Garuḍa Upanisad
From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
By Swami Harshananda
Gāruḍa Upaniṣad is a minor Upaniṣad originating from the Atharvaveda.
Its main purpose is to attain freedom from the fear of all the poisonous creatures. The science taught here is called ‘gāruḍa-brahmavidyā’ and is believed to have originated from the four-faced Brahmā. The other important teachers of this Upaniṣad are Nārada, Brhatsena, Indra and Bharadvāja. It comprises of 25 mantras which are mostly in prose.
Contents[edit]
- Mantras 2 to 4 give the usual preliminaries that include:
- Dhyāna or meditation on Garuḍa or Garutmān[1] is emphasized in a long passage comprising seven verses in the śloka meter. It contains a picturesque description of Garuḍa who has the famous serpents as his ornaments all over his body. These serpents are:
- Several mālā- mantras are described in detail[2] with the main purport of the destruction (or prayers for destruction) of various kinds of poisons
- The Upaniṣad ends with a phalaśruti, a statement of the favorable results got by the chanting or listening to it
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore