Jatayu - mystical bird, king of vultures

Jatayu, the king of vultures, was not an ordinary bird, but a religious mystical bird, like a sage, fully acquainted with the rules of dharma.

Vinita, the wife of the sage Kashyap had 2 sons, Garuda and Arun. Garuda became the vehicle of Lord Vishnu, while Arun became the charioteer of Surya (the Sun God). Arun had 2 sons- Sampati and Jatayu.

Once in their childhood, Sampati and Jatayu decided to reach the sun. So they began to fly higher and higher. But very soon, Jatayu seemed to have lost his tolerance to the heat of the sun. Hence to save him, his elder brother Sampati spread his wings over the younger Jatayu. He did save his younger brother but got his own wings burnt by the heat and he fell at the seashore. Later Jatayu came to stay in Panchavati. Later on the king, Dasharatha came to the forests for hunting, where he met and made friends with Jatayu.

When Ravana, after abducting Sita, was on his way to Lanka on his Pushpak vimana, he encountered Jatayu. Jatayu fought a fierce battle with Ravana and smashed his aerial cart. But Ravana cut his wings and he fell on the ground.

On their way to find Sita, Rama meets Jatayu for the first time though Jatayu had known Rama from earlier times. Jatayu was then breathing his last. He said : "O Lord, the demon king Ravana has forcibly taken Sita towards the south. I have been holding my breath to have a sight of you. Now, I desire to breath my last, so kindly allow me to leave now". Shri Rama performed Jatayu's last rites and respectfully cremated his body and then offered libations for him. It was indeed a high fortune for Jatayu, that Lord Rama who could not perform his father's last rites came to perform the last rites of Jatayu.