Garuda Purana

अश्रुपातं न कुर्वीत दत्त्वा दाहजलाञ्जलिम् । श्लेष्माश्रु बान्धवैर्मुक्तं प्रेतो भुङ्क्ते यतोऽवशः

One should not weep after offering the water oblation for the burning; for the departed helplessly partakes of the phlegm and tears shed by relatives.

अतो न रोदितव्यं हि क्रियाः कार्याः स्वशक्तितः । ततस्तेषूपविष्टेषु पुराणज्ञः सुकृत्स्वकः

Therefore, one should not weep; the rites should be performed according to one's ability. Then, when they are seated, one who knows the ancient tradition, who is virtuous, should speak.

शोकापनोदं कुर्वीत संसारानित्यतां ब्रुवन् । मानुष्ये कदलीस्तन्भे असारे सारमार्गणम्

He should dispel grief, speaking of the impermanence of worldly existence: 'In humanity, as in the stem of a plantain, there is no substance in what seems substantial.'

करोति यः स संमूढो जलबुद्वद्रसन्निभे । पञ्चधा संभृतः कायो यदि पञ्चत्वमागतः

He who acts thus is deluded, like a bubble on water; though the body is composed of five elements, when it meets its end—

कर्मभिः स्वशरीरोत्थैस्तत्र का परिदेवना । गन्त्री वसुमती नाशमुदधिर्दैवतानि च

—what is the use of lamenting for a body perished through its own deeds? The earth, the ocean, and the gods themselves all come to destruction.

फेनप्रख्यः कथं नाशं मर्त्यलोको न यास्यति । एवं संश्रावयेत्तत्र मृदुशाद्वलसंस्थितान्

How could the world of mortals, which is like foam, not come to an end? Thus should one instruct those seated on the soft grass there.

तेऽयि संश्रुत्य गच्छेयुर्गृहं बालपुरः सराः । विदश्य र्निबपत्राणि नियता द्वारि वेश्मनः

Hearing this, they should return home, led by the children, scattering darbha grass leaves, and stand firmly at the doorway of the house.

आचम्य वह्निसलिलं गोमयं गौरसर्षपान् । दूर्वाप्रवालं वृषभमन्यदप्यथ मङ्गलम्

After sipping water, they should bring fire, water, cow dung, cow's milk, mustard seeds, sacred grass, coral, a bull, and other auspicious items.

प्रविशेयुः समालभ्य कृत्वाश्मनि पदं शनैः । श्रौतेन तु विधानेन आहिताग्निं देहद्वधः

They should enter, having touched these, and step gently on a stone; then, according to the Vedic rite, the householder whose fire is maintained is to be cremated.

ऊनद्विवर्षं निखनेन्न कुर्यादुदकं ततः । योषित्पतिव्रता या स्याद्भर्तारं यानुगच्छति

One who is less than ten years old should be buried, and then water should be offered; but a wife who is devoted to her husband follows him.

प्रयोग पूर्वं भर्तारं नमस्कृत्यारुहेच्चितिम् । चितिभ्रष्टा तु या मोहात्सा प्राजापत्यमाचरेत्

Having first saluted her husband, she should ascend the funeral pyre; but if, out of delusion, she falls from the pyre, she should perform the Prajapatya vow.

तिस्रः कोट्योर्धकोटी य यानि लोमानि मानुषे । तावत्कालं वसेत्स्वर्गे भर्तारं यानुगच्छति

For as many hairs as there are on a human body—thirty million and more—so many years does she dwell in heaven, who follows her husband.

व्यालग्राही यथा व्यालं बिलादुद्धरते बलात् । तद्वदुद्धृत्य सा नारी तेनैव सह मोदते

Just as one who seizes a snake drags it forcibly from its hole, so does that woman lift her husband up and enjoys with him.

तत्र सा भर्तृपरमा स्तूयमानाप्सरोगणैः । क्रीडते पतिना सार्धं यावदिन्द्राश्चतुर्दश

There, devoted to her husband, praised by hosts of celestial nymphs, she sports with her husband as long as the fourteen Indras reign.

ब्रह्मघ्नो वा कृघ्नो वा मित्त्रिघ्नो वा भवेत्पतिः । पुनात्यविधवा नारी तमादाय मृता तु या

Whether the husband was a slayer of a Brahmin, a murderer, or a betrayer of friends, the widow who follows him purifies him by her act.

मृते भर्तरि या नारी समारोहेद्धुताशनम् । सारन्धतीसमाचारा स्वर्गलोके महीयते

A woman who ascends the blazing fire upon her husband's death, following the conduct of Arundhati, is honored in the world of heaven.

यावच्चाग्नौ मृते पत्यौ स्त्री नात्मानं प्रदाहयेत् । तावन्न मुच्यते सा हि स्त्रीशरीरात्कथञ्चन

As long as her husband is burning in the fire, if the wife does not burn herself, she is not released from her female body by any means.

मातृकं पैतृकं चैव यत्र चैव प्रदीयते । कुलत्रयं पुनात्येषा भर्तारं यानुगच्छति

She who follows her husband purifies the maternal, paternal, and in-law lineages—three families—by her act.

आर्तार्ते मुदिते हृष्टा प्रोषिते मलिना कृशा । मृते म्रियेत या पत्यौ सा स्त्री ज्ञेया पतिव्रता

Whether in suffering, distress, joy, delight, or when her husband is away, if she is pale and emaciated, and dies when her husband dies, she is known as a devoted wife.

पृथक्चितां समारुह्य न प्रिया गन्तुमर्हति । क्षत्त्रियाद्याः सवर्णाश्च आरोहेयुरपीह ताः

Ascending a separate pyre, she should not go to her beloved; but Kshatriya and other same-caste women may ascend even here.

चाण्डालीमवधिं कृत्वा ब्राह्मणीतः समो विधिः । अगर्भिणीनां सर्वासामबालताक्मे(का)नामपि

Setting the limit as that of a Chandali woman, the rule is the same for all, except for Brahmin women, for those who are pregnant, and for all who are infants.

दहनस्य विधिः प्रोक्तः सामान्येन मया खग । विशेषमपि तस्यास्य कञ्चित्किं श्रोतुमिच्छति

O bird, I have described in general the procedure for cremation; do you wish to hear any particular details about it?

गरुड उवाच । प्रोषिते तु मृते स्वामिन्यस्थ्निनाशमुपेयुषि । कथं दाहः प्रकर्तव्यस्तन्मे वद जगत्पते

Garuḍa said: When the master has died while away and his bones have perished, how should the cremation be performed? Tell me that, Lord of the world.

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच । अस्थीनि चेन्न लभ्यन्ते प्रोषितस्य नरस्य च । तेषाञ्च हि गतिस्थानं विधानं कथयाम्यहम्

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: If the bones of a man who died while away cannot be obtained, I shall explain the prescribed procedure for their destination and journey.

शृणु तार्क्ष्य परं गोप्यं पत्युर्दुर्मरणेषु यत् । लङ्घनैर्ये मृता जीवां दंष्ट्रिभिश्चाभिघातिताः

Hear, O Tārkṣya, the supreme secret concerning those who die unnatural deaths—those who die by falling, by the bite of fanged creatures, or by being struck.

कण्ठग्रहे विलग्नानां क्षीणानां तुण्डघातिनाम् । विषाग्निवृषविप्रेभ्यो विषूच्या चात्मघातकाः

Those who die by strangulation, who are emaciated by wounds from beaks, who die from poison, fire, bulls, brāhmaṇas, epidemic disease, or by their own hand—

पतनोद्बन्धनजलैर्मृतानां शृणु संस्थितिम् । सर्पव्याघ्रैः शृङ्गिभिश्च उपसर्गोपलोदकैः

Hear about the fate of those who die by falling, hanging, drowning, snake or tiger attack, by horned animals, by calamities, or by polluted water.

ब्राह्मणैः श्वापदैश्चैव पतनैर्वृक्षवैद्युतैः । नखैर्लोहैर्गिरेः पातैर्भित्तिपातैर्भृगोस्तथा

Those who die at the hands of brāhmaṇas, wild beasts, by falling from trees or lightning, by nails, iron, falling from mountains, collapsing walls, or by the sage Bhṛgu—

कट्वायामन्तरिक्षे च चौरचाण्डालतस्तथा । उदक्याशुनकीशूद्ररजकादिविभूषिताः

Those who die in the desert, in the sky, at the hands of thieves or outcastes, or who are adorned by water-carriers, dog-keepers, śūdras, washermen, and others—