Garudapurana 1.88

The glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa—88
Sūta said:
Hari related the manvantaras to Brahmā and the others, and to Hara.
Mārkaṇḍeya related the hymn of praise to the ancestors to Krauñcuki; listen to that.

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Formerly the Prajāpati Ruci, free from possessiveness and egotism,
undaunted and of boundless intellect, roamed this earth.

Seeing the sage devoid of domestic fire, without a home, eating once [a day], outside the [four] life-stages,
and freed from attachment, his own ancestors spoke [to him].

The ancestors said:
Child, why have you not undertaken meritorious marriage?
Because it is a bridge to heaven and liberation, without it bondage [endures] perpetually.

Performing the worship of all the gods and the ancestors,
as well as of the sages and petitioners, the householder attains the worlds.

He satisfies the gods through the utterance of ‘svāhā’, and the ancestors through the utterance of ‘svadhā’;
by giving food, he sustains servants and the like, as well as guests.

Therefore, O human sage, you have incurred this bondage through debt to the gods,
as well as through debt to us and to living beings, day by day.

Without producing sons, without satisfying the gods and the ancestors,
and without performing [these duties], how do you foolishly hope to attain heaven?

O son, through this improper conduct there will be only the experience of suffering for you;
having endured hell when dead, there will be only suffering in another birth.

Ruci said:
Possession of property leads to great sorrow, to sin, and to a low state;
therefore, I have not previously taken a wife.

The means to purify oneself is performed by momentarily taking counsel;
that does not become a cause of one’s liberation because of attachment.

The self that is devoid of possession is cleansed every day;
and though smeared with dirt, my [self] is indeed best [cleansed] with the waters of knowledge.

The self, stained by the mud of action accumulated across many births,
must be washed by the wise with restrained senses using the waters of knowledge of reality.

The ancestors said:
It is fitting for those with restrained senses to cleanse the self;
nevertheless, O son, this path in which you persist is not the means.

By the five sacrifices, austerities, and gifts, free from longing for fruits,
you dispel inauspicious [karma], both auspicious and inauspicious past deeds.

Thus, bondage does not occur for one who performs [action] based on duty;
nor does that action lead to bondage when it is free from intense attachment.

Past karma that was performed is exhausted continually through experiences
consisting of pleasure and pain, O child, which are of the nature of mortals’ merits and demerits.

Thus the self is washed by the wise and protected from bondage;
and being protected by their own discernment, it is not burned by the mud of sin.

Ruci said:
In the Veda, ignorance is consumed through the path of action, O forefathers;
then why do you bind me to the path of action?

The ancestors said:
That all this is ignorance through action is a false statement;
rather, action is undoubtedly the cause for the attainment of knowledge.

The fault arising from not performing what is enjoined is not incurred by the virtuous;
restraint aimed at liberation which is otherwise, on the contrary, bestows a lower state.

That which you regard as better, thinking, ‘I am cleansing [myself]’—
you too are burned by the sins arising from non-performance of what is enjoined.

Even ignorance becomes beneficial to mortals, like poison [used as medicine];
through the means of practical observance, it is indeed not fit for bondage.

Therefore, my child, undertake marriage according to rule;
let your life not be in vain from birth without attaining the other world.

Ruci said:
I am old now, O ancestors; who will give me
a wife? Furthermore, marriage is difficult for a poor man.

The ancestors said:
Our fall, O child, and also your own downward descent,
will surely come to pass if you do not welcome our words.

Having spoken thus, his ancestors, as he watched, O best of sages,
suddenly became invisible, like lamps extinguished by the wind.

The sage Mārkaṇḍeya of great austerities related to Krauñcuki
the entire account of Ruci, characterized by the dialogue with his ancestors.

Thus ends the eighty-eighth chapter, entitled “The Measure of Action and Knowledge,” in the section on conduct of life, being the first part of the first section in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.