When Lord Narayana wants to see His reflection in a mirror, He looks at Garuda! The Vedas reveal the Supreme One. And so, Garuda, who is the embodiment of the Vedas, shows the Lord, even to the Lord Himself! In all Vishnu temples, one notices Garuda standing before the deity. Garuda, standing in front of the Lord, is His mirror. The gem Koustubha, which adorns the Lord, came from the ocean which also yielded the Halahala poison. So Koustubha has a doubt. Has the deadly poison tainted Koustubha? So, when Koustubha faces Garuda, the gem is happy, because Garuda is reflected in the gem, and Garuda’s reflection would have removed any blemishes that the gem might have had. If Koustubha fears that it might have been affected by the Halahala poison, there is a poison that we too should fear, and that is the poison that comes from indulging our senses. Vedanta Desika prays that Garuda should rid us of such indulgence, said Akkarakkani Srinidhi, in a discourse.
Vedanta Desika says the Rg, Yajur and Sama Vedas are found in Garuda’s wings. In his Garuda Panchasat, Desika enumerates Garuda’s qualities, by cleverly using numerals to describe his qualities. Garuda is eka , the only one. The Lord has five manifestations: para , vyuha , vibhava , antaryami and archa . Of these, Garuda is the second manifestation of the vyuha form of the Lord. Only three or four people know the meaning of the five-syllable Garuda mantra. He has the six qualities of the Lord. He is the embodiment of the Sama Veda, from which the seven swaras of music came. He knows the ashtamasiddhis. He appears new ( nava ) every time. Here, there is a pun on the word nava , which also means nine. And so the verse proceeds, increasing the count, and concludes that Garuda’s qualities are infinite.
