Garudapurana 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.1 — 71 parts
2.2 — 92 parts
2.3 — 106 parts
2.4 — 185 parts
2.5 — 154 parts
2.6 — 144 parts
2.7 — 102 parts
2.8 — 33 parts
2.9 — 74 parts
2.10 — 96 parts
2.11 — 11 parts
2.12 — 33 parts
2.13 — 25 parts
2.14 — 59 parts
2.15 — 95 parts
2.16 — 53 parts
2.17 — 26 parts
2.18 — 42 parts
2.19 — 21 parts
2.20 — 47 parts
2.21 — 34 parts
2.22 — 78 parts
2.23 — 15 parts
2.24 — 46 parts
2.25 — 45 parts
2.26 — 67 parts
2.27 — 66 parts
2.28 — 34 parts
2.29 — 33 parts
2.30 — 53 parts
2.31 — 43 parts
2.32 — 130 parts
2.33 — 40 parts
2.34 — 146 parts
2.35 — 46 parts
2.36 — 37 parts
2.37 — 16 parts
2.38 — 40 parts
2.39 — 21 parts
2.40 — 65 parts
2.41 — 13 parts
2.42 — 22 parts
2.43 — 5 parts
2.44 — 29 parts
2.45 — 34 parts
2.46 — 37 parts
2.47 — 52 parts
2.48 — 44 parts
2.49 — 136 parts

2.1

Having bowed to Nārāyaṇa, and to Nara, the foremost of humans,
and also to the goddess Sarasvatī, one should utter the word 'Jaya'.

2.1.1

Firmly rooted in dharma, with the Vedas as trunk, rich in Purāṇa branches,
with sacrifices as flowers and liberation as fruit: victorious is the tree that is Madhusūdana!

2.1.2

In Naimiṣa, the realm of the sleepless gods, the lords of sages headed by Śaunaka / said this to Sūta, who was comfortably seated during an interval between rituals:

2.1.3

"O Sūta, you know everything through the grace of Vyāsa; / therefore, you ought to sever the doubt of us who are doubtful.

2.1.4

Relying on a certain maxim, such as that of the grass-leech, / some indeed speak thus of the embodied soul's acquisition of another body.

2.1.5

Others, however, speak of the acquisition of another body afterwards, / following the experiencing of the torments of Yama. What is the truth regarding this?"

2.1.6

Sūta said: / "Well asked, fortunate ones! Listen; / doubt shall no longer arise for you who ask indeed for the sake of the world.

2.1.6.p1

Therefore, by means of the dialogue between Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa, O twice-born ones,

2.1.7

I shall dispel the doubt of you whose minds are cultivated.

2.1.8

Homage to Kṛṣṇa the sage; they who resort to him / cross easily over the ocean of saṃsāra, as if over a trivial river.

2.1.9

Once, a longing to see the worlds arose in Vinatā's son; / he then wandered through them, chanting the name of Hari.

2.1.10

Having wandered through the underworld, the earth, and heaven, without finding peace of mind, / greatly distressed by the suffering of the world, he went again to Vaikuṇṭha.

2.1.11

[There is] neither rajas nor tamas, nor sattva mixed with the two; / where [sattva mixed with them] does not prevail at all, sattva alone prevails;

2.1.12

where there is no delusion, no destruction, and no taints such as passion; / [where are those who are] dark-complexioned, radiant, lotus-eyed,

2.1.13

where the handsome attendants of Viṣṇu are worshipped by gods and asuras, / having yellow garments and ornaments, adorned with gem-studded gold necklaces,

2.1.14

four-armed, wearing earrings, diadems, and garlands, / who shine with radiant rows of aerial chariots of the noble ones,

2.1.15

and with rows of gleaming celestial maidens; / where Śrī joyfully worships the feet of Hari with various splendours,

2.1.16

[and] herself sings to Hari seated on a swing while being sung to by bees. / There he beheld the holy Hari, the consort of Śrī, the lord of the Sātvatas,

2.1.17

the lord of the universe, the lord of sacrifice, attended by his personal attendants / constantly led by Sunanda, Nanda, Prabala, and Arhaṇa,

2.1.18

his gracious face inclined towards his servants, his eyes long and red, / wearing a diadem and earrings, marked on his chest by Śrī,

2.1.19

clad in yellow garments, four-armed, with a pleasant, smiling face, / seated on a worthy seat, surrounded by those powers,

2.1.20

and by the unmanifest matter and the soul, and by the intellect and the ego, / as well as by the eleven sense faculties and by the five gross elements;

2.1.21

delighting in his own essential nature, that Lord Vinatā's son [beheld]; / his heart filled with bliss at the sight of him, his body-hair bristling with joy,

2.1.22

shedding tears from both eyes and immersed in love, he bowed down. / To his own mount who had arrived and bowed, Viṣṇu spoke: / 'What land has been traversed by you, O bird, during all this time?'

2.1.23

Garuḍa said: / 'By your grace, O Vaikuṇṭha, the three worlds with their moving and unmoving beings,

2.1.24

the whole universe of stationary and moving things, has been seen by me, / from the earthly realm up to the realm of truth, except the city of Yama, O Lord.

2.1.25

The earthly realm is abundant in all living beings among all the worlds; / human birth is the auspicious abode of enjoyment and liberation for all creatures.

2.1.26

Therefore, a realm of meritorious beings [like this] has never been, nor will ever be.

2.1.27

The gods indeed sing songs: 'Blessed are they in the land of Bhārata / who, having been gods, become mortals again to attain the fruit of heaven and liberation!'

2.1.28

Why is the deceased laid on the ground? Why are the five gems placed in the mouth? / [Why are] darbha grasses laid underneath, and the two feet positioned towards the south?

2.1.29

For what reason do sons and grandsons stand before him? / For what reason is a gift given, even the gift of a cow, O Keśava?

2.1.30

Why do relatives, friends, and enemies ask for forgiveness? / Why are sesame seeds, iron, gold, cotton, salt,

2.1.31

the seven grains, land, and cows given, and for what reason? / How indeed does a creature die, and where does the dead person go?

2.1.32

And how does he then enter the subtle transit body? / A son should carry the corpse on his shoulder, and the grandson is the giver of fire.

2.1.33

Why is there anointing with ghee? Whence the performance of the single oblation? / And for what reason is the earth [invoked], and whence the recitation of the word 'woman'?

2.1.34

And for what reason is the hymn to Yama [chanted]? One should fetch water from the northern direction / in a single garment, looking at the orb of the sun.

2.1.35

Barley, mustard seeds, and dūrvā grass, and neem leaves on a stone; / a man and a woman should wear their garments reversed.

2.1.36

Having returned home, cooked food and the like should not be eaten together with the people. / And for what reason do the sons offer the nine piṇḍas?

2.1.37

For what reason is milk [placed] in a courtyard, in an unbaked and baked earthen vessel, / having tied three wooden sticks in a bundle, at night at a crossroads?

2.1.38

A lamp is offered at night, day after day for up to a year; / for what reason is the offering of cremation water made, and for what reason together with the people?

2.1.39

O Lord, does the transit body [receive them], and should he offer the nine piṇḍas? / How is it to be offered to the ancestors, and how is the invocation of the vehicle?

2.1.40

If this is done, O Lord, why should one offer the piṇḍa? / What is given to him immediately after the offering of the piṇḍa?

2.1.41

And the gathering of the bones, and likewise the breaking of the water jar; / why is there bathing on the second day, and on the fourth for a twice-born maintaining sacred fires?

2.1.42

Should bathing to remove impurity be performed on the tenth day together with all the people? / Why should one take oil for anointing to the house of the shoulder-bearer?

2.1.43

And they should also apply oil for anointing at a large body of water. / The piṇḍa that is [offered] on the tenth day, one should offer with flesh.

2.1.44

And why is the piṇḍa [offered] on the eleventh preceded by the releasing of a bull and other rites, / [along with] a vessel, shoes, an umbrella, garments, and a ring?

2.1.45

On the thirteenth day, the gift of provisions should be given; for what purpose? / These sixteen śrāddhas are performed; why is the water jar [offered] for up to a year?

2.1.46

Three hundred and sixty [jars], with food and water, / are to be given day after day—the jar and the food—for the satisfaction of the deceased.

2.1.47

When the time has arrived, mortals indeed die; they are impermanent, O Lord.

2.1.48

Yet I see no aperture: from where did that soul depart? / Where do the gross elements go—earth, water, and mind? / Tell me, O Lord: fire, wind, and space as well?

2.1.49

Where do the organs of action go here, and the five organs of perception? / And these five vital airs—how do they meet their end?"

2.1.50

Where do the five thieves in the body, such as greed and delusion, / along with craving, desire, and egoism go, O Janārdana?

2.1.51

Where do merit or demerit, whatever good deeds were done, / and the various gifts go when the body has perished?

2.1.52

And for what purpose is the sapiṇḍana performed, even at the end of a full year? / With whom is the union of the deceased spirit, and what kind [of rite] should one cause to be performed there?

2.1.53

If calamity occurs through fainting or falling, / what happens to those who are burned, those who are not burned, and men who are fallen on the earth?

2.1.54

And what becomes in the end of other living beings— / of sinners who behave badly, and others who have lost their reason?

2.1.55

The suicide, the killer of a brahmin, the thief, the betrayer of trust, / the śūdra who drinks [the milk] of a kapilā cow, or he who recites this sacred syllable,

2.1.56

or wears the sacred thread—what is his destination, O Mādhava? / When a brāhmaṇī woman is taken as a wife by a śūdra,

2.1.57

I am afraid of that sinner: tell me that, O Lord of the Universe! / Hear another matter, O Soul of the Universe, as I, out of curiosity, swiftly

2.1.58

beholding the worlds in this realm, entered into the expanse of the universe; / there, seeing people drowning in sorrows alone, was born

2.1.59

in my heart an unbearable pain, greater even than their pain. / In heaven [it arises] from the sons of Diti, on earth from death, disease, and the like,

2.1.60

and from separation from desired things; in Pātāla, fear is mine. / Thus there is no place free from fear, O Lord, other than your feet.

2.1.61

It is unreal, like a dream or an illusion, swallowed by time; / even there, in Bhārata-varṣa, partake of great sorrow

2.1.62

the people seen by me, overwhelmed by attachment, hatred, delusion, and the like: / some blind, squint-eyed, of faltering speech, or lame,

2.1.63

crippled, one-eyed, deaf, mute, leprous, and excessively hairy, / afflicted by various diseases, yet proud over a sky-flower!

2.1.64

Seeing the variety of their defects and even their falling into the realm of death, / I have come, with pure mind: What is death, and how is this diversity?

2.1.65

For whom death is according to rule, and immediately after dying, / for whom the yearly rite is performed by rule—he would not meet with an evil destination.

2.1.66

This was heard by me in general terms from the sages in the past; / to gain specific knowledge of it, I ask this, O Lord.

2.1.67

What is to be done for a dying man? What gift [is to be given], O Younger Brother of Vāsava? / What is the rule during the interval between carrying the corpse and death, and for burning it?

2.1.68

Does he obtain another body immediately, or with delay? / While he is being carried to Saṃyamanī, what are the funeral rites up to one year?

2.1.69

What is the expiation for an evil-minded man, and for one who dies during the pañcaka period and the like? / Be gracious to me; you ought to dispel my delusion entirely.

2.1.70

I have asked everything concerning the end: tell it indeed for the welfare of the world.

Thus ends the first chapter, named 'The Expansion of Questions', in the dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa, in the Pretakhaṇḍa (Dharmakāṇḍa), the second part of the Latter Section of the glorious and great Garuḍapurāṇa.

2.2.1

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,

2.2.2

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.

2.2.3

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.

2.2.4

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.

2.2.5

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.

2.2.6

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.

2.2.7

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

2.2.8

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.

2.2.9

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.

2.2.10

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

2.2.11

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

2.2.12

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.

2.2.13

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

2.2.14

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.

2.2.15

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

2.2.16

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

2.2.17

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

2.2.18

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

2.2.19

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

2.2.20

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].

2.2.21

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.

2.2.22

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,

2.2.23

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

2.2.24

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

2.2.25

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

2.2.26

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.

2.2.27

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,

2.2.28

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.

2.2.29

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.

2.2.30

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

2.2.31

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

2.2.32

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

2.2.33

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

2.2.34

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.

2.2.35

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.

2.2.36

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

2.2.37

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

2.2.38

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

2.2.39

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

2.2.40

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

2.2.41

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

2.2.42

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

2.2.43

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.

2.2.44

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.

2.2.45

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:

2.2.46

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

2.2.47

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

2.2.48

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

2.2.49

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

2.2.50

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

2.2.51

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

2.2.52

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

2.2.53

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

2.2.54

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

2.2.55

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.

2.2.56

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

2.2.57

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

2.2.58

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.

2.2.59

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

2.2.60

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.

2.2.61

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.

2.2.62

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.

2.2.63

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.

2.2.64

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.

2.2.65

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

2.2.66

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

2.2.67

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.

2.2.68

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;

2.2.69

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.

2.2.70

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.

2.2.71

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.

2.2.72

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.

2.2.73

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.

2.2.74

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.

2.2.75

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.

2.2.76

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.

2.2.77

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.

2.2.78

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.

2.2.79

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.

2.2.80

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

2.2.81

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

2.2.82

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.

2.2.83

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.

2.2.84

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.

2.2.85

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

2.2.86

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,

2.2.87

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

2.2.88

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.

2.2.89

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

2.2.90

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.

2.2.91

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.

2.2.92

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

2.2.92.p1

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.

2.3.1

Glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — [Chapter] 3
Sūta said: / Thus encouraged, the bird, hearing about the hells, / asked about the nature of hell, his heart deeply stirred.

2.3.2

Garuḍa said: / Tell me the nature of the hells into which wrongdoers, / filled with abundant sorrow, are thrown, and explain their divisions.

2.3.3

The Blessed Lord said: / There are indeed thousands of hells, O younger brother of Aruṇa. / It is not possible to describe them at length; I will speak of the principal ones.

2.3.4

The chief hell is named Raurava; understand that from me: / a false witness and a deceitful man go to Raurava.

2.3.5

Raurava is indeed two thousand yojanas in extent; / in it there is a pit knee-deep, exceedingly difficult to cross.

2.3.6

It is filled with a mass of burning charcoal level with the ground; / there, on the charcoal ground heated by a fierce fire,

2.3.7

the attendants of Yama release the evil-doer in its midst; / burning with the intense fire, he runs around.

2.3.8

At every step his foot bursts and then wastes away; / he manages to raise and place a foot only once in a day and night.

2.3.9

Thus across a thousand yojanas he is released; / then, for the purification of sin, he goes to another such hell.

2.3.10

Raurava, the first hell, has been described to you by me. / Hear now, O bird, of the hell named Mahāraurava.

2.3.11

It is five thousand yojanas all around; / there the ground is made of copper, and beneath it is a fire.

2.3.12

With that [copper] burning, it all appears like blazing lightning, / perceived as exceedingly dreadful to the sight of sinners.

2.3.13

Bound by the hands and feet by the attendants of Yama, / the evil-doer is cast into its midst; rolling about, he moves along.

2.3.14

Devoured by crows, herons, wolves, owls, mosquitoes, / and also scorpions, and dragged along the path by fierce creatures,

2.3.15

burning, having lost his senses, bewildered, crying in distress, 'O father!', / he speaks repeatedly in agitation and finds no peace.

2.3.16

Thus release is obtained from it by those men who have passed / tens of thousands of years, by whom evil was done with wicked minds.

2.3.17

Then there is another one of that name, which is exceedingly cold by nature, / long like Mahāraurava, and shrouded in blinding darkness.

2.3.18

Tormented by cold, men are bound there in the dreadful darkness; / approaching one another, they cling together for shelter.

2.3.19

Their teeth chatter, trembling from the affliction of cold; / and there too, O bird, are afflictions of intense hunger and thirst.

2.3.20

A harsh wind carrying pieces of ice shatters their bones; / stricken with hunger, they eat what oozes from marrow, blood, and bones.

2.3.21

Embracing each other, they wander about in mutual encounter; / thus, even there, great torment is suffered by men in the darkness,

2.3.22

O best of birds, by him who has accumulated a great store [of sins]. / Another prominent hell after that is known as Nikṛntana.

2.3.23

Potters' wheels rotate there without ceasing, O bird; / hurled upon them, men are drawn tight with the thread of time.

2.3.24

By the finger of Yama's servant, [they are severed] from the soles of their feet to the head; / yet their loss of life does not occur, O best of birds.

2.3.25

Cut into hundreds of pieces, the parts indeed reunite; / thus for thousands of years the evil-doers are whirled about,

2.3.26

until all that sin is completely destroyed. / Hear also from me as I speak of the hell Apratiṣṭha.

2.3.27

There, the denizens of hell endure unbearable suffering. / Right there are wheels, and waterwheels elsewhere,

2.3.28

serving as the causes of suffering for men who have done evil deeds. / Mounted upon wheels, some men are whirled around there

2.3.29

for thousands of years, without any rest in between. / Bound to waterwheels like water-pots,

2.3.30

men are whirled around, vomiting blood again and again, / with their entrails coming out of their mouths and their eyes hanging upon their guts.

2.3.31

Here they meet with sufferings that are intolerable to living beings. / Hear also of another hell named Asipatravana (Sword-Leaf Forest),

2.3.32

extending for a thousand leagues, its ground blazing with fire, / where seven fierce-rayed [suns] shine intensely and most dreadfully.

2.3.33

There, the creatures dwelling in hell are scorched continually. / In its midst is seen a grove with cool, glossy foliage,

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Linked texts (1)

Garuḍapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit

Garudapurana 2

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