Garudapurana 2.7

The glorious and great Garuḍa Purāṇa [Chapter] 7 / Garuḍa said: / The great narrative of the fruit of the bull's release has been heard by me, O Hari; / tell again another tale wherein your majesty is wondrous.

The Holy Kṛṣṇa said: / Today I shall tell you a most wondrous dialogue / between Santaptaka and the pretas, indeed to make their nature known.

There was a certain brahmin named Santaptaka whose sins had been burned away by austerity; / having understood the unsubstantiality of worldly existence, he wandered only in the forests.

With his gaze fixed on prostrations along with throngs of Vaikhānasa ascetics, / that twice-born man once set out wandering with the aim of pilgrimage.

Because his senses were drawn inward, restraining outward activities, / and he walked guided solely by subconscious impressions, he became lost from the path.

Wandering thus at midday, the time for bathing, longing / for water, he opened his eyes and gazed in all directions.

He then saw a dense forest filled with bushes and hundreds of broad trees, / crowded with reed-palms and leafy branches of trees.

There [stood] palmyras, tamālas, priyālas, and breadfruit trees, / śrīparṇas, śālas, śākhoṭas, syandanas, and tindukas,

sarjas, arjunas, āmrātakas, śleṣmātakas, and bibhītakas, / nīm and tamarind trees, jujubes, and karṇikāras.

These and many other trees [were there], among which no path / could be seen even for birds, much less for a human being.

In that most dreadful forest, filled with lions and tigers, / frequented by hyenas, wild oxen, bears, and buffaloes,

abounding with large elephants, snakes, monkeys, and deer, / and surrounded by beasts of prey and other piśācas and rākṣasas,

the twice-born Santaptaka, his mind somewhat terrified with fear, / became bewildered, [yet] resigned to fate, he walked on again.

Listening attentively to the chirping of crickets / and the hooting of owls, his body shivering, he walked five steps.

There, at the top of a banyan tree, he saw a corpse bound with sinews, / and eating it, five most dreadful pretas,

their bodies reduced to veins, bones, and skin, their bellies clinging to their backs, O Bird, / with noses seemingly dropped off out of fear of falling into the wells of their eyes,

their bones brought down by the strikes of crowds of needle-like saws, / engaged in a constant feast of tasting fat and fresh brain,

their great fangs clattering in tens of millions, colliding against the joints of bones. / Seeing them, his heart terrified, he halted, checking his pace.

Beholding the brahmin who had arrived in the forest devoid of people, / they rushed forward, shouting, 'I [take him] first! I first!'

Among them, two seized both of his hands, while two others / seized both his feet, and the fifth grabbed his head.

In speech appropriate to their own kind, with distinct syllables, they said, / 'I will chew! I will devour!', bent on tearing him apart.

Quickly seizing him together, they flew up into the sky; / they looked him over: 'How much meat is there on the boy? How much is there not?'

They saw that corpse, its entrails torn open by the tips of their own fangs; / descending from the sky and seizing it with their feet,

with its body torn apart by themselves, they mounted into the sky again. / The twice-born man, seeing himself being carried in the sky,

distraught with fear, went mentally to me for refuge; / in his heart he bowed to the Wielder of the Discus, pure consciousness, the impartial one:

'Mukunda who, striking the crooked crocodile from afar with the fall of his discus, taking away its distress, / freed the elephant from the jaws of the crocodile—may he sever this snare of my past actions!

'Murāri who, having had Bhīma slay the King of Magadha, freed / the pure kings detained by him and bound for sacrifice to Bharga—may he sever my snare of actions!'

Even with his mind alone he praised me here; being praised, I arose. / I went swiftly to that place where he was being carried off by the pretas.

Seeing him being carried by them, curiosity arose in me, O Bird; / I did not ask, but for some time followed behind them.

By the mere proximity of me, O Slayer of Serpents, / the comfort of a king asleep in a palanquin entered that twice-born man at that moment.

Then Maṇibhadra was seen by me on the path going to Meru; / winking my eye, that king of yakṣas was brought to my side by me.

I said to that great yakṣa: 'Become an adversary [to them]; / destroy the pretas, and moreover, carry off the corpse they hold.'

Having been spoken to thus, giving way to most dreadful, intolerable rage, / he assumed that preta form, which brings distress even to pretas.

Stretching out his arms and licking his corners of the mouth, / scattering those pretas with a great wind, he went to face them.

With two arms he seized two, and with two feet [another two], and one with his head; / and then he struck the pretas suddenly with a hard fist.

They, all with faces drained of color, seizing that twice-born man and the corpse, / each with hands and feet, began a battle.

With nails, strikes of their palms, and strikes of their feet, / as well as blows of their fangs, they all tore at that one preta.

Rendering their blows futile, he then took away / their living [prey] and not the corpse, just as the End-maker takes life.

The corpse having just been seized, those most dreadful ones, rejoiced, on Mount Pāriyātra, / leaving the twice-born man half-abandoned, [pursued] the single preta.

That preta, who moved like the wind, was overtaken by them in a mere instant; / he vanished from sight, and they, their hopes dashed, came back to the brahmin.

As soon as the tearing apart of the brahmin had begun there on the mountain, / at that very moment, as if by the power of my abode and of the brahmin,

At once memory of their previous birth arose in them. / Having circumambulated the brāhmaṇa, they then said to the best of twice-borns:

"Today you must forgive us," said those who had dissembled piety toward the gods, / [a transformation] like the turning back of a mountain or the drying up of an ocean.

Hearing their words, he then asked: "Who are you? / Is this an illusion, or is it a dream, or indeed a delusion of the mind?"

The pretas said: / "Know this to be the truth indeed: we are pretas born of our actions." / The brāhmaṇa said: / "What are your names? What was your conduct? And how have you arrived at this condition?

How were you formerly insolent, and how are you humble now?" / The pretas said: / "Listen, O best of brāhmaṇas; we shall state the answers to your questions in order,

O great ascetic, our sins having vanished at the sight of you. / I am Paryuṣita by name; this one is known as Sūcīmukha;

the third is Śīghraga; the fourth, Rodhaka; and the other is Lekhaka." / The brāhmaṇa said: / "For pretas born of their deeds, how can a name be without meaning?

Tell the etymology of these names without delay, O pretas." / Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: / Being spoken to thus by the brāhmaṇa, they each spoke their answer.

Paryuṣita said: / "Once, at the time of a śrāddha, a brāhmaṇa was invited by me.

And he, having delayed, came to my house as an old man. / Without having performed the śrāddha rites, I ate that cooked food out of hunger.

Taking away some stale food, I gave it to the brāhmaṇa. / Having died from that sin, a sinner, I went to a despised womb.

Because stale [food] was given, therefore I am known as Paryuṣita." / Sūcīmukha said: / "Once, a certain brāhmaṇa woman went to the holy place Bhadravaṭa.

She was old, having a five-year-old son, her life bound only to her son. / I, a kṣatriya's descendant, obstructed her

in that solitary forest, having turned to the path of wicked travelers. / Her provisions along with her garments, and her son's clothes,

were seized by me, O brāhmaṇa, striking her on the head with my fist. / At that moment the boy, tormented by thirst, was drinking water from a bowl.

In that region where there was only that much water, he was stopped by me with a shout; / then all the water from the bowl was drunk by me, who was thirsty.

The boy too, terrified with fear and thirsty, collapsed lifeless. / From grief for her son, the mother died, throwing her body into a well.

From that sin, O brāhmaṇa, I attained the state of a preta, / with a mouth having an opening like the point of a needle, and having the body of a mountain.

Even if I were to obtain edible food, it cannot be eaten by me; / my mouth is shriveled even by the blazing fire of hunger.

Therefore the opening in my mouth is equal to the point of a needle. / For this reason, O brāhmaṇa, I am Sūcīmukha by name."

Śīghraga said: / "Formerly I belonged to the vaiśya caste; together with a certain friend, / I went to another land to trade, having great wealth.

My friend also had much wealth, and therefore great greed arose in me; / but due to the adversity of fate, even my capital was lost.

Then, departing from there, the two of us by boat began / to cross a river lying in our path, as the sun was turning red.

That friend fell asleep upon my lap, overcome by the fatigue of the journey. / Then a cruel thought arose in me, an utter sinner.

When the sun had set, I then threw him who was on my lap into the flood; / doing that vile deed on the boat, I was not noticed by the people at all.

Taking all that property of his—gems, pearls, and other [valuables], and gold— / I, moving swiftly, came to my own home from that country.

Leaving all of that in my house, I reported to his wife: / 'My brother has been killed by robbers on the road, having seized his wealth.

O sister-in-law, I fled; do not weep,' so I said. / Tormented by grief, she too at that time gave up attachment to her house and relatives,

and offered her beloved life into the fire according to the rule. / Then, seeing that [wealth] freed of obstacles, I went home delighted.

Having arrived, I enjoyed all of that wealth for as long as I lived. / Because I came quickly after throwing my friend into the flood,

for this reason I am a preta named Śīghraga." / Rodhaka said: / "I formerly belonged to the śūdra caste, O lord of sages,

holding authority over a great hundred villages obtained through the king's favor. / My parents were old, and I had one younger uterine brother.

Greedy as I was, that brother was quickly separated [from the estate] alone by me; / bereft of food and clothing, he suffered extreme misery.

Secretly my parents gave him little bits [of sustenance]; / what was given to him by the parents was heard by me from trusted friends.

Learning all of that in truth, I caused the confinement of my parents, / having bound them with firm chains in a deserted building.

Then, distressed, the two gave up their lives by drinking poison. / Deprived of his parents, that boy also wandered,

O twice-born, through cities, market towns, and hamlets, and died of hunger. / From this sin, O brāhmaṇa, having died, I attained the state of a preta.

Because my parents were confined, therefore I am Rodhaka by name." / Lekhaka said: / "Formerly, O brāhmaṇa, I was the best of twice-borns in Avantī,

appointed by King Bhadra to the worship of the gods. / There were many images there bearing many names.

On their limbs, made of gold, there were many varieties of jewels. / As I was performing their worship, an evil thought arose in me.

And breaking all their limbs with sharp iron, / I gouged out the gems from their eyes and other [parts].

Seeing the limbs of the images thus altered, / and their eyes stripped of gems, the king was enraged like fire.

Afterwards the king made a vow, O best of brāhmaṇas: / 'By whomever the jewels and gold have been stolen from these,

when discovered, he will surely be executed by me, there is no doubt.' / Learning all that, bearing a sword at night, I went to the king's house,

and entering, I slaughtered the king like a sacrificial animal. / Taking the gems and gold, I departed elsewhere at midnight.

In a great forest, I was carved up by a tiger with chisel-like claws. / Because of the scraping of the image when I carved it with iron,

from that sin I am a preta, Lekhaka by name. / At the end of our experience of hell, this pretahood has come to us, O twice-born."

The brāhmaṇa said: / Such names have been explained by you, according to these states. / Let the pretas tell me of their mere conduct, and their food as well.

The pretas said: / Where there is no following the path of the Vedas, no modesty, no dharma, no self-control, no forbearance, / no steadfastness, and no knowledge, there we dwell.

We cause affliction to him in whose house there is neither śrāddha nor water-offering; / from his body we gradually [consume] flesh and blood,

and we devour and drink [it]; this conduct of ours has been described. / Hear too about our food, despised by all the world.

A little has indeed been seen by you; we speak of what is known to you, sinless one: / vomit, feces, rheum, phlegm, and urine and tears;

this is our food and drink; do not ask beyond this, O twice-born! / Shame arises in us, O master, while speaking of our own food.

Ignorant, full of darkness, dull, and fleeing in terror are we, O lord! / Suddenly, O vipra, recollection of our previous births has been obtained.

Whether our ways are modest or immodest, we do not know, O lord. / Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: / As the pretas were speaking thus, and the twice-born was listening,

I revealed this very form at that time, O Tārkṣya! / Seeing the Person within his heart standing before him, that best of the twice-born

praised [Me] with hymns, O King of Birds, and bowed down to Me like a staff. / Then those pretas too performed penance, their eyes wide with wonder;

their voices faltering with love, O bird, they said nothing at all: / 'To You who, out of compassion, deliver those whose minds are disturbed by passion / and whose intellects are bewildered by darkness, reverence, reverence be unto You!'

While the twice-born was speaking thus, that mountain shone all around with six aerial chariots / of great radiance, bearing foremost celestial beings, produced by My will.

Thus, in an aerial chariot, the excellent twice-born went to My world; then, by these [means], / the five pretas went to heaven of immeasurable merit through the power of good company, O Suparṇa.

The pretas attained heaven through holy company, and the distressed brāhmaṇa, renowned for power under the name Viṣvaksena, became one of My attendants. / All this has been declared by Me to you; and the man who proclaims this or who listens to this does not attain the state of a preta.

Thus ends the seventh chapter, titled 'The Tale of the Five Pretas', in the Pretakalpa in the Dharmakāṇḍa, the second part of the Uttarakhaṇḍa in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa, in the dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa.