Garudapurana 2.14

The glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — 14
Garuḍa said:
Tell me the fruit of what is given by a distressed person who is dying,
or given in a healthy state, or [given] without ritual injunctions, O Lord.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said:
One cow [given] by one whose mind is sound equals a hundred cows of a sick person,
and a thousand of a dying person, given without attachment to wealth.

For a deceased person it is again a hundred thousand, and that is equal when purified by ritual injunction;
through the conjunction of a sacred ford and a worthy recipient, a single cow grants the merit of a hundred thousand.

When given to a worthy recipient, O best of birds, it increases day by day;
the giver's gift leads to freedom from sin, as does acceptance by the wise.

How could the fire of a mantra that dispels poison and cold become a receptacle of fault?
One should give daily to a worthy recipient, especially on specific occasions.

Nothing should be given to an unworthy recipient by a wise person desiring his own welfare;
a cow ever given to an unworthy recipient would lead the giver to hell,

and it causes the recipient to fall, together with twenty-one generations of his family.
Having attained another body, whatever was done with one's own hand,

just like wealth deposited in the earth by one's own hand—
in that very way one obtains the fruit; indeed, so I tell you, O Lord of Birds.

Especially one without a son, desiring liberation, and especially one without wealth,
should himself perform his own post-mortem rites.

Indeed, whatever is done by one's own hand even with very little wealth,
all of that becomes imperishable, just like clarified butter poured into the sacrificial fire.

A bed, a maiden, and a milch cow must be given singly to a single person;
if [that gift] is sold, it burns one's family down to the seventh generation.

Therefore, while life is unsteady, one should do everything;
he who has taken provisions of gifts travels comfortably along the great road.

Otherwise, devoid of provisions, a creature suffers on the path.
Knowing this, O best of birds, one should perform the bull sacrifice.

akṛtvā mriyate yastu aputro naiva muktibhāk
aputro 'pi hi yaḥ kuryātsukhaṃ yāti mahāpathe

agnihotrādhibhiryajñairdānaiśca vividhairapi
na tāṃ gatimavāpnoti vṛṣotsargeṇa yā gatiḥ

yajñānāṃ caiva sarveṣāṃ vṛṣayajñastathottamaḥ
tasmātsarvaprayatnena vṛṣayajñaṃ samācaret

garuḍa uvāca
kathayasva prasādena kṣayāhaṃ caurdhvadaihikam
kasminkāle tithau kasyāṃ vidhinā kena tadbhavet

kṛtvā kiṃ phalamāpnoti etanme vada sāmpratam
tvatprasādena govinda mukte bhavati mānavaḥ

śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca
kārtikādiṣu māseṣu yāmyāyatagate ravau
śuklapakṣe tathā pakṣindvādaśyāditithau śubhe

śubhe lagne muhūrte vā śucau deśe samāhitaḥ
brāhmaṇaṃ tu samāhūya vidhijñaṃ śubhalakṣaṇam

japahomaistathā dānaiḥ kuryāddahesya śodhanam
puṇye 'bhijitsunakṣatre grahāndevānsamarcayet

homaṃ kuryādyathāśakti mantraiśca vividhairapi
grahāṇāṃ sthāpanaṃ kuryātpūrvaṃ caiva khageśvara

mātṝṇāṃ pūjanaṃ kāryaṃ vasordhārāṃ ca pātayet
vahniṃ saṃsthāpya tatraiva pūrṇaṃ homaṃ tu kārayet

śālagrāmaṃ ca saṃsthāpya vaiṣṇavaṃ śrāddhamācaret
vṛṣaṃ sampūjya tatraiva vastrālaṅkārabhūṣaṇaiḥ

catasro vatsataryaśca pūrvaṃ samadhivāsayet
pradakṣiṇaṃ tataḥ kuryāddhomānte ca visarjanam

imaṃ mantraṃ samuccārya uttarābhimukhaḥ sthitaḥ
dharma tvaṃ vṛṣarūpeṇa brahmaṇā nirmitaḥ purā

tavotsargaprabhāvānmāmuddharasvabhavārṇāvāt
abiṣicya śubhairmantraiḥ pāvanairvidhipūrvakam

tanakrīḍantimantreṇa vṛṣotsargaṃ tu kārayet
abhiṣiñcettato nīlaṃ rudrakumbho dakena tu

nābhimūle samāsthāya tadambu mūrdhani nyaset
anna (ātma) śrāddhaṃ tataḥ kuryāddadyāddānaṃ dvijottame

udakecaiva gantavyaṃ jalaṃ tatra pradāpayet
yadiṣṭaṃ jīvatastvāsīttacca dadyātsvaśaktitaḥ

nyūnaṃ saṃpūrṇatāṃ yāti vṛṣotsarge kṛte sati
sutṛpto dustare mārge mṛto yāti na saṃśayaḥ

yamalokaṃ na paśyanti sadā dānaratā narāḥ
yāvanna dīyate jantoḥ śrāddhaṃ caikādaśāhikam

svadattaṃ paradattaṃ vā nehāmutropatiṣṭhati
trayodaśā tathā sapta pañca trīṇī krameṇa tu

padadānāni kurvīta śraddhābhaktisamanvitaḥ
tilapātrāṇi kurvīta sapta pañca yathākramam

brāhmaṇān bhojayetpaścādekāṃ gāṃ ca pradāpayet
vṛṣaṃ hi śannodevīti vedoktavidhinā tataḥ

catasṛbhirvatsatarībhiḥ pariṇayanamācaret
vāme cakraṃ pradātavyaṃ triśūlaṃ dakṣiṇe tathā

mūlyaṃ dadyād vṛṣasyāpi taṃ vṛṣaṃ ca visarjayet
ekoddiṣṭavidhānena svāhākāreṇa vuddhimān

kuryādekādaśāhaṃ ca dvādaśāhaṃ ca yatnataḥ
sapiṇḍīkaraṇādarvākkuryācchrāddhāni ṣoḍaśa

brāhmaṇān bhojayitvā tu padadānāni dāpayet
kāposopari saṃsthāpya tāmrapātre tathācyutam

vastreṇācchādya tatrasthamarghaṃ dadyācchubhaiḥ phalaiḥ
nāvamikṣumayīṃ kṛtvā paṭṭasūtreṇa veṣṭayet

kāṃsyapātre ghṛtaṃ sthāpya vaitaraṇyā nimittataḥ
nāvārohaṇaṃ kuryātpūjayedgaruḍadhvajam

ātmavittānusāreṇa tacca dānamanantakam
bhavasāgaramagnānāṃ śokatāpārtiduḥ khinām

dharmaplavavihīnānāṃ tārako hi janārdanaḥ
tilā lohaṃ hiraṇyaṃ ca kārpāsaṃ lavaṇaṃ tathā

saptadhānyaṃ kṣitirgāvo hyekaikaṃ pāvanaṃ smṛtam
tilapātrāṇi kurvīta śayyādānaṃ ca dāpayet

dīnānāthaviśiṣṭebhyo dadyācchaktyā ca dakṣiṇām
evaṃ yaḥ kurute tārkṣya putravānapyaputravān

sa siddhiṃ samavāpnoti yathā te brahmacāriṇaḥ
nityaṃ naimittikaṃ kuryādyāvajjīvati mānavaḥ

yaḥ kaścitkriyate dharmastatphalaṃ cākṣayaṃ bhavet
tīrthayātrāvratādīnāṃ śrāddhaṃ saṃvatsarasya hi

devatānāṃ gurūṇāṃ ca mātāpitrostathaiva ca
puṇyaṃ deyaṃ prayatnena pratyahaṃ vardhate khaga

asminyajñeḥ hiyaḥ kaścidbhūridānaṃ prayacchati
tattasya cākṣayaṃ sarvaṃ vedikāyāṃ yathā kila

yathā pūjyatamā loke yatayo brahmacāriṇaḥ
tathaiva pratipūjyante loke sarve ca nityaśaḥ

varado 'haṃ sadā tasya caturvaktrastathā haraḥ
te yānti paramāṃllokāniti satyaṃ vaco mama

utsṛṣṭo vṛṣabho yatra pibatyapo jalāśaye
śṛṅgeṇālikhate vāpi bhūmiṃ nityaṃ praharṣitaḥ

pitṝṇāmannapānaṃ ca prabhūtamupatiṣṭhati
paurṇamāsyāmamāyāṃ vā tilapātrāṇi dāpayet

saṃkrāntīnāṃ sahasrāṇi sūryaparvaśatāni ca
dattvā yatphalamāpnoti tadvai nīlavisarjane

vatsataryaḥ pradātavyā brāhmaṇebhyaḥ padāni ca
tilapātrāṇi deyāni śivabhaktadvijeṣu ca

umāmaheśvaraṃ caikaṃ paridhāpya pridāpayet
atasīpuṣpasaṅkāśaṃ pītavāsasamacyutam

ye namasyanti govindaṃ na teṣāṃ vidyate bhayam
pretatvānmokṣamicchanto ye kariṣyanti satkriyām

yāsyanti te parāṃllokāniti satyaṃ vaco mama
etatte sarvamākhyātaṃ mayā caivordhvadaihikam

yacchrutvā sarvapāpebhyo mucyate nātra saṃśayaḥ
śrutvā mahātmyamatulaṃ garuḍo harṣamāgataḥ
mānuṣāṇāṃ hitārthāya punaḥ prapacchakeśavam

Thus ends the fourteenth chapter, entitled “Description of the Gift of a Cow, Release of a Bull, Ten Gifts, Abundant Gifts, and the Rest,” in the dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa, in the Pretakalpa, in the section on dharma, in the second part of the Latter Section of the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.