Garuda’s service

Garuda, the divine bird who is Lord Vishnu’s vehicle,served the Lord with his swiftness, whenever the Lord had to go to the rescue of His devotees who were in distress. When Gajendra, the elephant, was caught in the jaws of a crocodile, it was Garuda who carried the Lord to the rescue of the elephant. When Vasudeva, worried about the safety of Krishna, carried baby Krishna to Gokula, it rained heavily. The path was dark, but there was the Lord’s faithful snake Adisesha, not only protecting the child from the fury of the rains, but also illuminating the path with the gems on his hood. Garuda circled round, flapping his wings, and this was as if the Vedas were being chanted, because

Garuda is the embodiment of the Vedas. So, because of
Garuda’s presence, it was as if Vedic chants accompanied the baby Krishna, said V.S. Karunakarachariar, in a discourse.

Once, the asura Virochana, visited the abode of Lord Vishnu, and took away the Lord’s crown, to adorn the idol which he worshipped in his palace. Garuda noticed that the Lord’s crown was missing. Putting two and two together, he arrived at the conclusion that Virochana must have stolen it. He went to the netherworld and retrieved it. On the way back, he saw a child playing the flute. The child was none other than Lord Krishna. Garuda could tell that the child was an avatara of Lord Vishnu. So he placed the crown on the head of little Krishna. The crown was huge and

Krishna’s head was tiny, befitting his age. But the crown shrank to fit the child’s head! Later this crown was offered to Cheluvanarayana, the deity of the Melukote temple.