Monday 4 March 2024

Who would win in a battle between Nandi and Garud?

 

Who would win in a battle between Nandi and Garud?

This answer is based on Mahabharata..

Garuda was born as a result of severe penance of sixty thousand Valakhilya rishis(Their intent was to create a being more powerful than Indra by hundred times),

“The gods will have another Indra, capable of going anywhere at will and capable of summoning up any power at will. He will bring great fear to the present king of the gods. Through the fruits of our austerities, there will be born one, swift as the mind, who will be a hundred times better than Indra in strength and valour.”

Critical Edition, Adi parva 23

He also has received several blessings from his father Prajapati Kashyapa as well as Sri Vishnu too.

Having said so unto Garuda, he (Kasyapa) blessed him, saying, 'Blest be thou when thou art in combat with the gods. Let water pitchers filled to the brim, Brahmanas, kine, and other auspicious objects, bless thee, thou oviparous one. And, O thou of great strength, when thou art engaged with the gods in combat, let the Riks, the Yajus, the Samas, the sacred sacrificial butter, all the mysteries (Upanishads), constitute thy strength.'

~Adi parva , 29

His single feather can carry the entire universe.

My strength, know thou, is hard to bear. O thou of a thousand sacrifices, the good never approve of speaking highly of their own strength, nor do they speak of their own merits. But being made a friend, and asked by thee, O friend, I will answer thee, although self-praise without reason is ever improper.

I can bear, on a single feather of mine, O Sakra, this Earth, with her mountains and forests and with the waters of the ocean, and with thee also stationed thereon. Know thou, my strength is such that I can bear without fatigue even all the worlds put together, with their mobile and immobile objects.

~Adi parva, 34

And he also succeeded in conquering Devas, Yakhas , Gandharvas and other divine beings all at once as per the mythology.

And as he of great might was attacked by the gods, he began to roar aloud, like the great cloud that appeareth in the sky at the end of the Yuga, frightening every creature. And that king of birds, of great energy, that slayer of hostile heroes, then rose on his wings. All the wise ones (the celestials) with Indra amongst them armed with double-edged broad swords, iron maces furnished with sharp spikes, pointed lances, maces, bright arrows, and many a discus of the form of the sun, saw him over head. And the king of birds, attacked them on all sides with showers of various weapons and fought exceedingly hard without wavering for a moment. And the son of Vinata, of great prowess blazing in the sky, attacked the gods on all sides with his wings and breast.

And blood began to flow copiously from the bodies of the gods mangled by the talons and the beak of Garuda. Overcome by the lord of birds, the Sadhyas with the Gandharvas fled eastwards, the Vasus with the Rudras towards the south, the Adityas towards the west, and the twin Aswins towards the north. Gifted with great energy, they retreated fighting, looking back every moment on their enemy.

~Adi parva 32

Indra's Vajra was barely able to scratch Garuda. He respected Vajra of Indra and shed the feather which was struck by the Vajra.

"And while that foremost of all rangers of the skies, that first of winged creatures, Garuda, was coursing through the air after wresting the Amrita, Indra hurled at him his thunderbolt. Then Garuda, the lord of birds, struck with thunderbolt, spake laughingly unto Indra engaged in the encounter, in sweet words, saying, 'I shall respect the Rishi (Dadhichi) of whose bone the Vajra hath been made. I shall also respect the Vajra, and thee also of a thousand sacrifices. I cast this feather of mine whose end thou shalt not attain. Struck with thy thunder I have not felt the slightest pain.' And having said this, the king of birds cast a feather of his

~Adi parva , 33

Right after his birth, his Fierce form was scorching the entire universe and devas had to request him to diminish his power before it destroys the universe.

In the meantime, when his time came, burst forth from the egg without (the help of his) mother, Garuda of great splendour, enkindling all the points of the universe, that mighty being endued with strength, that bird capable of assuming at will any form, of going at will everywhere, and of calling to his aid at will any measure of energy. Effulgent like a heap of fire, he shone terribly. Of lustre equal to that of the fire at the end of the Yuga, his eyes were bright like the lightning-flash.

……

O Lord, this whole universe is rendered hot by thy splendour, bright as the lustre of heated gold. Protect these high-souled gods, who overcome by thee and terrified withal, are flying along the heavens in different directions on their celestial cars. O thou best of birds, thou Lord of all, thou art the son of the merciful and high-souled Rishi Kasyapa; therefore, be not wroth but have mercy on the universe. Thou art Supreme. O pacify thy anger and preserve us. At thy voice, loud as the roar of the thunder, the ten points, the skies, the heavens, the Earth and our hearts, O bird, thou art continuously shaking. O, diminish this thy body resembling Agni..

~Adi parva, 23

Whereas Nandi was simply a present Brahma gave to Siva in order to pacify his wrath.

"Maheswara said, 'In the days of yore, the Grandsire Brahma created the celestial cow Surabhi yielding abundant milk. After her creation there sprang from her a large number of kine all of which yielded copious quantities of milk sweet as nectar. Once on a time a quantity of froth fell from the mouth of one of her calves on my body. I was enraged at this and my wrath scorched all the kine which thereupon became diversified in hue. I was then pacified by the Master of all the worlds, viz., Brahma, conversant with all topics. It was he who gave me this bull both as a vehicle for bearing me and as a device on my banner.'

~Anushasana parva, 141

As per Mahabharata, Nandi doesn't have pretty much anything which compares him to the likes of Garuda. And so would be effortlessly defeated by Garuda..

From POV of Ramayana and Mahabharata, Apart from brahmarishis , trinity and their wives / children , Nobody can possibly defeat Garuda (Boons excluded)… However this would change according to different puranas

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