Garuda Purana

सुखोत्कर्षश्च सर्वत्र धर्मस्येहनिमिततः । पश्यन्तिनरकान्देवा ह्यधोवक्त्रान्सुदारुणान् ॥ २,३.

And everywhere, the intensity of happiness is due to the cause of righteousness here; the gods see the hell-dwellers, whose faces are turned downward, in their terrible state.

नारकाश्चापि ते देवान्सर्वान्पश्यन्ति ऊर्ध्वगान् । एतान्यान्यानि शतशो नरकाणि वियद्गते ॥ २,३.

And the hell-dwellers also see those gods, all who have gone upward. There are hundreds of such and other hells in the sky.

दिनेदिने तु नरके पच्यते दह्यतेन्यतः । शीर्यते भिद्यतेऽन्यत्र चूर्यते क्लिद्यतेन्यतः ॥ २,३.

Day after day in hell, one is cooked, burned, and tormented; elsewhere, one is torn, split, crushed, or soaked.

क्वथ्यते दीप्यतेऽन्यत्र तथा वातहतोऽन्यतः । एकं दिनं वर्षशतप्रमाणं नरके भवेत् ॥ २,३.

Elsewhere, one is boiled, set on fire, or struck by wind; a single day in hell is equal to a hundred years.

ततः सर्वेषु निस्तीर्णः पापी तिर्यक्त्वमश्नते । कृमिकीटपतङ्गेषु स्थावरैकशफेषु च ॥ २,३.

Then, having crossed all these, the sinner is born among animals—worms, insects, moths, immobile beings, or one-hoofed creatures.

गत्वा वनगजाढ्येषु गोष्वषु तथैव च । खरोऽश्वोऽश्वतरो गौरः शरभश्चमरी तथा ॥ २,३.

Going among wild animals in the forest, and likewise among cows, the ass, the horse, the mule, the gaur, the sharabha, and the chameleon as well.

एते चैकशफाः षट्च शृणु पञ्चनखानतः । अन्यासु बहुपापासु दुः खदासु च यो निषु ॥ २,३.

These are the six single-hoofed animals; now hear about the five-clawed ones. Among other creatures, in those with much sin and in those that are hard to digest.

मानुष्यं प्राप्यते कुब्जो कुत्सितो वामनोऽपि वा । चण्डालपुक्कसाद्यासु नरयोनिषु जायते ॥ २,३.

One attains human birth as a hunchback, a deformed person, or a dwarf; among the lowest castes such as the Chandala and Pukkasa, one is born in human form.

मुहुर्गर्भे वसन्त्येव म्रियन्ते च मुहुर्मुहुः । अवशिष्टेन पापेन पुण्येन च समन्वितः ॥ २,३.

They remain in the womb repeatedly and die again and again; with the residue of sin and also endowed with some merit.

ततश्चारोहिणीं योनिं शूद्रवैश्यनृपादिकम् । विप्रदेवेन्द्रतां चापि कदाचिदधिरोहति ॥ २,३.

Then, one attains a womb among the non-descending castes, such as Shudra, Vaishya, or king; and sometimes even attains the status of a Brahmin or a lord of the gods.

एवं तु पापकर्माणो निरयेषु पतन्त्यधः । यथा पुण्यकृतो यान्ति तन्मे निगदतः शृणु ॥ २,३.

Thus, those who perform sinful deeds fall downward into hells; now hear from me how those who perform meritorious deeds proceed.

ते यमेन विनिर्दिष्टां योनिं पुण्यगतिं नराः । प्रगीतगन्धर्वगणा नृत्योत्सवसमाकुलाः ॥ २,३.

Those men, assigned by Yama to a birth leading to a good destination, are surrounded by singing Gandharva hosts and filled with festivals of dance.

हारनूपुरमाधुर्यैः शोभितान्यमलानि तु । प्रयान्त्याशु विमानानि दिव्यगन्धस्रगुज्ज्वलाः ॥ २,३.

Adorned with the sweetness of necklaces and anklets, and with pure, shining ornaments, they swiftly ascend to celestial vehicles, radiant with divine garlands and fragrances.

तस्माच्च प्रच्युता राज्ञामन्येषां च महात्मनाम् । जायन्ते नीरुजां गेहे स द्वृत्तिपीरपालकाः ॥ २,३.

Falling from there, from the ranks of kings and other great souls, they are born in the houses of the healthy, as protectors and providers of sustenance.

भोगान्सम्प्राप्नुवन्त्युग्रांस्ततो यान्त्यूर्ध्वमन्यथा । अवरोहिणीं सम्प्राप्य पूर्ववद्यन्ति मानवाः ॥ २,३.

They attain intense enjoyments, and then ascend higher in another way; having reached a non-ascending birth, they go as before among men.

जातस्य मृत्युलोके वै प्राणिनो मरणं ध्रुवम् । पापिष्ठानामदोमार्गाज्जीवो निष्क्रमते ध्रुवम् ॥ २,३.

For one born in the world of mortals, death is certain for all living beings; from the path of the most sinful, the soul certainly departs.

पृथिव्यां लीयते पृथ्वी आपश्चैव तथाप्सु च । तेजस्तेजसि लीयते समीरे च समीरणः ॥ २,३.

Earth merges into earth, and water likewise into water; fire merges into fire, and air into air.

आकाशे च तथाकाशं सर्वव्यापि निशाकरे । तत्र कामस्तथा क्रोधः काये पञ्चेन्द्रियाणि च ॥ २,३.

And space into space, which pervades all, O night-maker; there, desire and anger, and the five senses in the body as well.

एते तार्क्ष्य समाख्याता देहे तिष्ठन्ति तस्कराः । कामः क्रोधो ह्यहङ्कारो मनस्तत्रैव नायकः ॥ २,३.

These, O Tarkshya, have been described as thieves dwelling in the body: desire, anger, indeed ego, with mind as their leader.

संहारश्चैव कालोऽसौ पुण्यपापेन संयुतः । पञ्चेन्द्रियसमायुक्तः सकलैर्विबुधैः सह ॥ २,३.

And dissolution is time itself, joined with merit and sin, endowed with the five senses, along with all the wise ones.

प्रविशेत्स नवे देहे पृहे दरधे गुही यथा । शरीरे ये समासीनाः सर्वे वै सप्त धातवः ॥ २,३.

It enters into a new body, just as in a house, a cave, or a hollow; all the seven bodily constituents reside in the body.

षाट्कौशिको ह्ययं कायः सर्वे वाताश्च देहिनाम् । मूत्रं पुरीषं तद्योगाद्ये चान्ये व्याधयस्तथा ॥ २,३.

This body is indeed composed of six sheaths, and all the winds of embodied beings; urine, feces, and, by their combination, other diseases as well.

पित्तं श्लेष्मा तथा मज्जा मांसं वै मेद एव च । अस्थि शुक्रं तथा स्नायुर्देहेन सह दह्यति ॥ २,३.

Bile, phlegm, marrow, flesh, fat, bone, semen, and sinew—all these are burned up together with the body.

एष ते कथितस्तार्क्ष्य विनासः सर्वदेहिनम् । कथयामि पुनस्तेषां शरीरं च यथा भवेत् ॥ २,३.

O Tārkṣya, I have described to you the destruction of all embodied beings; now I will tell you again how their bodies come to be.

एकस्तम्बंस्नायुबद्धं स्थूणात्रयविभूषणम् । इन्द्रियैश्च समायुक्तं नवद्वारं शरीरकम् ॥ २,३.

The body is supported by a single pillar, bound by sinews, adorned with three columns, furnished with the senses, and possessing nine gates.

विषयैश्च समाक्रान्तं कामक्रोधसमाकुलम् । रागद्वेषसमाकीर्णं तृष्णादुर्गमतस्करम् ॥ २,३.

It is overrun by sense objects, agitated by desire and anger, filled with attachment and aversion, and difficult to cross due to the fortress of thirst.

लोभजालपरिच्छिन्नं मोहवस्त्रेण वेष्टितम् । सुबद्धं मायया चैतल्लोभेनाधिष्ठितं पुरम् ॥ २,३.

It is enclosed by the net of greed, wrapped in the garment of delusion, firmly bound by illusion, and governed by greed—this city.

एतद्गुणसमाकीर्णं शरीरं सर्वदेहिनाम् । आत्मानं ये न जानन्ति ते नराः पशवः स्मृताः ॥ २,३.

This body, filled with such qualities, belongs to all embodied beings; those men who do not know the self are considered as animals.

एवमेव समाख्यातं शरीरं ते चतुर्विधम् । चतुरशीतिलक्षाणि निर्मिता योनयः पुरा ॥ २,३.

Thus, I have described to you the fourfold body; in ancient times, eighty-four hundred thousand wombs were created.