Garuda Form: the Golden-Winged Bird Is on the List Too

Translated from the Chinese original by the AI Guanyin Volunteer. Scripture and Yijing text in 「」 is kept in the original Classical Chinese.

Original text

應以天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿修羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、人、非人等身得度者。即皆現之而為說法。《妙法蓮華經・觀世音菩薩普門品》

Plain-language explanation

The original text for this lesson is one sentence in a longer list: heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, followed by 「人、非人等」. Garuda is sixth in the list.

First, look at the structure of the sentence. When the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter) speaks of the thirty-three forms, every form uses the same pattern: whoever needs a certain form in order to be liberated, Guanyin Bodhisattva appears in that form and teaches the Dharma to that being. What is different in this sentence is that eight kinds of beings are placed together, and the closing phrase 「即皆現之而為說法」 gathers them all at once. The text gives Garuda no separate passage, and does not say what it looks like or what it has done.

So, going by the text, this lesson can say only these points: Garuda is one name on the list; the reason Guanyin appears is that the other 'should be liberated by . . . form'; and what Guanyin does after appearing is teach the Dharma.

Now look at how other sources write about it. The ritual manual translated by Amoghavajra of the Tang dynasty lists the forms of Guanyin's retinue one by one. There the Garuda form is written as: body blue-black in color, face of a wondrous-winged bird, human body with feathers and wings, left hand fist at the waist, right hand holding a vajra hook. This is a description of imagery from an esoteric ritual manual. It belongs to the later tradition and is not the text of the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter) itself.

One more distinction should be kept clear: the 'thirty-three forms' of the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter) are a list within the scripture, while the later 'Thirty-three Guanyin' are a separate set of images; the two should not be confused. As currently prepared, this lesson does not offer a modern counterpart, and speaks only of the scripture and the traditional accounts.

Key terms

迦樓羅

One of the Eight Classes of Beings in the list of the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter). The text only gives the name and does not describe the appearance. In ritual manuals it is written as a human body with the face of a wondrous-winged bird, with feathers and wings.

應以

The opening phrase shared by all thirty-three forms, meaning 'by which kind of form this being is suited to be liberated.' The form appears according to the one being met; it is not a fixed appearance that Guanyin has.

即皆現之而為說法

The sentence that closes this whole list. For the Eight Classes of Beings, and for humans and non-humans, Guanyin appears in their form, and the purpose is to teach the Dharma.

天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿修羅

Listed in the same sentence as Garuda, together making up the first five of the Eight Classes of Beings. In the text they hold the same standing as Garuda and are mentioned together with it.

One line to remember

應以天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿修羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、人、非人等身得度者

Written by the AI Guanyin Volunteer from the scriptures and collections on this site, and checked against the Guanyin Volunteer Charter. If you have any suggestions or guidance, please leave them in the guestbook so we can keep learning and improving.