Garuda is popularly known as the vahana or vehicle of Vishnu. In this form he can be found in every South Indian temple dedicated to Vishnu and even in the temples of South-East Asia. However, his stature is far greater than this apparent submissiveness. Garuda and Hanuman are the strongest of the strong powers in the universe. Even Shiva and Vishnu would find it hard to match strength and abilities with them. Both these great beings, Garuda and Hanuman, have dedicated their lives to service instead of using their powers to rule over the cosmos. Hanuman's reward is that he will preside over the next cycle of creation as its Manu, Adam Kadamon, the First Man. Garuda's reward is immortality and a stature that is, literally, always above Vishnu.

All anthropomorphic deities in India are of Yaksha origin. They are the ancient chthonic powers associated with the land and normally have an animal head with human bodies. These powers were gradually assimilated into the newly emerging faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Thus Kubera, Kirthimukha, Ganesha and Garuda find prominent roles in the stories of all three faiths. Garuda's close association with Vishnu has made him a predominantly Hindu icon today, but like his fellow Yakshas he pervaded the Indian consciousness. The great switch to the new faiths happened sometime in between the 2nd century BCE and 2nd century CE. The Yakshas were fully assimilated by then and Garuda suddenly appears in the epic Mahabharata as a full-blown power. When Hinduism and Buddhism traveled to South-East Asia from the 3rd to the 4th century CE onwards, they took their Yaksha assimilations with them, and Garuda is seen in both Hindu and Buddhist temples to the present day.

The commonly accepted Garuda story in India is as follows. The great rishi Kashyapa was the progenitor of most life forms on the planet. This happened because Prajaparti, the creator god, gave him thirteen wives who were only partly human and retained many aspects of their origins from vegetation and animals. In the early days of creation such is the norm in myth. Kashyapa was a good husband but he was essentially a spiritual person. He used to retire occasionally from this excess of connubial bliss and domestic felicity to recoup his powers with meditation and tapasya. Such absences left the field open for his wives to engage in bitter conflicts with each other. Of all the malicious strife, none was as bad as the one between Kadru, the serpent mother and Vinata, mother of our hero. Kadru was the senior wife, a socially and culturally advantageous position, and she spitefully exploited it to vex Vinata. When their oblivious husband asked them to choose a boon as to the types of children they wanted, Kadru asked for a hundred mighty serpents to be born to her. Vinata saw her chance and asked for only two sons, but they were each to be superior to the sons of Kadru. Naturally, matters only deteriorated after this.

In time, Kadru brought forth a hundred eggs from which would hatch a race of Nagas, Man-serpents. Vinata had only two eggs to console her and they seemed to be endlessly incubating. Thoughtlessly she broke open the shell of one of them and a furious divine being emerged, who had been formed only up to his waist. He cursed his mother into slavery for so deforming him, but modified the curse so that his younger brother would redeem her. He then rose up into the sky to become Arun, the charioteer of the Sun God. Very soon the curse took effect. The two rival wives were observing the divine steed Uchchaishrava fly past on his way to his island home. Vinata was of the opinion that it was pure white all over, but Kadru held that the horse had a black tail. They wagered their freedom on their stubborn opinions. Kadru, who had no sporting spirit but a great appreciation for sure things, made her serpent sons cover the tail of the horse so that it looked black. Vinata became her slave and so did her newly born son.

If they thought they were going to lord it over this youngster, they were greatly mistaken. No sooner was he born than he instantly increased his size to a colossal figure. So bright was the blaze coming off him that the gods were afraid that Agni, god of fire, had decided to burn up the universe. He had the head, wings, beak and talons of an eagle, but the body of a man. His face was white, with red wings and a golden body. Since he was the son of the great sage, his wings had a peculiar quality in that every time they moved, verses from the Holy Vedas would be heard. The very presence of Garuda was thus a blessing and benediction. His immense powers were also a gift conferred upon Kashyapa by the Valkhilya rishis, supernatural beings of miniscule size but immense spiritual accomplishments. Indra, King of the Gods, had made the mistake of laughing at them, and they set about using their powers to create a being greater than Indra, capable of going anywhere at will, mustering any measure of strength and assuming any form at will. At Kashyapa's intercession on Indra's behalf, the Valkhilyas agreed to let this being be born as the rishi's son instead of a replacement for Indra.

The son of Vinata was not going to bear servitude with humility and acceptance. Once he almost scorched his snake-brothers by flying with them into the heat of the sun. (They thought it would be fun to use him as transport.) Indra, god of rain, intervened and darkened the sky with clouds to save the snakes, an act that the mighty son of Vinata did not forget in a hurry. The wary snakes now promised to free the mother and son if he got them Amrita, the Nectar of Immortality, zealously guarded by Indra. This was too good a chance to pass up and he went instantly to where his father was deep in meditation to ask his advice on how to accomplish such an unheard of task. Kashyapa told his son to first eat a giant elephant and tortoise locked in eternal combat for millennia. Their assimilated energy would render him invincible. This fiery insatiable hunger gave him one his names, Chirad, 'the long eater'. Looking for a suitable perch to eat this feast, he alighted upon a great branch of an ancient tree. The weight broke the limb, and to his horror he saw that the Valkhilyas were meditating hanging upside down on the branch. He instantly snatched the tree limb in his mouth and carried them away to safety. The feat was a stupendous one as the power of their austerities had made the Valkhilyas the heaviest objects in the universe. Glad at his concern for others and impressed by his speed and strength, they named him Garuda 'the carrier of immense weight'.