Garudapurana 2.17

Glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — [Chapter] 17 / Garuḍa said: / "A single doubt, O God, greatly oppresses my heart: / Whose sons are the Śravaṇas, and how do they dwell in the city of Yama?

How do they know the action performed by human beings, O Lord? / How do they all hear, and from where has their knowledge come?

Where do they feed, O Lord of gods? Tell me, out of grace." / Hearing the words of the king of birds, the Blessed Lord spoke these words:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: / "Listen to the true speech that bestows happiness upon all; / I shall recount that activity of the Śravaṇas.

Formerly, when the entire universe, both immobile and mobile, had become unified, / while I, the Lord of the universe, was asleep on the Ocean of Milk,

the one situated in my navel performed austerities for very many years. / The unified universe was created, the fourfold collection of living beings,

fashioned first by Brahmā and then protected by Viṣṇu. / Then Rudra, the embodiment of destruction, was fashioned by Brahmā.

The all-pervading Wind was created, and the Sun possessing abundant brilliance; / then the King of Dharma was created, accompanied by Citragupta.

Having created all these and others, the lotus-born [Brahmā] performed austerities; / many years passed for Brahmā upon the lotus of the navel.

Whosoever was created beforehand would perform his respective duty. / At a certain time there, Brahmā, accompanied by the worlds,

Rudra, Viṣṇu, and Dharma govern the earth. / [The gods thought:] 'We do not know anything of worldly deeds; let it be stated here!'

Intent on this thought, all the gods deliberated at that time. / Having considered the counsel of Brahmā, prompted then by the gods,

taking flower petals, he created twelve sons / who were masses of brilliance and large-eyed; and by Brahmā's word they [act].

Whatever anyone in this world speaks, whether good or evil, / they immediately bring to the range of Brahmā's ear.

Because they possess the power of hearing from afar and have things visible from afar, / and because they hear everything, O bird, they are considered to be the Śravaṇas.

Remaining in the sky, whatever is the conduct of creatures, / having learned that, they report it before the King of Dharma at the time of death.

They proclaim dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation. / The first is the path of dharma, and the second is the path of wealth;

another is the path of pleasure, and the fourth is the path of liberation. / The virtuous, O son of Vinatā, indeed travel by the path of dharma.

The giver of wealth [travels] by aerial cars, the bestower of desires on horses, / and the seeker of liberation glides forth on swan-drawn aerial cars.

The other goes on foot through forests of sword-leaves, / tormented by stones and thorns, bound in nooses.

Whatever person in the human world worships the Śravaṇas here / with a water jar and a watering vessel filled with cooked food,

and worships the Śravaṇas there along with me, O lord of birds, / to him I shall give that which is difficult even for the gods to attain.

Having fed with devotion eleven auspicious, pure brāhmaṇas, / one should worship a twelfth along with his wife for my pleasure.

Having worshipped [them], people go to heaven along with all the gods, desiring happiness. / When they are worshipped, I am pleased, as well as Citragupta and the King of Dharma.

When they are pleased, people devoted to dharma go to my abode. / The greatness, origin, and auspicious conduct of the Śravaṇas—

whoever hears this, O tiger among birds, is not smeared by sins; / having enjoyed happiness in this world, he is glorified in the heavenly realm.

Thus ends the seventeenth chapter, entitled "The Description of the Greatness of the Śravaṇas", in the Pretakalpa of the Dharma section, in the second part of the Uttarakhaṇḍa in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.