Garudapurana 1.83

The glorious Garuḍa Purāṇa [Chapter] 83. / Brahmā said: / Gayā is holy in Kīkaṭa; the forest Rājagṛha is holy; / the region Caraṇa is holy, and the Punāpunā among rivers.

Muṇḍapṛṣṭha is in the east, west, south, and north; / its measure at Gayā is declared to be two and a half krośas.

The field of Gayā is five krośas; Gayāśiras is one krośa; / by offering funeral cakes there, eternal satisfaction is attained.

From the mountain, from Janārdana, and from the well Uttaramānasa— / this is called Gayāśiras; that is spoken of as the Phalgu tīrtha.

By offering funeral cakes there, ancestors attain the supreme state; / merely by going to Gayā, one becomes free of debt to the ancestors.

Janārdana, the God of gods, is present at Gayā in the form of the ancestors; / having seen him, the lotus-eyed one, one is freed from the threefold debt.

Having seen the chariot-path at the Gayā tīrtha, at the footprint of Rudra and other sites, / and Kāleśvara and Kedāra, one becomes free of debt to the ancestors.

Having seen the god Pitāmaha, one is freed from all sins; / and having seen Prapitāmaha, one goes to the world free from disease.

Likewise, having bowed down with effort to the god Gadādhara, Mādhava, Puruṣottama, / a man is not born again.

Having seen in silence the great Maunāditya and especially Kanakārka, / O sage among brāhmaṇas, one becomes free of debt to the ancestors.

Having worshiped Brahmā, one attains the realm of Brahman. / And the mortal who, rising in the morning, beholds Gāyatrī,

having performed the twilight devotion with care, obtains the fruit of all the Vedas; / and having seen Sāvitrī at midday, obtains the fruit of sacrifices;

and having seen Sarasvatī at twilight, obtains the fruit of gifts; / having seen the Lord residing on the mountain, one becomes free of debt to the ancestors.

Having seen Dharmāraṇya and Dharma the lord, the destruction of debts occurs; / having seen the god Gṛdhreśvara, who would not be freed from bondage?

Having seen Dhenu in Dhenuvana, one leads the ancestors to the realm of Brahman; / having seen Prabhāseśa at Prabhāsa, one goes to the supreme state.

Having seen Koṭīśvara and Aśvamedha, the destruction of debts occurs; / having seen Svargadvāreśvara, one is freed from the bondage of worldly existence.

Having seen Rāmeśvara and Gadālola, one attains heaven; / likewise, having seen Brahmeśvara, one is freed from the sin of killing a brāhmaṇa.

Having seen Mahācaṇḍī on Muṇḍapṛṣṭha, one attains one's desires; / and having seen Phalgvīśa, Phalgucaṇḍī, and Gaurī Maṅgalā,

Gomaka, and the divine Gopati, one becomes free of debt to the ancestors; / having seen Aṅgāreśa, Siddheśa, Gayāditya, and Gaja,

and Mārkaṇḍeyeśvara, one becomes free of debt to the ancestors. / A man having bathed in the Phalgu tīrtha and seen the god Gadādhara—

is this not sufficient for men who perform good deeds? / Here, twenty-one generations go to the realm of Brahman.

Whatever holy bathing-places, whatever oceans and lakes there are on earth, / they will go to the Phalgu ford once every single day.

And on earth Gayā is sacred, and in Gayā, Gayāśiras; / likewise the Phalgu ford is supreme, for it is indeed the mouth of the god.

To the north is the Kanakānadī, but the Nābhitīrtha is in the center; / the holy Brahmasadastīrtha, by bathing [there], grants the world of Brahmā.

By offering a ball of rice and other rites at the well, one becomes free of debt to the ancestors; / likewise, one who performs an ancestral rite at the Akṣayavaṭa leads the ancestors to the world of Brahmā.

By bathing at Haṃsatīrtha, a man is freed from all sins; / at Koṭitīrtha, Gayālola, at the Vaitaraṇī, and at Gomaka,

the performer of the ancestral rite leads twenty-one generations of men to the world of Brahmā; / at Brahmatīrtha, Rāmatīrtha, Āgneya, and Somatīrthaka,

the performer of the ancestral rite at Rāmahrada leads the ancestral family to the world of Brahmā; / the performer of the ancestral rite at Uttara Mānasa is not born again.

The performer of the ancestral rite at Dakṣiṇa Mānasa leads the ancestors to the world of Brahmā; / the man performing the ancestral rite at Svargadvāra leads the ancestors to the world of Brahmā; / one who performs the libation to Bhīṣma on its peak delivers his ancestors; / and the performer of the ancestral rite at Gṛdhreśvara becomes free of debt to the ancestors.

The performer of the ancestral rite in the Dhenukā Forest leads his ancestors to the world of Brahmā; / having bathed, one who gives a cow of sesame seeds, upon seeing the cow, [leads them] without doubt.

At Aindra, or Naratīrtha, and likewise at Vāsava and Vaiṣṇava, / one who has performed an ancestral rite on the Mahānadī leads his ancestors to the world of Brahmā.

At the Gāyatrī, Sāvitrī, and likewise the Sārasvata ford, / one who performs bathing, twilight devotion, and water-libations, and performs an ancestral rite, [delivers] one hundred and one

generations of ancestors: that person leads them to the world of Brahmā. / With mind intent upon the ancestors, restrained, he should exit from Brahmayoni.

Having offered water-libations to the ancestors and gods, he would not enter the distress of the womb; / by the water-libation at Kākajaṅghā, the satisfaction of the ancestors is imperishable.

From an ancestral rite at Mataṅga's pond in the Forest of Dharma, one goes to heaven; / and at the sacrificial post and well of Dharma, one becomes free of debt to the ancestors.

"May the deities be the authority, and the world guardians the witnesses: / coming here to Mataṅga, expiation has been made by me for the ancestors!"

Bathing at Rāmatīrtha and performing an ancestral rite at Prabhāsaka, / the hosts of ancestors are indeed liberated from the state of hungry ghosts upon the rock.

Performing the ancestral rite at Svapuṣṭā, he delivers seven times three generations; / performing the ancestral rite at Muṇḍapṛṣṭha and elsewhere, he leads his ancestors to the world of Brahmā.

For there is no place in Gayā where a holy bathing-place does not exist; / anywhere at all in the five-league area of Gayā, one who offers a ball of rice

obtains an imperishable reward and leads his ancestors to the world of Brahmā. / A man should place his ball of rice into the hand of Janārdana:

"This ball of rice has been placed by me into your hand, O Janārdana! / May imperishable liberation attend the one who has departed to the other world!"

He attains the world of Brahmā together with his ancestors, without a doubt. / In Gayā, and on Dharmapṛṣṭha, and likewise at the lake of Brahmā,

at Gayāśīrṣa, and at the Akṣayavaṭa, what is given to the ancestors is imperishable; / the Forest of Dharma, Dharmapṛṣṭha, and indeed the Dhenukā Forest—

having seen these, he delivers twenty noble generations of ancestors. / The Brahmāraṇya is said to be the western part of the Mahānadī;

the eastern part is Brahmasadas, Nāgādri, and the hermitage of Bharata; / at the hermitage of Bharata, one becomes a performer of ancestral rites at the footprint of Mataṅga.

To the south of Gayāśīrṣa and to the west of the Mahānadī, / that is known as the Campaka Forest; there indeed lies the Pāṇḍu Rock.

Performing an ancestral rite there on the third [lunar day], and within the circle of the Niścirā, / and at the great pool in the Kauśikī, one obtains an imperishable reward.

To the north of the Vaitaraṇī is the body of water named Tṛtīyā; / the footprints of Krauñca are there; performing an ancestral rite [there], one leads the ancestors to heaven.

North of Krauñcapāda is the body of water named Niścirā; / going there once and dropping a ball of rice once

is hard to attain—how much more so residing continuously right in this [place]! / Having touched water in the Mahānadī, one should offer libations to the ancestors and gods;

one obtains imperishable worlds and also delivers the family. / When the twilight prayer is recited at Sāvitra, it is equivalent to that performed for twelve years.

A man who lives at Gayā for both the bright and dark fortnights / purifies the family up to the seventh generation; there is no doubt about this.

Seeing Muṇḍapṛṣṭha at Gayā, and Mount Aravinda, / and thirdly Krauñcapāda, one is freed from sins.

When [the sun] enters Capricorn and during an eclipse of the moon and sun, / dropping a ball of rice at Gayā is hard to attain in the three worlds.

At the great pool in the Kauśikī, especially in the Mūlakṣetra, / and in the cave of Gṛdhrakūṭa, an ancestral rite offered yields great reward.

Where the stream of Māheśvarī flows, the performer of an ancestral rite becomes free of debt there; / having approached the sacred river Viśālā, renowned across the three worlds,

a man obtains [the fruit of] an Agniṣṭoma sacrifice, and, performing an ancestral rite, goes to heaven. / Bathing at Māsapada, the performer of an ancestral rite obtains the fruit of a Vājapeya sacrifice.

From offering a ball of rice at the footprint of the Sun, the deliverance of fallen ones occurs; / the ancestors have sons through him who gives food while staying at Gayā.

Terrified by fear of hell, the ancestors long for sons: / "Whoever it may be that will go to Gayā, he will carry us across!"

Seeing a son arrived at Gayā, there is celebration for the ancestors: / "Having touched water even with his feet, he will surely give to us!"

Whether one's own son or someone else, whenever at the well of Gayā / he drops a ball of rice in whosever name, he leads that one to eternal Brahman.

Going to Koṭitīrtha, one attains the lotus-like realm of Viṣṇu. / That river known as the Vaitaraṇī, renowned across the three worlds,

descended in the holy field of Gayā specifically for delivering the ancestors; / one who performs the ancestral rite and gives the ball of rice there, and who makes the gift of a cow,

delivers twenty-one generations of his lineage; there is no doubt about this. / If a son should go to Gayā at some time in the course of time,

he should feed only those brahmins who have been designated by Brahmā; / their place is Brahmasadas, and their drinking of soma is likewise [ordained].

The place was designated by Brahmā, and the brahmins were designated by Brahmā; / when they are worshipped, all the deities together with the ancestors are worshipped.

One should satisfy the brahmins of Gayā with offerings to gods and ancestors according to rule; / Gayā is indeed prescribed as the place for relinquishing the body.

One who releases a bull in the incomparable Gayākṣetra
obtains the merit of a hundred Agniṣṭoma sacrifices; of this there is no doubt.

A wise man should make an offering of piṇḍas at Gayā without sesame seeds
for himself as well, and also for others.

For as many relatives on the father's side as there are, and for kinsmen and friends as well,
a piṇḍa must be offered according to rule on the ground of Gayā, O Vyāsa.

Bathing at Rāmatīrtha, a man attains the reward of giving a hundred cows;
and bathing at Mataṅgavāpī, he obtains the reward of a thousand cows.

Bathing at the confluence of the Niścirā, he leads the ancestors to the world of Brahmā;
and bathing at the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha, he wins the reward of a Vājapeya sacrifice.

From residing at Mahākauśī, he obtains the reward of an Aśvamedha sacrifice.
Flowing out from the lake of the Grandfather is the river that purifies the world.

Nearby is the celebrated river known as Agnidhārā, which is indeed Kapilā.
Bathing here, the performer of śrāddha attains the fruit of an Agniṣṭoma sacrifice and fulfills all obligations.

At Kumāradhārā, the performer of śrāddha obtains the fruit of an Aśvamedha sacrifice.
Approaching Kumāra and bowing down, he attains liberation.

Bathing at Somakuṇḍa, a man goes to the world of Soma;
and offering a piṇḍa at the pool of Saṃvarta, a man becomes fortunate.

Cleansed of sin, a man offering a piṇḍa goes [to heaven] at Pretakuṇḍa,
at Devanadī, at Lelihāna, at Mathana, and at Jānugartaka.

Offering piṇḍas at these and other holy sites, he delivers his ancestors;
and having bowed down to the gods, beginning with Vasiṣṭheśa, he achieves the destruction of debts.

Thus ends the eighty-third chapter, entitled 'The Greatness of Gayā,' in the section on conduct, the first part of the Pūrvakhaṇḍa of the glorious Mahāpurāṇa composed by Garuḍa.