Nagas and Garudas - animals with miraculous powers

This is part of the description 

of the animal realm of samsara

Nagas are animals with miraculous powers who live in many places: in some realms of the gods or humans, bellow the four continents or in depths of waters (oceans, rivers, lakes, etc) where they have their own paralel reality, invisible to us, with cities, palaces and various manifestations. Sometimes, it seems that the waters are just a portal towards their realms which they can reach through other means[1], like for example, through earth[2].
 
The world of nagas is luxurious, very sensual and sexual. The palaces are fantastically beautiful, filled with all kinds of riches, gardens and lakes, fruits always rippened and perfumed open lotuses. The land is leveled and pleasant to touch like a soft carpet. The naga women are perfect seducers whose magical power of attraction is hard to resis, some of them leading an immoral life[3].

The nagas resemble a lot with the spirits and have miraculous powers but are included in the category of animals because of their body in the form of big hooded snakes like cobras[4], and also probably because of their powerful animal instincts.  They have the capacity to become invisible and shapeshift, the sacred texts often mentioning them to appear in human form, although they can take other forms[5], too. They are temperamental beings and if they are upset or their teritory is defiled they can throw with diseases or cause various problems to humans. 

Naga Mucalinda and Shakyamuni Buddha

However, there are some nagas who are converted to Buddhism and who protect the Dharma and the disciples of Buddha, sometimes even acting as keepers of sacred texts[6]. In Muccalinda Sutra we are told that the naga king Muccalinda protected Shakyamuni Buddha from rain by covering him with his huge hood. This image is famous in the Buddhist statuary art. Also, in the Lotus Sutra we are told about a daugher of another naga king who attained Enlightenment, and a list of eight great naga kings are often mentioned in audience when Shakyamuni taught various sutras. So, the world of nagas has its own sages and spiritually evolved practitioners.
 
Generally speaking, a being is reborn as a naga due to an ambivalent karma of speech, body and mind. For example, it is mentioned in the Samantapasadika the case of a man who had such a good karma that he deserved to be reborn in the world of the gods but because he was guilty of incestuous relations he was reborn as a water naga who fed on frogs. He was so disgusted with his life as a naga and wanted to become human again as he took human form and received monk ordination to gain the necesary karma to be reborn a human in the next life. Unfortunately, after he became a monk and lived for some time at a monastery, somebody saw his true form when sleeping[7] and the monks told everything to Shakyamuni. He spoke about the specific limitations of nagas and forbade the ordination of animals, on which occasion was proclaimed the rule that each aspirant should be asked, ”manusso’si?”, which means, “are you a human being?” before ordination.[8]
 
Uncontrolled sexual instincts lead to rebirth in the animal world. However, as nobody has a single type of karma, there is not a single type of animals, some being superior to others. Thus, an uncontrolled sexuality combined with a very good karma in other things[9] may lead to rebirth in a superior form of animal like the naga.
 
Depending on the modality of birth, the nagas are of many types, each category being considered superior to other: 1) nagas born by spontaneous apparition, 2) nagas born from moisture, 3) nagas born from the womb and 4) nagas bron from eggs.
 
Nagas are usually associated with the water element but there are also nagas associated with the fire element. It is well known the story of taming a fire naga by Shakyamuni Buddha followed by the mass conversion of the fire ascetic worshippers[10]. 
 
Although the nagas have some miraculous powers and enjoy great abundance, they also suffer from various afflictions. For example, the nags of Jambudvipa (our world) are said to suffer from three calamities:
 
1)     Their skin and flesh are burned by a hot wind or hot sand storm which appears from time to time in their world,
2)     Sometimes an evil wind errupts in their naga palaces leaving them without clothes, ornaments and protection from heat,
3)     They are attacked and eaten by the Garudas, their natural enemies[11].

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Garudas, the second type of animals with miraculous powers, are very big birds[12] with incredible strenght, being capable to pull banyan trees from their roots (Jataka, 412, 543) or create a powerful wind with the flapping of their wings (Jataka, 518) through which they separate the waters of the ocean and find nagas dwelling places (Jataka, 412) or to cause a storm which can destroy human houses and plunge a whole town into total darkness (Jataka, 360).[13]
 
Also, because of their supranatural powers, garudas can shapeshift, often taking human form. Their favorite place to live are the groves of simbali trees[14] (Samyutta Nikaya, 48:70), a large community of garudas being mentioned (Jataka, 31) to live in such a forest on the slopes of mount Sumeru[15].
 
The main food of garudas are the nagas. The garudas are born in all the four modes, simmilar to the nagas, and here too there is a hierarchy depending on the modes of birth: 1) spontaneous appartition, 2) from moisture, 3) the womb and 4) from the egg. This hierarchy reflects especially in the modality of eating, that is, a garuda born spontaneously can eat any type of nagas, while the rest can eat only a naga from the same category or inferior to them. Those born from egg, being the lowest category, can only eat the nagas equivalent to them. There are, however, cases of peace between these two species of powerful animals.
 
Some garudas are converted to Buddhism and act as protectors of Dharma and disciples of Buddha. Among these some are also very advanced spiritually and even attained Enlightenment.
 
The sacred texts are very poor in details regarding garuda birds which is why I did not find any information about the causes of birth in this form of existence and the sufferings specific to them, as they seem to have no natural enemies. However, they also get old and die, and suffer from the tirany of instincts like any animal, feeling hunger and the need to eat other animals.

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[1] When king Uggasena wished to visit the realm of nagas, the naga king Campeya created through his magical power a golden road which lead there.
[2] In Bhuridatta Jataka entrance to a naga dwelling place is described as a whirpool in the Yamuna river, but later, the nagas reach the same place through earth.
Jataka 543 - The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; according to Theravada and Sarvastivada sources, by Punnadhammo Mahathero, Independently Published, Arrow River Forest Hermitaje, 2018, p.169
[3] It is told that the naga king Vimala wished to recruit an assasin to kill the sage Vvidhura because his queen desired to eat his heart, so he asked his daugher Irandhati to find one. She did not oppose, being herself overcome by carnal desires, so she put on a red dress, adorned herself with various ornaments and went on the top of a mountain. There she made a bed of perfumed flowers, danced and sang with a sweet voice: „What gandharva, rakshasa, kimpurisa or a sage would like to have his desires satisfied with me and be my husband for the whole night?” This is how she seduced and recruited Punnaka, the leader of yakshas who tried to kill Vidhura.
Jataka, 546 - The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; according to Theravada and Sarvastivada sources, by Punnadhammo Mahathero, Independently Published, Arrow River Forest Hermitaje, 2018, p.173 
[4] They also feed  like snakes, especially the water nagas.
[5] The sacred texts sometimes mention cases of nagas who assume the form of animals and even objects.
[6] It is said that Bodhisattva Nagarjuna received the Prajnaparamita sutras from some nagas which were entrusted to them by Shakyamuni Buddha.
[7] Nagas come back to their natural form when sleeping, throw their skin, make sex with other nagas and in the moment of death.
[8] Vinaya, Mahavagga 1:63 - The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; according to Theravada and Sarvastivada sources, by Punnadhammo Mahathero, Independently Published, Arrow River Forest Hermitaje, 2018, p.168-169 
[9] For example, somebody observes all the other precepts and be very generous with those in need but has an incorrect sexual life. This combination may lead to rebirth as a naga. Uncontrolled sexuality has the karmic effect of birth into the animal plane of existence (and in some extreme cases even in hell or preta realms) while generosity leads to abundance and miraculous powers.
[10] Once the Buddha reached the monastery of Kassapa in Uruvela, who was the leader of a group of fire ascetics and asked him to let Him sleep in the place called the „fire hut”. Kassapa agreed but told Him that there was a ferocious and poisoned naga there. Buddha was not scared and sat inside the fire hut in meditation posture. The naga became furious  and blew smoke through his mouth. Buddha did the same. „I will conquer the heat of this naga with heat without destroying him”, thought the Buddha. Then the naga blew fire and the Buddha, entering the fire element, did the same. The fire ascetics gathered arround the hut and watched in amazement how it was filled with fire. All of them thought the Buddha will die, but to their surprise the next morning the Buddha left the hut with the tamed naga seated silently in His bowl: „Look Kasapa, here is your naga. His fire was extinguished.”
[11] The nagas who take refuge in the Buddha cannot be eaten by the garudas.
[12] According to Anguttara Nikaya a garuda king can have a wingspread of 150 yojanas.
[13] The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; according to Theravada and Sarvastivada sources, by Punnadhammo Mahathero, Independently Published, Arrow River Forest Hermitaje, 2018, p.177
[14] Bot: Bombax Ceiba. They are also called Kapok trees. In English they are known as Silk-cotton trees.
[15] The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; according to Theravada and Sarvastivada sources, by Punnadhammo Mahathero, Independently Published, Arrow River Forest Hermitaje, 2018, p.177