Garudapurana 2.49

Now I desire to hear the eternal means of liberation.

Lord, Lord of gods, affectionate to those who take refuge, / in this worthless, terrifying cycle of existence soiled by all kinds of suffering,

countless multitudes of living beings dwelling in bodies of various kinds / are born and die, and there is no end to them.

They are ever afflicted with grief, and nowhere is happiness to be found. / By what means, O Lord of liberation, are they freed? Tell me, Lord.'

The Blessed Lord said: / 'Listen, Tārkṣya, I shall declare what you ask of me, / by the mere hearing of which a person is freed from cyclic existence.

There is a Deity whose nature is the supreme Brahman, undivided, auspicious, / all-knowing, all-doing, the Lord of all, stainless, and non-dual;

self-luminous, without beginning or end, immutable, higher than the highest, / without qualities, existence-consciousness-bliss; its portions are called individual souls,

which, like sparks in fire, are struck by beginningless ignorance. / Delimited by adjuncts such as the physical body through beginningless actions

and restrained by merit and sin that bring pleasure and pain, / they attain, life after life, karma-born bodies belonging to their respective species,

as well as their lifespan and experience of fruit. And again, beyond these bodies, / there is the subtle linga-body, imperishable until liberation, O bird.

Immobile beings, worms, goats, birds, beasts, snakes, / righteous humans, gods, and then those seeking liberation: in this order,

having assumed and abandoned the four kinds of bodies thousands of times, / one becomes a human by virtue of merit; if endowed with knowledge, one may attain liberation.

Among the eighty-four hundred thousand bodies of embodied beings, / knowledge of reality is not attained anywhere except in the human state.

Here, after thousands of thousands and even tens of millions of births, / a creature occasionally obtains human birth through an accumulation of merit.

Having obtained the human body, difficult to attain, which serves as a ladder to liberation, / who is more sinful here than the one who does not save oneself?

A person who, having attained this superior birth and the full power of the senses, / does not realize what is beneficial for oneself, is a slayer of the self.

Without a body, no goal of human life is achieved by anyone; / therefore, one should preserve one's body and wealth, and perform meritorious deeds.

One should always protect oneself, for the self is the vessel of everything. / One should make an effort to protect it; living, one sees good things.

A village may be found again, a field again, wealth again, a house again, / and good and bad deeds again; but a body is not found again and again.

Means to protect the body are always employed by the wise; / even those suffering from leprosy and other diseases do not wish to abandon it.

That [body] should be guarded for the sake of dharma, and dharma is for knowledge alone; / knowledge is for the yoga of meditation, and [by it] one is soon fully liberated.

If oneself does not ward off the self from what is harmful, / who else, acting for its welfare, will bring happiness to oneself?

He who does not cure the disease of hell right here in this world, / what will he do, seized by disease, when he has gone to a land without medicine?

Old age sits like a tigress, and life drains away like water from a broken jar; / diseases strike down like enemies: therefore, one should practice what leads to the highest good.

As long as sorrow does not take hold, as long as misfortunes do not arrive, / and as long as the senses do not fail, one should practice what leads to the highest good.

As long as this body remains, one should cultivate the knowledge of reality; / the fool digs a well when the treasury house is already burning.

Time is not noticed amidst various tasks arising from worldly existence; / distracted by pleasure and pain, alas, man does not know what is beneficial to himself.

Seeing people born, afflicted, dead, ruined by disaster, and miserable, / a person drinks the wine of delusion and never feels afraid.

Prosperity is like a dream, youth is like a flower, / and life is as flickering as lightning; who that understands can remain complacent?

A hundred years of life is very short, and half of that is lost to sleep and laziness; / of what remains, a fraction is rendered useless by childhood, sickness, old age, and sorrow.

Inactive when action should begin, asleep when one should be awake, / and trusting in a place of peril: alas, what man is not ruined?

When the soul has taken up residence within a body that is like water-foam, / an impermanent dwelling obtained with great effort, how can it remain without fear?

Calling harmful what is beneficial, and believing the transient to be eternal, / he who sees value in what is worthless does not know his own true good.

Even while seeing, he stumbles; even while hearing, he does not comprehend; / even while reading, he does not know, utterly deluded by the divine illusion.

While this entire world sinks in the deep ocean of time, / caught by the sea-monsters of death, disease, and old age, no one at all is awakened.

Fear arrives at every moment, yet passing time is not observed; / like an unbaked jar placed in water, it disintegrates unnoticed.

Wrapping up the wind is possible, or carving pieces from space, / or stringing waves together into a garland; but placing reliance on life is not possible.

When the earth will be burned, and even Mount Meru shattered, / and the water of the ocean dried up, what need be said of the body?

As a mortal babbler prattles, 'My child, my wife, / my wealth, and my kin,' the wolf of time slays him by force.

While he is consumed with striving—'This is done, this is to be done, / this other thing is half-finished'—Death brings him under control.

One should do today what is to be done tomorrow, and in the forenoon what is to be done in the afternoon,
for Death does not wait [to see] whether it has been done or not done.

Overcome by the enemy Death, whose path is shown by old age and whose army is fierce disease,
why does he not see a protector?

Pierced by the needle of craving, basted with the ghee of sense-objects,
and cooked in the fire of attachment and aversion, a human being is devoured by Death.

Children, those in their youth, the aged, and even those in the womb—
Death seizes them all; such is this world.

Abandoning even its own body, this individual soul goes to Yama's abode;
for what reason, then, [is there] connection with wife, mother, father, sons, and the rest?

For saṃsāra is the root of suffering; whoever has it suffers.
He by whom it is abandoned is happy; no other person ever is.

The source of all sufferings, the abode of all misfortunes,
the refuge of all sins—one should abandon saṃsāra in an instant.

Bound by bonds of iron and wood, a man is released;
[bound] by bonds of sons and wife, he is never released.

As many connections pleasing to the mind as a creature makes,
that many pegs of grief are driven into his heart.

Deprived of all their wealth, people are perpetually destroyed—
alas!—by those thieves residing in the body, the senses, whose nourishment is sense-objects.

Just as a fish greedy for meat does not see the iron hook,
so an embodied soul greedy for pleasure does not see the torment of Yama.

Those who do not know benefit from harm, who perpetually go astray,
and whose sole devotion is to filling their bellies—those men, O bird, belong to hell.

Sleep, fear, copulation, and food are common to all living beings.
One endowed with knowledge is called a human; one devoid of knowledge is considered a beast.

In the morning by feces and urine, at midday by hunger and thirst,
and at night by lust and sleep, foolish mortals are tormented.

Devoted to their own bodies, wealth, wives, and the like, all creatures
are born and die, alas, deluded by ignorance.

Therefore attachment must always be abandoned; if it cannot be abandoned,
it should be formed with the great: the virtuous are the medicine for attachment.

Association with the good and discrimination are the two spotless eyes;
a man who lacks them is blind—how could he not go astray?

All men intent on the conduct of their own caste and life-stage
do not know the highest dharma; hypocrites perish in vain.

Devoted to useless exertion, observing vows and the like,
some wander about propagating [their ways], their minds cloaked in ignorance.

Content with mere names, men devoted to the ritual section,
are led astray by extensive sacrifices with recitation of mantras, oblations, and the like.

Through observances that emaciate the body, such as eating once a day or fasting,
fools desire the transcendent, deluded by my māyā.

What liberation is there for the undiscerning by mere mortification of the body?
Is a great serpent ever killed merely by beating an anthill?

Bearing loads of matted locks and deer skins, hypocrites disguised in garb
wander in the world like the wise, and mislead the people as well.

One attached to the pleasure born of saṃsāra, yet saying 'I am a knower of Brahman',
fallen from both rituals and Brahman—one should cast him off like an outcaste.

For whom home and forest are the same in the world, shameless, clad in space,
donkeys and the like wander about: do they become dispassionate?

If men were liberated merely by smearing themselves with mud and ashes,
would a dog that always lives in mud and ashes become liberated?

Feeding on grass, leaves, and water, constantly dwelling in the forest,
jackals, rats, deer, and the like—do they become ascetics?

Staying in rivers like the Gaṅgā from birth until death,
frogs, fish, and the rest—do they become yogins?

Pigeons eat stones, and cātaka birds at no time
drink water from the earth: do they become observers of vows?

Therefore daily ritual action and the like merely serve to please the world;
the direct cause of liberation, O King of Birds, is knowledge of the truth.

Fallen into the great pit of the six systems of philosophy, the beasts, O bird,
do not know the highest truth, restrained by the bonds of animals.

Carried hither and thither by the dreadful oceans of the Vedas and śāstras,
paralyzed by the six waves, bad logicians remain [helpless].

He who knows the Vedas, Āgamas, and Purāṇas, but does not know the highest truth—
for that pretender, it is all just the cawing of a crow.

'This is knowledge, this is what is to be known'—troubled with such thoughts,
they recite the scripture day and night, turning away from the highest truth.

Decorated with poetic ornaments in composed sentences and metres,
fools remain with agitated senses, afflicted by worry.

The highest truth is one way, yet people torment themselves in another;
the true essence of the scriptures is one way, yet they make explanations in another.

They talk about the state beyond mind, but do not experience it themselves;
some are seized by egotism, devoid of instruction and the like.

They recite the Vedas and śāstras and instruct one another,
[yet] do not know the highest truth, like a ladle [does not know] the taste of the cooked food.

The head carries the flowers, the nose knows the fragrance;
[many] recite the Vedas and śāstras, [but] one who understands the true sense is rare.

Not knowing the truth residing within oneself, a fool is bewildered by scriptures;
with a goat tucked under his arm, the foolish shepherd looks into a well.

Verbal knowledge is indeed incapable of destroying the delusion of saṃsāra;
darkness is never dispelled by talk of a lamp.

Reading for one devoid of wisdom is like a mirror for a blind man;
therefore, for those endowed with wisdom, scripture is a sign of the knowledge of the truth.

'This is knowledge, this is what is to be known'—he wishes to hear everything,
but even after a thousand divine years, he will not reach the end of scriptures.

The scriptures are many, life is very short, and obstacles are millions;
therefore one should grasp the essence, like a goose [extracts] milk from water.

Having studied the Vedas and śāstras and then realizing the truth, a wise person
should completely cast aside all scriptures, like one seeking grain [casts aside] the chaff.

Just as one satiated with nectar has no need for food,
so, O Tārkṣya, a knower of the truth has no need for scripture.

Not by the study of the Vedas is there liberation, nor by reading scriptures;
only through knowledge is there isolation, and not otherwise, O son of Vinatā.

The life-stage is not the cause of liberation, nor are the philosophical systems the cause,
and likewise not all ritual actions: knowledge alone is the cause.

The single word of the guru grants liberation; all other branches of learning are mere mockeries. / Amid thousands of burdens of scriptures, only that one is the supreme life-giving medicine.

Non-duality, indeed, is declared to be auspicious, free from ritual action; / it is attained through the mouth of the guru, not through tens of millions of studied scriptures.

Knowledge is said to be twofold: that derived from the scriptures, and that born of discernment. / Scriptural knowledge is the verbal Brahman; the supreme Brahman is born of discernment.

Some desire non-duality, and others desire duality; / they do not know the equal truth, free from both duality and non-duality.

Two words lead to bondage and liberation: 'not mine' and 'mine'. / By saying 'mine' a creature is bound; by saying 'not mine' one is released.

That action is [true] action which does not lead to bondage; that knowledge is [true] knowledge which grants liberation. / Other action is mere toil; other knowledge is mere technical skill.

As long as actions blaze forth, as long as worldly impressions remain, / as long as the senses are fickle, how can there be discourse on the truth?

As long as there is pride in the body and indeed the sense of 'mine', / as long as there is the force of effort, as long as there is the fashioning of resolves,

as long as the mind has no steadiness, as long as there is no reflection on scripture, / as long as there is no grace of the guru, how can there be discourse on the truth?

Austerity, religious observance, pilgrimage, recitation, oblations, worship, and so forth, / and discourse on the Vedas, scriptures, and traditional texts [last only] as long as one does not find the truth.

Therefore, by every effort, in all conditions, at all times, / one should be steadfast in the truth, O Tārkṣya, if one desires one's own liberation.

Scorched by the three miseries and other afflictions, one should take shelter in the shade of the tree of liberation, / whose flower is dharma and knowledge, and whose fruit is heaven and liberation.

Therefore, through knowledge the truth of the self is to be known from the mouth of the revered guru; / [then] a creature is easily freed from the bondage of terrible transmigration.

Hear now the final rite of the knower of truth, which I shall tell you, / by which one attains liberation, Brahman called nirvāṇa.

When the final time has arrived, a man, having shed fear, / should cut with the weapon of non-attachment desire for the body and whatever follows it.

Departed from home, firm-minded, bathed in the waters of sacred pilgrimage places, / seated in a clean, solitary place upon a seat prepared according to the rule,

he should mentally practise the pure, threefold, supreme syllable of Brahman; / with breath conquered, he should restrain the mind, not forgetting the seed-syllable of Brahman.

With intellect as charioteer, he should restrain the senses from their objects by means of the mind; / he should hold with intellect the mind, agitated by actions, upon an auspicious object.

'I am Brahman, the supreme abode; I am Brahman, the supreme state'— / having thus perceived the self and established the self in the partless [Self],

uttering the single-syllabled Brahman, 'Oṃ', and remembering me, / he who departs, abandoning the body, goes to the supreme goal.

Where the hypocritical, devoid of knowledge and dispassion, do not go, / the wise go to that goal; I shall tell you of them.

Free from pride and delusion, having conquered the fault of attachment, constant in the supreme self, their desires ceased, / released from the dualities known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded go to that imperishable state.

He who bathes in the mental sacred ford, in the lake of knowledge whose water is truth, removing the impurities of passion and hatred— / he indeed attains liberation.

Resorting to mature dispassion, he who worships me without turning to another, / with complete vision and a tranquil self—he indeed attains liberation.

He who, having abandoned home, dwells in a sacred place, eager for death, / and dies in sacred sites of liberation—he indeed attains liberation.

Ayodhyā, Mathurā, Māyā, Kāśī, Kāñcī, Avantikā, / and the city of Dvāravatī—these seven should be known as granters of liberation.

Thus the eternal dharma of liberation has been told to you, O Tārkṣya, / accompanied by knowledge and dispassion; having heard it, one attains liberation.

Knowers of truth attain liberation; righteous men attain the heavenly realm; / sinners go to an evil fate; birds and other beasts wander in transmigration.

Sūta said: / Having thus heard from the mouth of the Lord the established conclusion answering his own questions, / his body thrilled with joy, Tārkṣya bowed down to the Lord of the Universe.

'My great doubt has been destroyed through the illumination of your words'— / having said this and bid farewell to Viṣṇu, he went to the hermitage of Kaśyapa.

[Whether the soul] goes immediately to another body or goes after delay— / there is no contradiction between these two for you either.

He narrated everything, dear ones, just as it was heard from the Lord; / the son of Marīci also experienced joy upon hearing the speech of the husband of Ramā.

Your doubt, O brāhmaṇas, has been dispelled by me; / the Purāṇa named Suparṇa, exceedingly wonderful, has been told.

Tārkṣya received this from Hari; from Tārkṣya, then, Bhṛgu received it; / from Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha obtained it; then Vāmadeva again [obtained it];

the sage Parāśara obtained it; from him, Vyāsa; and then myself. / This supreme secret of Hari has been declared by me to you.

Whatever mortal hears this, or whoever expounds it, / will attain happiness everywhere, both in this world and in the next.

Whatever suffering of the one proceeding to Saṃyamanī has been described here— / from the merit of hearing this, he becomes freed from it.

And because dispassion is brought about for men here from hearing the ripening of actions and the like spoken of herein, / therefore it must certainly be heard.

With senses conquered, worship this Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Sages, from whom, ah, arose the stream of speech like a torrent of nectar, / having drunk even a single drop of which, in the form of syllables, with the cupped hollow of the ear, one may attain unity with the Self.

Vyāsa said: / Having drunk the nectar of speech sacred to Viṣṇu, uttered from the mouth of Sūta and adorned with the meaning of all scriptures, the sages reached satisfaction.

Likewise, they praised one another and Sūta, who sees the meaning of all things; / the sages headed by Śaunaka attained incomparable joy.

Having thus heard the words of Hari through the speech of Sūta, which severed the doubts of the Lord of Birds, / that sage, the foremost Śaunaka, also deeply honoured himself within himself.

Then those sages repeatedly worshipped Sūta with lofty words: / 'Blessed are you, O Sūta, here,' they declared, and they sent him forth when the sacrifice was completed.

The Garuḍa Purāṇa is meritorious, holy, and destructive of sins;

it fulfills the desires of those who listen; it should be heard at all times.

Having heard it, gifts should be given to the reciter, entirely— / the beds and other things mentioned earlier; otherwise it does not become fruitful.

First one should worship the Purāṇa, and immediately after that the reciter, / with garments, ornaments, gifts of cattle, and fees, with reverent devotion.

With gifts of food, gifts of gold, and plentiful gifts of land, / one should worship the reciter with devotion to obtain the fruit of great merit.

And whatever mortal listens to this, or likewise recites it, / leaving behind dreadful torment, cleansed of sin, he will go to heaven.

Thus in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa, in the latter section, in the dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa, in the second part, the Dharmakāṇḍa, in the Pretakalpa, ends the forty-ninth chapter, entitled "Ascertainment of the Means to Liberation."

Thus ends the second section, the Dharmakāṇḍa, in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.

The Glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.