Editing Garuda (section)

==Buddhism==
[[File:Garuda vanquishing the Naga clan. Gandhara. Met.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Garuda vanquishing the [[nāga|Naga]] clan, a [[Gandhara]] artwork, second century CE.]]
Garuda, also referred to as ''Garula'', are golden-winged birds in Buddhist texts. Under the [[Saṃsāra (Buddhism)|Buddhist concept]] of ''[[saṃsāra]]'', they are one of the [[Eight Legions|Aṣṭagatyaḥ]], the eight classes of inhuman beings. In Buddhist art, they are shown as sitting and listening to the sermons of the Buddha.<ref name="Lopez314"/> They are enemies of the [[Nāgas]] (snakes) and are sometimes depicted with a serpent held between their claws. Like the Hindu art, both zoomorphic (giant eagle-like bird) and partially anthropomorphic (part bird, part human) iconography is common across Buddhist traditions.<ref name="Lopez314"/>

[[File:Garuda (Koh Ker style).jpg|thumbnail|upright|Garuda ({{langx|km|គ្រុឌ}}, {{lang|km-Latn|Krŭd}}) in [[Koh Ker]] style. Made of sandstone, this statue is from the first half of tenth century, ([[Angkor|Angkor period]]). On display at the [[National Museum of Cambodia]].]]
In [[Buddhist mythology|Buddhism]], the Garuda (Sanskrit; [[Pāli]]: {{IAST|garuḷā}}) are enormous predatory birds with a wingspan of 330 [[yojana]]s.<ref name="Lopez314"/> They are described as beings with intelligence and social organisation. They are also sometimes known as {{IAST|suparṇa}} (Sanskrit; Pāli: {{IAST|supaṇṇa}}), meaning "well-winged, having good wings". Like the [[Nāgas]], they combine the characteristics of animals and divine beings, and may be considered to be among the lowest of the [[Deva (Buddhism)|devas]].<ref name="Lopez314"/> The Garudas have kings and cities, and at least some of them have the magical power of changing into human form when they wish to have dealings with people. On some occasions Garuda kings have had romances with human women in this form. Their dwellings are in groves of the ''simbalī'', or [[Bombax ceiba|silk-cotton tree]].

Jataka stories describe them to be residents of Nagadipa or Seruma.<ref name="Lopez314"/>

The Garuda are enemies to the [[Naga (mythology)|nāga]], a race of intelligent serpent- or dragon-like beings, whom they hunt. The Garudas at one time caught the nāgas by seizing them by their heads; but the nāgas learned that by swallowing large stones, they could make themselves too heavy to be carried by the Garudas, wearing them out and killing them from exhaustion. This secret was divulged to one of the Garudas by the ascetic Karambiya, who taught him how to seize a nāga by the tail and force him to vomit up his stone (Pandara Jātaka, J.518).

The Garudas were among the beings appointed by [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Śakra]] to guard Mount [[Sumeru]] and the [[Trayastrimsa|{{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}}]] heaven from the attacks of the [[Asura (Buddhism)|asuras]].

[[File:Garuda_Thap_Mam_13th_c.jpg|thumb|upright|left|13th century [[Art of Champa|Cham]] sculpture depicts Garuda devouring a [[Naga (mythology)|nāga]] serpent.]]
In the Maha-samaya Sutta (Digha Nikaya 20), the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] is shown making temporary peace between the Nagas and the Garudas.

In the [[Qing dynasty]] fiction ''[[Yue Fei#The Story of Yue Fei|The Story of Yue Fei]]'' (1684), Garuda sits at the head of the Buddha's throne. But when a celestial bat (an embodiment of the [[Aquarius (constellation)|Aquarius constellation]]) flatulates during the Buddha's expounding of the [[Lotus Sutra]], Garuda kills her and is exiled from paradise. He is later reborn as [[Song dynasty]] General [[Yue Fei]]. The bat is reborn as Lady Wang, wife of the [[Hanjian|traitor]] Prime Minister [[Qin Hui (Song dynasty)|Qin Hui]], and is instrumental in formulating the "Eastern Window" plot that leads to Yue's eventual political execution.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hsia|first=C.T.|title=C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-231-12990-4|page=154}}</ref> ''The Story of Yue Fei'' plays on the legendary animosity between Garuda and the Nagas when the celestial bird-born Yue Fei defeats a magic serpent who transforms into the unearthly spear he uses throughout his military career.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hsia|first=C.T.|title=C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-231-12990-4|page=149}}</ref> Literary critic [[C. T. Hsia]] explains the reason why Qian Cai, the book's author, linked Yue with Garuda is because of the homology in their Chinese names. Yue Fei's [[courtesy name]] is Pengju ({{lang|zh|鵬舉}}).<ref name=hsia>{{cite book|last=Hsia|first=C.T.|title=C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-231-12990-4|pages=149, 488, n.30}}</ref> A [[Peng (mythology)|Peng]] ({{lang|zh|鵬}}) is a giant mythological bird likened to the Middle Eastern [[Roc (mythology)|roc]].<ref>Chau, Ju-Kua, Friedrich Hirth, and W.W. Rockhill. ''Chau Ju-Kua: His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, entitled Chu-Fan-Chi''. St. Petersburg: Printing Office of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1911, p. 149, n. 1</ref> Garuda's Chinese name is Great Peng, the Golden-Winged Illumination King ({{lang|zh|大鵬金翅明王}}).<ref name=hsia/>