Garudapurana 2.2

The glorious and great Garuḍapurāṇa — [Chapter] 2.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: / Well asked by you, O auspicious one, indeed for the welfare of human beings! / Becoming attentive, listen to all of the post-mortem rites,

entirely free from division, extracted from the Vedas and smṛtis, / which has not been seen by the gods along with Indra, or by yogins contemplating yoga.

It is more secret than the secret, and has not been spoken anywhere to anyone; / for you are my devotee, O fortunate one: O son of Vinatā, I tell it to you.

Let there be no [favourable] destination for a sonless man, nor heaven at all; / by whatever means possible, the birth of a son must indeed be brought about.

A son saves from hell if liberation is not attained. / The carrying on the shoulder should be done by the son, and the grandson gives the fire.

By means of sesamum and darbha grass on the ground, a hut becomes fit for rites; / five jewels [should be placed] in the mouth, by which the life-principle ascends.

When the flower has vanished, where then is the conception? / Therefore, on the ground, with respect, by which the womb is held,

the ground should be smeared with cow dung, and one should scatter sesamum and darbha grass; / released upon that alone, the afflicted person burns away all sin.

A mattress of darbha grass leads the afflicted person to heaven, there is no doubt; / or one should scatter darbha grass there, into the middle of a mattress and pillow.

Everywhere the earth is pure where there is no smearing [present]; / where a smearing is present, there it is purified by smearing again.

Yātudhānas, piśācas, and rākṣasas of cruel deeds— / these vile spirits enter the afflicted person released on un-smeared [ground].

Daily fire-offerings, likewise śrāddha, and washing the feet for a twice-born, / and the afflicted person on the earth is not released without a sacred circle.

Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Śrī, and likewise the fire-god / abide within the sacred circle; therefore, one should make a sacred circle.

Otherwise, whether a child, an old man, or a youth dies, O Tārkṣya, / he does not go to another womb; he plays with the wind.

Mixed or unmixed with blood, thus a birth is won; / for him who has become [mere] wind, there is neither śrāddha nor water-rite.

Born from my sweat, O Tārkṣya, sesamum seeds are purifiers; / asuras, dānavas, and daityas scatter at sesamum seeds.

White sesamum seeds, black sesamum seeds, sesamum seeds resembling cow's urine: / 'May they burn my sins committed by the body!'

A single sesamum seed given is equal to a droṇa of golden sesamum seeds; / given in tarpaṇa, gifts, and fire-offerings, it becomes inexhaustible.

Darbha grass arose from bodily hairs, and sesamum seeds from sweat, not otherwise; / the deities, dānavas, and ancestors are satisfied by the śrāddha.

By the ritual procedure, Brahmā and the universe are for those who live on it; / from the inverted sacred-thread position, Brahmā, the ancestors, and the god of gods [are honoured].

Therefore those ancestors are satisfied when the sacred thread is placed on the right shoulder; / Brahmā resides at the root of the darbha, and Lord Janārdana in the middle.

One should know Śaṅkara at the tip of the darbha: the three gods are remembered in kuśa grass. / Brahmins, mantras, whip, fire, and tulasī, O Lord of Birds,

these do not become stale remnants, even when employed again and again. / Tulasī, brahmins, cows, Viṣṇu, and the Ekādaśī, O Bird,

are the five boats for men sinking in the ocean of worldly existence: / Viṣṇu, Ekādaśī, the Gītā, tulasī, and the cows of brahmins.

In this worthless, difficult saṃsāra, a six-fold path bestows liberation: / sesamum seeds, matchless purifier, and darbha grass, and tulasī;

And these avert an evil destination for an afflicted person approaching death. / One should raise the darbha grass with both hands and sprinkle water on the ground.

At the time of death, one should place darbha grass in the hands of the afflicted person; / for he who is laid upon darbha grass and covered with darbha grass,

that mortal goes indeed to the world of Viṣṇu, even if bereft of mantras. / Having made a mat of darbha grass, his two feet are placed resting on the surface of the earth.

In this insubstantial ocean of worldly existence, when the sacrificial fire is cleansed as an expiation, / one should smear the ground with cow dung where the seat of darbha grass is placed.

By a gift given at the time of departure, one removes all sin. / Salt is a divine essence that grants all desires to mortals.

Because without salt all flavors of food are not pleasing, / and it is dear to the ancestors and auspicious, it therefore bestows heaven.

Since this salty essence originated from the body of Viṣṇu, / yogins therefore praise this gift given with salt.

For brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, women, and śūdras, / when the vital breaths of an afflicted person do not depart upon the ground,

salt should then be given, as the opening of the door to heaven. / Hear also, O King of Birds, the nature of death in detail.

When the separation of life-breath and body takes place by Time, / death is utter oblivion for a living being in its own appointed hour.

Just as the wind drags clouds this way and that, / so like clouds, O Tārkṣya, [all beings] are subservient to Time alone.

Sāttvika, rājasika, and whatever tāmasika / states of being there are, all having the nature of Time, operate within creatures.

The sun, the moon, Śambhu, the waters, the wind, Śatakratu, / fire, space, earth, Mitra, plants, and likewise the Vasus,

rivers, and oceans, and existence and non-existence, O slayer of serpents, / all are created by Time and in turn destroyed.

And when death approaches men, they are taken away by Time; / by the working of destiny, some disease then arises, O bird.

There is impairment of the senses, and of strength, vigor, and speed. / If there should be the simultaneous sting of ten million scorpions,

the torment born of death, O bird, may be inferred from that. / Then, in an instant, consciousness becomes impaired and passes into stupor.

Then the vital breaths are drawn out by the messengers of Yama standing near; / hideous indeed is the form assumed when the vital breaths have reached the throat.

He then vomits froth; his mouth becomes filled with saliva; / then a person the size of a thumb, crying out in distress, emerges from the body.

At that very moment, looking at his own home, he is led away by the two messengers of Yama. / Once again, for your benefit, my child, [I shall describe] this state at the time of death:

A burning heat, aggravated in the body and stirred by the fierce wind, / pierces the vital spots, blazing up without fuel.

Then the wind named udāna moves upward, / obstructing the downward movement of food for those who have no desire to eat.

He who has not spoken falsehoods, nor broken affection, / and is pious and endowed with faith, attains an easy death.

He who does not abandon dharma out of desire, wrath, or hatred, / who acts as prescribed and is gentle, attains an easy death.

Those who bestow delusive knowledge attain deep darkness; / a false witness, a liar, and those who betray trust,

they attain a death of delusion, as do revilers of the Vedas. / Terrifying, foul-smelling, holding staffs and clubs in hand,

the evil messengers of Yama then arrive; / when such a dreadful path is reached, a trembling comes upon him.

He weeps incessantly, calling upon father, mother, and sons; / his voice is indistinct, and despite effort only a single sound is heard.

His gaze wanders in terror, and his mouth dries up from his gasping; / afflicted with pain, he then abandons that body.

From that very moment it becomes untouchable and abominable. / The true nature of death has thus been told; now hear something else by way of context.

I shall tell you the answer to your second question regarding diversity: / according to the reality or unreality of past actions,

there is a diversity of experience for living beings wandering here, / granting the joy of the state of gods, asuras, yakṣas, and the like,

or the profound sorrow of the state of humans, beasts, birds, and the like; / it comes to pass here through the gradation of actions, O Lord of Birds.

Here I shall describe to you the fruition of actions, / so that diversity may be clear, through which this individual soul transmigrates.

Having arrived in the dreadful and cruel hells born of the great sins, / perpetrators of great sins are born upon the earth upon the exhaustion of their karma.

Hear from me, O best of beings, the marks with which they are born: / the slayer of a brāhmaṇa attains the womb of a deer, horse, boar, or camel.

The stealer of gold attains the state of a worm, insect, or moth; / and the violator of the guru's bed gradually attains the state of grass, shrubs, and creepers.

The slayer of a brāhmaṇa becomes consumptive; the drinker of liquor gets black teeth; / the stealer of gold has diseased nails; and the violator of the guru's bed gets diseased skin.

He who lives in association with any of these is born with their distinguishing marks; / associating with a fallen person, one falls within a year.

Through conversation, touch, breath, traveling together, eating together, sitting together, / sacrificing for, teaching, or marital connection, sin transfers to men.

Having violated another's wife and stolen a brāhmaṇa's property, / one is born as a brahmarākṣasa in a desolate forest.

A thief of jewels is born in a low caste; / by stealing the foliage of a tree, or perfumes, a man becomes a musk-rat.

A stealer of grain becomes a mouse; of a conveyance, a camel; of fruit, a monkey; / by eating food without mantras, a crow; by stealing household utensils, a vulture;

a stealer of honey becomes a gadfly; of fruit, a vulture; of a cow, an iguana; of fire, a heron; / a stealer of women's garments has white leprosy; of liquids, becomes averse to food.

A stealer of bell-metal becomes a goose; and one who steals another's property / becomes epileptic; the killer of a guru becomes a cruel dwarf.

One who abandons his lawful wife becomes an animal aimed at by sound on earth; / a thief of property of gods and brāhmaṇas becomes pale and an eater of other's meat.

One who eats what is edible and inedible indiscriminately is born with scrofula and grave disease; / a thief of a deposit becomes one-eyed; one who lives off women becomes lame.

One who abandons his youthful wife becomes unfortunate; one who eats delicacies alone / suffers from abdominal gas; and one who approaches the wife of a brāhmaṇa becomes a jackal.

A stealer of a bed becomes a wandering mendicant; a stealer of clothes becomes a moth. / Out of envy one is born blind; a stealer of lamps becomes a skull-bearer.

A killer of a friend becomes an owl; a reviler of his father and others suffers from consumption. / A speaker of falsehoods speaks with a faltering voice; a false witness gets dropsy.

He who causes obstacles in a marriage becomes a mosquito, or has a split lip. / He who passes stool or urine in a public square becomes a śūdra.

A defiler of a maiden suffers from painful urination and becomes an eunuch. / A seller of the Veda becomes a leopard; an officiator at sacrifices for the unworthy becomes a boar.

One who eats anywhere and everywhere becomes a cat; an incendiary who burns fields becomes a firefly. / An eater of stale food becomes a worm; an envious person becomes a large black bee.

One who extinguishes sacred fire becomes a leper; by taking what has not been given one becomes a bull. / A stealer of cattle becomes a snake; a stealer of food suffers from indigestion.

A stealer of water becomes a fish; a stealer of milk becomes a crane. / Giving stale food to a brāhmaṇa, one becomes a hunchback.

He who steals fruits, O bird, his offspring dies. / A man who eats tasty food without giving to others becomes childless.

From having sexual intercourse while in ascetic life, O king, one becomes a desert piśāca. / A stealer of water becomes a cātaka bird; one who steals a book is born blind.

Promising wealth to brāhmaṇas and not giving it, one becomes a jackal. / From calumny of high castes, one obtains the body of a female tortoise.

A seller of fruits becomes unfortunate; the husband of a śūdra woman becomes a wolf. / Touching fire with his foot, one becomes a cat; an eater of another's flesh becomes diseased.

A man who breaks a water-channel becomes a fish. / Those who do not listen to the story of Hari, nor praise good people—

tumours at the root of the ear afflict those men, and no other people. / A foolish person who seizes a morsel situated in another's mouth,

or utensils of a deity, finds himself afflicted with scrofula. / He who practices dharma hypocritically becomes afflicted with elephantiasis.

Diseases such as headaches afflict a betrayer of trust. / One who steals the property of Śiva or offerings to Śiva suffers from disease of the penis.

Women too, by stealing in this manner, incur guilt; / they are born as wives of these very creatures.

Understand that all this happens at the end of experiencing hell. / O bird, this illustrative list has been told to you by me in brief: / just as there are varieties of objects, so too are there species of living beings.

Thus, according to men's diverse actions, the variety / of their joy, sorrow, and even births has been declared. / From good deeds, good is proclaimed; and likewise, from evil deeds, evil.

All this has been told to you, what I was asked by you here.

Thus ends the second chapter, named 'Description of the Rites for the Dead and the Maturation of Actions', in the Pretakhaṇḍa, in the second part of the Uttarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa, in the dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa.