garuda ［迦楼羅］ (;  karura): In Indian mythology, a giant bird that feeds on dragons and is regarded as the king of birds. It is depicted in Buddhist artworks as having the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a man. The god Vishnu was believed to ride a garuda, which was revered as a deification of the sun’s fire. The garuda was incorporated into Buddhism and came to be counted as one of the eight kinds of non-human beings, along with dragons and asuras. In Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures, garuda is often rendered as “golden-winged bird.”