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Garudapurana 1.50

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1.50.1

The glorious Garuḍa Purāṇa — [Chapter] 50
Brahmā said: / He who performs the daily rite day by day will attain knowledge. / Rising at the brāhma muhūrta, he should contemplate dharma and wealth;

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He should contemplate in his heart Hari, who is bliss, unaging, seated in the lotus. / And when dawn has arrived, having performed the necessary [bodily duties], the wise man,

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Having performed purification according to rule, should bathe in pure rivers. / By the morning bath even people who commit sins are purified.

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Therefore, with every effort, one should perform the morning bath. / They praise the morning bath, for it produces visible and invisible results.

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Saliva and other impurities continually flow from one who has slept peacefully; / Therefore, without first bathing, one must not perform rituals at all.

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Misfortune, ill-omen, bad dreams, and ill thoughts— / Sins are washed away by the morning bath; of this there is no doubt.

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And no rite is declared efficacious for men without a bath, / Especially in fire offering (homa) and recitation (japa); therefore one should perform the bath.

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In case of incapacity, however, a bath without wetting the head is prescribed for him, / Or wiping the body with a damp cloth is declared to be a bodily [cleansing].

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A sixfold bath should be observed: / The brāhma, āgneya, vāyavya, divya, / Vāruṇa, and likewise the yaugika [bath].

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The brāhma bath is sprinkling with mantras using kuśa grass with drops of water; / The āgneya bath is dusting the body with ash from foot to head;

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The vāyavya bath is declared to be the best, performed with dust [raised by] cows; / And the bath that is taken in rain accompanied by sunshine is called divya;

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The vāruṇa bath is immersion [in water]; the mental bath is knowledge of the self; / The yaugika bath is described as meditation on Hari through yoga.

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It is known as the sacred ford of the self (ātmatīrtha), frequented by knowers of Brahman. / Auspicious [tooth-twigs] are derived from milky trees, produced from the mālatī plant,

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Apāmārga, vilva, and karavīra for cleaning [the teeth]; / Facing north or facing east, one should chew the tooth-cleansing twig.

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Having washed it and chewed it, one should discard it in a clean place, composed in mind. / Having bathed, one should make libations to the gods, the ṛṣis, and the host of ancestors.

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Having performed sipping according to rule, and constantly sipping again, restraining speech, / Cleansing oneself with mantras using kuśa grass with drops of water,

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With the Āpo hiṣṭhā hymn, the vyāhṛtis, the Sāvitrī, and auspicious Vāruṇa hymns, / [And] the Gāyatrī, the mother of the Vedas, accompanied by the syllable Om and the vyāhṛtis,

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Having recited [it], he should offer a handful of water to the sun with focused mind. / Then, standing upon darbha grass with tips pointed eastward, deeply concentrated,

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Having then performed breath control, he should meditate on the twilight (sandhyā)—so says the Veda. / The twilight is the mother of the universe, beyond māyā, parts-less,

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The sovereign, absolute power, originating from the three principles (tattva); / Having meditated on the red, white, and black Gāyatrī, the wise man should recite it.

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Facing east, the brāhmaṇa should always perform twilight worship (sandhyopāsana); / One devoid of twilight worship is permanently impure, unfit for any ritual.

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Whatever else he does, he does not partake in its fruit. / Good brāhmaṇas who have mastered the Vedas, with single-pointed minds,

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Having worshipped the twilight according to rule, have reached the supreme goal of old. / The excellent twice-born who makes effort elsewhere in religious duties,

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Abandoning salutation to the twilight, goes to ten thousand hells; / Therefore, with every effort, one should perform twilight worship.

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Thereby the supreme deity, whose body is yoga, will be worshipped. / The wise man, facing east, self-controlled and pure, should recite the Gāyatrī,

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A thousand times as the highest, a hundred times as the intermediate, and ten times as the minimum. / Then, composed in mind, he should attend upon the rising sun

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With various solar mantras designated as ṛc, yajus, and sāman. / Having attended upon the Sun, the god of gods of great yoga,

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He should make a prostration on the ground with his head consecrated by mantras: / 'Om, to Khakholka, the peaceful one, the cause of the three origins,

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I offer myself; salutations to you whose form is knowledge! / You alone are the supreme Brahman, water, light, essence, nectar,

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Bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ; you are the syllable Om, Sarva, Rudra, eternal.' / Having recited this Sūryahṛdaya, the supreme hymn of praise,

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In the morning and at midday, he should bow to the Sun. / Then, returning home, the brāhmaṇa, having properly performed sipping according to rule,

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Kindling the fire according to rule, should make offerings to Jātavedas. / An officiating priest, a son, or a wife, or a pupil, or a brother,

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Having specifically obtained permission, may make the offering according to rule. / A rite done without a mantra bears no fruit here or hereafter.

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He should bow down to the deities and present offerings; / He should also serve the guru and perform what is beneficial to him.

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Then the twice-born should diligently engage in the study of the Veda according to his capacity; / He should recite, or teach students, or memorize, or deliberate.

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The excellent twice-born should also examine the treatises on dharma and the rest, / And the Vedic scriptures and auxiliary sciences (vedāṅgas) completely.

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He should approach God for the attainment of acquisition and preservation (yogakṣema); / Then the twice-born should pursue various means of livelihood for the sake of his household.

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Then, at midday, he should fetch earth for the sake of bathing, / Flowers, unbroken grain, sesame, kuśa grass, and pure cow dung.

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He should bathe in rivers, artificial ponds made for deities, tanks, and natural lakes; / He should never bathe in [a water reservoir] belonging to another.

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Without lifting up five lumps of earth, bathing is always considered tainted. / One should wash the head with one lump of earth, and above the navel with two.

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Below [the navel] one should wash with three, and likewise both feet with six. / The clay is prescribed to be the size of a large myrobalan fruit.

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The same measure is prescribed for cow dung, with which one should then smear the body. / Having rinsed and properly sipped water according to the rule, one should then bathe with a collected mind.

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Having smeared [oneself] while standing on the bank, with mantras containing the appropriate marks, / and having consecrated the water with auspicious mantras addressed to Varuṇa,

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at the time of bathing one should remember Viṣṇu, because water is Nārāyaṇa. / Looking upon the sun with the syllable Oṃ, one should immerse oneself three times in the body of water.

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Having sipped water, the knower of mantras should sip water again with this mantra: / 'You move within beings, inside the cave of the heart, facing in all directions;

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you are the sacrifice, you are the vaṣaṭ-call, you are the waters, light, essence, and nectar.' / Or one should repeat the drupadā verse three times, accompanied by the vyāhṛtis and the praṇava,

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or the wise person should recite the sāvitrī and also the aghamarṣaṇa mantra. / Then one should perform sprinkling with the hymn 'āpo hi ṣṭhā mayobhuvaḥ…' [RV 10.9.1],

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and likewise with 'idam āpaḥ pravahata…' [RV 1.23.22] and the vyāhṛtis. / Then the water, consecrated with the mantras beginning with 'āpo hi ṣṭhā…',

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submerged under water facing downward, one should recite the aghamarṣaṇa three times, / or the drupadā, or the sāvitrī, or 'tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam…' [RV 1.22.20].

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Or one may repeat the praṇava, and remember Hari, the God of gods. / Taking up water in the hand and reciting [mantras] when the sprinkling has been done,

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and placing that water on the head, one is freed from all sins. / Having performed the twilight worship and sipped water, one should constantly contemplate the Lord.

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Then one should stand facing the sun with hollowed hands raised filled with flowers. / Offering it, one may gaze at the rising deity if possible.

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With the mantras 'ud u tyaṃ…' [RV 1.50.1], 'citraṃ…' [RV 1.115.1], 'tac cakṣur…' [RV 7.66.16], / with 'haṃsaḥ śuciṣat…' [RV 4.40.5], and especially with the sāvitrī,

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and with other Vedic solar hymns; and thereafter one should recite the Gāyatrī / and various mantras, seated on a kuśa grass seat whose tips point eastward.

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Standing and looking at the sun, one should recite with a collected mind. / With [rosaries of] crystal, lotus seeds, rudrākṣa, or those made of putrajīva,

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a rosary should be made, which is stated to be used inwardly. / If wearing wet clothes, one should perform [the recitation] standing in the midst of water;

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otherwise, [one should perform it] on pure ground, seated on darbha grass with a collected mind. / Having turned in circumambulation and then bowed down upon the ground,

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and having sipped water according to the scriptures, one should perform personal Vedic study to the best of one's ability. / Then one should offer libations to the gods, the sages, and the ancestral spirits.

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Uttering the syllable Oṃ at the beginning, followed by 'namaḥ' and 'tarpayāmi' at the end, / one should offer libations to the gods and the brahmanical sages with water mixed with unbroken grains;

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to the ancestors, the gods, and the sages with devotion, according to the rule declared in one's own sūtra.

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The wise person should satisfy the gods and sages, and the ancestors with hollowed hands of water; / wearing the sacred thread over the left shoulder for the gods, suspended around the neck for libations to sages,

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and over the right shoulder for the ancestral rites, using that sacred part of the hand, O Bhārata. / Wringing out the bathing garment and sipping water with restrained speech,

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one should worship the gods with their respective mantras, using flowers, leaves, and water: / Brahmā, Śaṅkara, Sūrya, and likewise Madhusūdana,

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and other chosen deities with devotion, free from anger, O Hara! / Or one may offer flowers and the like with the Puruṣa Sūkta.

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All deities are indeed present in the waters; they are thus fully worshipped by this. / Having meditated on the deity with the praṇava, composed in mind in the water,

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one should offer flowers individually with obeisance. / For without worship, no Vedic rite produces merit.

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Therefore, at the beginning, middle, and end thereof, one should hold Hari in mind / with the mantra 'tad viṣṇoḥ…' and with the Puruṣa Sūkta,

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and one should dedicate oneself to Viṣṇu of spotless splendor. / With mind intent on the Supreme Self, peaceful, through the mantra 'tad viṣṇoḥ…',

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[…] one should worship Hari with flowers. / One should perform the five sacrifices: the sacrifice to the gods, the sacrifice to the ancestors, / likewise the human sacrifice, and the sacrifice to Brahman.

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If [it is performed] prior to the libation, how could the sacrifice to Brahman take place? / Having performed the sacrifice to humans, one should then perform personal Vedic study.

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The Vaiśvadeva rite must be performed; that is remembered as the sacrifice to the gods. / That which is an offering of food to living beings should be known as the sacrifice to beings.

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To dogs, outcastes, the fallen, and the like, / and to birds, the best of the twice-born should give food outside on the ground.

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One should feed a single brāhmaṇa on behalf of the ancestors, O best of men; / that daily śrāddha offered on their behalf is the sacrifice to the ancestors, granting a good destination.

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Or having set aside some food to the best of one's ability with a collected mind, / one should offer it to a twice-born person who knows the true meaning of the Veda.

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One should always revere a guest; one should bow to and worship a twice-born person / who is peaceful, with mind, speech, and deed, welcoming them into one's home.

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They say an alms-portion consists of a single mouthful of food, and four times that is a measure of food; / four times that is called a hantakāra, a bountiful offering.

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One should oneself wait for a guest for the time it takes to milk a cow. / Likewise, one should honour guests who have arrived according to one's capacity.

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One should give alms to a renunciant according to the rule, and to a celibate student; / free from greed, one should give food to supplicants according to one's ability.

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One should eat together with kinsmen with restrained speech, not finding fault with the food. / But if a twice-born, the best of the twice-born, without having performed the five great sacrifices,

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eats, that foolish person goes to the womb of an animal. / Daily study of the Veda according to ability, forgiveness, and performance of the great sacrifices,

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as well as the worship of the gods, quickly destroy sins. / One who, out of delusion or laziness, eats without having performed worship of the deities,

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goes to the hells and is born among swine. / I shall now declare ritual impurity: an impure person is always a sinner.

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Ritual impurity arises from contact, and purification from avoiding contact. / All wise brāhmaṇas declare ritual impurity to last ten days

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upon deaths or births among brāhmaṇas, O best of the twice-born. / Before the eruption of teeth [purification is] immediate; up to the tonsure rite, [impurity lasts] one night;

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three nights up to the sacred thread investiture, and ten nights thereafter. / A kṣatriya becomes pure in twelve days, a vaiśya in fifteen,

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and a śūdra is purified in a month; ascetics incur no taint. / In miscarriages, purification is attained in as many nights as the months [of gestation].

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Thus ends the fiftieth chapter, named 'Determination of Daily Rites and Impurity', in the Ācārakāṇḍa of the first part in the first section of the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.

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