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Upanishads · Gāruḍa 2.4
॥
Devanāgarī
सुपर्णोऽसि गरुत्मात्त्रिवृत्ते शिरो गायत्रं चक्षुः स्तोम आत्मा साम ते तनूर्वमदेव्यं बृहद्रथन्तरे पक्षौ यज्ञायज्ञियं पुच्छं छन्दांस्यङ्गानि धिष्णिया शफा यजूंशि नाम
Transliteration (IAST)
suparṇo'si garutmāttrivṛtte śiro gāyatraṃ cakṣuḥ stoma ātmā sāma te tanūrvamadevyaṃ bṛhadrathantare pakṣau yajñāyajñiyaṃ pucchaṃ chandāṃsyaṅgāni dhiṣṇiyā śaphā yajūṃśi nāma
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सुपर्णः असि गरुत्मान्suparṇaḥ asi garutmānyou are the beautiful-winged one, you are Garutmān
त्रिवृत् ते शिरःtrivṛt te śiraḥtrivṛt is your head
गायत्रं चक्षुःgāyatraṃ cakṣuḥgāyatra is the eye
स्तोमः आत्माstomaḥ ātmāstoma is the self
साम ते तनूःsāma te tanūḥthe sāmans are your body
वामदेव्यं बृहत्-रथन्तरे पक्षौvāmadevyaṃ bṛhat-rathantare pakṣauvāmadevya; bṛhat and rathantara are the two wings
यज्ञायज्ञियं पुच्छंyajñāyajñiyaṃ pucchaṃyajñāyajñīya is the tail
छन्दांसि अङ्गानिchandāṃsi aṅgānithe meters are the limbs
धिष्णियाः शफाःdhiṣṇiyāḥ śaphāḥthe fire-altars are the hooves
यजूंषि नामyajūṃṣi nāmathe yajuses are the name
Translation
«You are the beautiful-winged one, you are Garutmān: trivṛt is your head, gāyatra is the eye, stoma is the self, the sāmans and vāmadevya are your body, bṛhat and rathantara are the two wings, yajñāyajñīya is the tail, the meters are the limbs, the fire-altars are the hooves, the yajuses are the name».
Version
5803e59ae241 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here is an ancient passage, sharply different from everything else in this book; it is worth saying where it comes from. It is a Vedic formula, standing in the Taittirīya Saṃhitā and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, used in the rite of building the fire altar. That altar was built in the shape of a bird, and the bird was called suparṇa, “beautiful-winged”; and the priest, laying it out of bricks, would proclaim that its head was such-and-such a chant, its wings such-and-such, its tail such-and-such.
That is, before us is not a description of Garuḍa, but an inventory of the altar, in which every part of the bird is named by a chant. Named are: trivṛt (the nine-part stoma), gāyatra, vāmadevya, bṛhat and rathantara (the two chief sāmans), yajñāyajñīya. Note how curious this construction is in itself.
The bird is built out of songs: not out of feathers, but out of chants; and the rite consisted in proclaiming, while laying the bricks, which song lies where. The Vaiṣṇava side regards such passages with respect and has its own reading. It says: a body composed of sound is an exact image of what it asserts about the Lord — that His form is not material, but consists of cit, consciousness; and the suffix rūpin was discussed reading the Hayagrīva (1.1).
Let us add that the appearance of an ancient altar-formula in a charm against snakebite shows how this book was composed: old Vedic material was taken and applied to a need it was never made for.