Garuda serves the Lord in many ways, and Vedanta Desika describes these services in his Garuda Panchasat, said Akkarakkani Srinidhi, in a discourse.
When the Lord leaves in a hurry, Garuda provides a covering over His head. Garuda fans the Lord. He is the victory symbol in the Lord’s flag. He is a friend to the Lord, when the latter fights against His enemies. When the Lord goes out to battle His enemies, He has no need of a chariot, for He has Garuda to take Him wherever He wants to go. Thus, Garuda renders many services to the Lord, but he himself needs no help from anyone. During the Rama avatara, Garuda helped Rama. Indrajit, the son of Ravana, used the nagastra against Rama, and as a result Rama and Lakshmana became unconscious. Garuda came flapping his huge wings, and this was enough to instil fear in the serpents that made up the nagastra. They uncoiled and ran away, and Rama and Lakshmana regained consciousness. A grateful Rama embraced Garuda.
Virochana, the son of Prahlada, who was serving the Lord reclining in the milky ocean, took away the Lord’s crown, and Garuda gave chase. He fought Virochana and retrieved the crown. But when he returned, the Lord had incarnated as Krishna. Garuda found Krishna and he put the crown on Krishna’s head. The crown that adorns Cheluvaraya, the deity of Melkote in Karnataka, is called Vairamudi. It is believed that it was given to the deity by Lord Krishna, and it was the same crown that Virochana had stolen and which was brought back by Garuda. Since Garuda is called Vainateya, and since the crown was brought back by him, it is called Vainamudi. In course of time, Vainamudi became Vairamudi. Garuda’s body, already scarred by his fight with Indra, acquired more wounds due to the fight against Virochana.
