.

Prabhupāda: How the cockroach can say "I am also as good as Garuḍa"?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That is called insanity.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) So they want to say like that.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Garuḍa eats timiṅgila fish as his diet.

Prabhupāda: No, he can eat. He flies from one planet to another. Just like one bird flies, he starts from one tree and takes rest another. The Garuḍa bird, they do that. They start from one planet and take rest in another planet. This is their flying. And while flying, they lay down eggs, and the eggs, while falling down, become birds. By the heat.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's very scientific. Because normally the bird has to sit on the egg for producing heat to hatch the egg.

Prabhupāda: The heat is produced by the, what is called, motion.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, friction.

Prabhupāda: Friction. And they become bird.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And their food?

Prabhupāda: Food, go to one planet.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They eat big quantities.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Big quantities mean according to... The ant is eating its quantity; elephant is eating.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And Garuḍa eats...

Prabhupāda: Whatever eating, he can eat. God has supplied.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That teaching I also remember from the Bible. There's a statement that "Everyone is being supplied, so don't you think that God will also supply for you?" That's there in the Bible, I think, also. But the Christians, so-called, they don't heed it.

Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Then different incarnations are shown. Then the eighth exhibit shows Kṛṣṇa's viśva-rūpa, explaining how everything is created, maintained and annihilated all within the potency of the Supreme Lord. Then the ninth exhibit shows how Kṛṣṇa personally comes on Garuḍa, to deliver those who are faithful from the ocean of birth and death. It shows a man struggling in the ocean, swimming, but he cannot save himself. And then Kṛṣṇa comes down on Garuḍa. The Lord Himself intervenes. In this way the man is saved. And the tenth exhibit shows the incarnation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, how He is delivering the whole world by this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. The eleventh exhibit explains how the soul... It shows Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana surrounded by eight gopīs and different animals and peacocks and birds and flowers. And it explains that the soul has eternal form and that it can enjoy, that the soul enjoys in eternal loving pastimes with Kṛṣṇa.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Rukmini -- Los Angeles 22 January, 1970:

Regarding Srimurti Subhadra, the old Deity should not be repaired, but a new Deity should be carved and installed. The old Deity may be wrapped up in some cloth, tied up and weighted with stones, then put in the river. This is the procedure to be followed.

You may paint Garuda with the figure of half man/half bird. That will be nice.

I am happy to note that you are all trying to serve the Deities more and more nicely. Please go on in this attitude and such efforts in devotional service will become the greatest pleasure or Krishna Consciousness.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Jadurani -- Calcutta 19 May, 1971:

Please accept my blessings and offer the same to the other artists. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 8th May, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. So far as your questions are concerned, they are as follows: The demigods mentioned by you appear just like man, but very beautiful and very nice features also. They are having fair complexion with golden hue. Golden means milk mixed with a tint of reddish color or yellowish color. Lord Siva has two arms; Garuda is yellow in color; Kapiladev looks like a human being, as does Kalki. Kalki is bluish. Matsya is a full fish, bluish in color. Kurma is tortoise color.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Muralidhara, Jadurani, Artists -- Rome 25 May, 1974:

For Lord Visnu's appearing at Prthu Maharaja's sacrifice, the sketch you have enclosed is all right.

Lord Visnu should rest His left hand on Garuda.

As for the wooden sacrificial instrument mentioned during Daksa's sacrifice, yes you can use it in Maharaja Prthu's sacrifice.

Letter to Muralidhara -- Paris 9 June, 1974:

Regarding your questions for painting: The enclosed sketch of Lord Visnu visiting the sacrificial arena of Maharaja Prthu is all right as it is, the architecture is nice. Visnu should rest His left hand on Garuda's shoulder. But in the picture of the four kumaras visiting Prthu Maharaja, why are the Kumaras seen as if coming through the ceiling from above? I think it would be better if they were coming inside through the doorway.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Bharadraja -- Bombay 18 November, 1975:

The name of your exhibition is approved by me and it is a very good idea that you want to get federal funding. So far the Garuda Stambha is concerned, from the photograph, yes, it is approved what you have done. It can be placed in the Los Angeles temple in front of the Deity underneath the balcony. It must be underneath the balcony, otherwise how can it be done. It is better if it is not underneath, but if there is no other space for where to do it, then you will have to do it like that.