Garudapurana 1.2

The glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa [Chapter] 2.
The sages said:
How was the Garuḍa Purāṇa spoken to you by Vyāsa?
Tell us all this, which is supremely centered on tales of Viṣṇu.

Sūta said:
I indeed went together with the sages to Badarikāśrama;
there Vyāsa was seen by me meditating upon the Supreme Lord.

Having bowed to him, I sat down and asked that lord of sages.
Sūta said:
O Vyāsa, speak of the form of Hari, and then of the creation of the universe and the like.

I think that since you meditate upon him, therefore you know that all-pervading Lord.
Being thus asked, as he spoke, so listen, O brāhmaṇas!

Vyāsa said:
Listen, O Sūta! I shall tell you the Garuḍa Purāṇa,
just as Brahmā, together with Nārada, Dakṣa, and others, told it to me.

Sūta said:
How did Brahmā speak to you, who were joined by Dakṣa, Nārada, and the foremost sages,
the auspicious Garuḍa Purāṇa, which conveys the essence?

Vyāsa said: / Indeed, I, Nārada, Dakṣa, Bhṛgu and the others, having bowed down to him, / asked Brahmā, who was in the world of Brahman: "Tell [us] the essence!"

Brahmā said: / Just as Viṣṇu told the essential Garuḍa Purāṇa to me and to Rudra, / together with the gods, so, Vyāsa, I will declare it to you.

Vyāsa said: / How did Hari formerly declare the essential Garuḍa Purāṇa / to Rudra along with the gods? Tell [it], O Brahman, [which is] of great significance!

Brahmā said: / I went to Mount Kailāsa together with the gods, Indra and others; / there Rudra was seen by me meditating upon the supreme state.

Having bowed to him, he was asked: "Upon which deity are you meditating, O Śaṅkara? / I know no other god higher than you; therefore, speak to me!

Together with the gods, I wish to hear the reality that is the utmost essence of essences." / Rudra said: / "I meditate upon that Viṣṇu, the supreme Self, the Lord,

the giver of all, all-pervading, the all, residing in the heart of all living beings. / My body is smeared with ashes, adorned with a mass of matted hair;

the observance of vows is mine for the worship of Viṣṇu, O Grandfather. / Let us go to him and ask for the essence, upon whom I reflect:

Viṣṇu, the victorious, the lotus-navelled, Hari, devoid of a physical body, / the pure, dwelling in purity, the swan, that supreme state, the supreme Lord.

Disciplined with my whole self, I meditate upon that divine Self / in whom all beings abide and enter,

resting as attributes in the Lord of beings like rows of jewels on a string; / thousand-eyed, thousand-footed, thousand-thighed, with an auspicious face,

subtler than the subtle and grosser than the gross, / weightier than the weightiest, and best among the best,

whom [the sages] praise in sayings, in supplementary sayings, in esoteric treatises and in the Upaniṣads, / him whose deeds are true, the true among the true Sāman chants,

who is declared as the ancient person, declared as Brahmā among the twice-born, / and declared as Saṅkarṣaṇa at the dissolution—we worship him, the worthy of worship,

in whom these worlds quiver like birds in the water; / who is the truth, the single syllable, Brahman, that which is beyond being and non-being,

and whom the gods, yakṣas, rākṣasas, and serpents worship; / whose mouth is fire, whose head is the sky, whose navel is space, whose feet are the earth,

and whose eyes are the moon and the sun—upon that deity I meditate; / within whose belly is the triple world, and whose arms are the cardinal points,

and whose breath is the wind—upon that deity I meditate; / in whose hair are the rainclouds, and the rivers are in all the joints of his limbs,

and in whose belly are the four oceans—upon that deity I meditate; / who is beyond time, beyond sacrifice, and beyond being and non-being,

beginningless, the origin of the universe—upon that deity I meditate; / from whose mind the moon was born, and from whose eyes the sun,

and from whose mouth fire arose—upon that deity I meditate; / from whose feet the earth was born, and likewise the quarters from his ears,

and from whose head the heavens [arose]—upon that deity I meditate; / from whom [proceed] creation and destruction, lineages, the cosmic eras,

and the history of dynasties—upon that deity I meditate. / Therefore, let us go to behold the essence [of him] upon whom I meditate."

Brahmā said: / Having spoken thus formerly, Rudra, wishing to hear, stood with the gods / after praising and bowing down to that Viṣṇu, dweller of Śvetadvīpa.

From our midst, Rudra spoke to the supreme Lord; / having bowed down, he questioned Viṣṇu on the utmost essence of essences.

Brahmā said: / Just as you asked me, O Vyāsa, so that Lord Bhava / questioned Viṣṇu, while the gods and others were listening.

Rudra said: / O Hari, Lord of gods, tell [me]: which Lord is the God of gods? / Who is to be meditated upon, who indeed is to be worshipped, and by what vows is the Supreme pleased?

By what duties, by what observances, or by what righteous worship, / [and] by what conduct would he be pleased, and what indeed is his form?

From which god was the universe born, and who protects the universe? / By what kind of incarnations [does he protect], and into whom does the universe dissolve?

Creation and destruction, lineages and the cosmic eras— / from which deity do they proceed, and in whom is this established?

Tell all this, O Hari, and whatever else there is: / the glory of the supreme Lord, as well as disciplined yoga and so forth,

and likewise the eighteen branches of knowledge." Then Hari said to Rudra: / Hari said: / "Listen, O Rudra, together with Brahmā and the gods, I shall tell [you]!

I indeed am the God of gods, the Lord of the lords of all worlds. / I am to be meditated upon, worshipped, and praised with hymns by the gods.

Worshipped indeed, O Rudra, I grant the supreme goal, / pleased by the observances, vows, and right conduct of human beings.

I am the seed of the cosmic maintenance, and I am the creator of the world, O Śiva! / Indeed, I am the chastiser of the wicked, and the protector of dharma, O Hara!

And through incarnations such as the Fish, I protect the entire world. / I am the mantras and the meaning of mantras, devoted to worship and meditation.

I am the creator of heaven and the like, and I myself am heaven and the rest. / I am the yogin, I am yoga itself, the primal one, and I myself am the Purāṇas.

The knower, the hearer, and the thinker, the speaker, and that which is to be spoken; / the all, the deity whose self is all, the supreme bestower of enjoyment and liberation.

I am meditation, worship, and offerings, and I myself am the mystic circles. / I am the historical epics, O Rudra; I am all the Vedas, O Śiva!

I am all knowledges, O Śambhu; I am the Self that is Brahman, I am Śiva; / I am Brahmā, all worlds, and the self of all deities.

I am virtuous conduct in person, I am dharma, I am Vaiṣṇava; / I am the castes and life-stages, and I am their ancient duties.

I am restraint, I am observance, O Rudra, and diverse religious vows; / I am the sun and the moon, and likewise Mars and the other planets.

Formerly Garuḍa the bird propitiated me with austerities on earth; / pleased, I said, 'Choose a boon,' and he chose a boon from me:"

Garuḍa said: / "O Hari, my mother Vinatā has been enslaved by the serpents; / [grant] that I, O Lord, having conquered them, may bring that nectar,

and release [her] from servitude; [and] that I may become your mount, / of great strength, great valour, all-knowing, and the destroyer of serpents."

Make it so that I may become the author of a Purāṇa compendium!"
Viṣṇu said:
"Everything will come to pass just as you have spoken, O Garuḍa.

You shall deliver your mother Vinatā from enslavement to the snakes;
and having conquered all the gods and others, you shall indeed bring back the nectar.

You shall become my vehicle, exceedingly mighty, a destroyer of poison;
and by my grace the Purāṇa that proclaims my majesty,

which declares my true nature, shall also be revealed to you.
Bearing your name, the Gāruḍa, it shall attain renown in the world.

Just as I, the fortune of the gods of gods, am renowned, O son of Vinatā,
so shall the Gāruḍa attain renown among the Purāṇas, O Garuḍa.

Just as I am to be praised, so are you in the person of Garuḍa.
Having meditated upon me, O chief of birds, recite this Gāruḍa Purāṇa."

Addressed thus, O Rudra, Garuḍa spoke to Kaśyapa when questioned.
Having heard the Gāruḍa, Kaśyapa revived a burnt tree.

Being focused [and] using the lore, he revived different [beings].
The lore 'yakṣi oṃ uṃ svāhā' is the supreme lore of Garuḍa.
Hear, O Rudra, the Gāruḍa spoken by Garuḍa, identical with myself.

Thus ends the second chapter, entitled 'Ascertainment of the Origin of the Glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa', in the Ācārakāṇḍa of the first section, named the Pūrvakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.