Garuda Purana

प्रेतोऽप्ययं सपदिलब्धसुवर्णदेहः कर्मान्त आगत इति प्रणनाम भूपम् । देव त्वदीयमहिमायमिति स्तुवन् स यातो दिवं गरुड भूपतिना कृतज्ञः ॥ २,९.

The preta, having obtained a golden body along with his attendants, approached the end of his karma, bowed to the king, and, praising your greatness, O Garuḍa, departed to heaven, grateful to the king.

एतत्ते सर्वमाख्यातं यथा भूपतिनापि सः । उद्धृतः प्रेतभावाद्वै किमन्यच्छ्रोतुमिच्छसि ॥ २,९.

All this has been told to you, how even by a king he was rescued from the state of a preta; what else do you wish to hear?

श्रीगरुडमहापुराणम् १० गरुड उवाच । सपिण्डीकरण जाते आब्दिके च स्वकर्मभिः । देवत्वं वा मनुष्यत्वं पक्षित्वं वाप्नुयुर्नराः ॥ २,१०.

Garuḍa said: When the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa and the annual rites are performed, by their own actions, people may attain divinity, humanity, or even birdhood.

तेषां विभिन्नाहाराणां श्राद्धं वै तृप्तिदं कथम् । यदप्यन्यैर्द्विजैर्भुक्तं हूयते यदि वानले ॥ २,१०.

How does the śrāddha, which gives satisfaction, benefit those with different kinds of sustenance, whether it is eaten by other twice-born or offered into the fire?

शुभाशुभात्मकैः प्रेतस्तद्दत्तं भुज्यते कथम् । श्राद्धस्यावश्यकत्वन्तु आमावास्यादिषु श्रुतम् ॥ २,१०.

How does a preta, composed of both merit and demerit, partake of what is given? The necessity of śrāddha on new moon days and such has been declared.

श्रीभगवानुवाच । प्रेतानां शृणु पक्षीन्द्र यथा श्राद्धन्तु तृप्तिदम् । देवो यदपि जातोऽयं मनुष्यः कर्मयोगतः ॥ २,१०.

The Blessed Lord said: Hear, O king of birds, how the śrāddha offering brings satisfaction to the departed; even if one has become a god, this being was once a human by the force of karma.

तस्यान्नममृतं भूत्वा देवत्वेऽप्यनुयाति च । गान्धर्व्ये भोगरूपेण पशुत्वे च तृणं भवेत् ॥ २,१०.

For him, the food becomes nectar among the gods, pleasure among the Gandharvas, grass among animals, and so on.

श्राद्धं हि वायुरूपेण नागत्वेऽप्यनुगच्छति । फलं भवति पक्षित्वे राक्षसेषु तथामिषम् ॥ २,१०.

Indeed, the śrāddha, in the form of air, follows even those not yet reborn; it becomes fruit among birds, and flesh among the Rākṣasas.

दानवत्वे तथा मांसं प्रेतत्वे रुधिरं तथा । मनुष्यत्वेऽन्नपानादि बाल्ये भोगरसो भवेत् ॥ २,१०.

Among Dānavas it becomes meat, among the departed it becomes blood; for humans it is food and drink, and for children it is the essence of enjoyment.

गरुड उवाच । कथं कव्यानि दत्तानि हव्यानि च जनैरिह । गच्छन्ति पितृलोकं वा प्रापकः कोऽत्र गद्यते ॥ २,१०.

Garuda said: How do the offerings to ancestors and to the gods, given here by people, reach the world of the ancestors? Who is said to be the conveyer in this matter?

मृतानामपि जन्तूनां श्राद्धमाप्यायनं यदि । निर्वाणस्य प्रदीपस्य तैलं संवर्धयेच्छिखाम् ॥ २,१०.

If the śrāddha nourishes even the dead beings, it is like adding oil to a lamp whose flame has gone out, causing it to burn again.

मृताश्च पुरुषाः स्वामिन् स्वकर्मजनितां गतिम् । गाहन्तः के कथं स्वस्य सुतस्य श्रेय आप्नुयुः ॥ २,१०.

And those men who have died, having entered the state produced by their own karma—how could they, or anyone else, attain benefit for themselves or their sons?

श्रीभगवानुवाच । श्रुतेः प्रत्यक्षतस्तार्क्ष्य प्रामाण्यं बलवत्तरम् । श्रुत्या तुः बोधितार्थस्य पीयूषत्वादिरूपता ॥ २,१०.

The Blessed Lord said: O Tārkṣya, the authority of scripture is stronger than direct perception; for what is taught by scripture has the nature of nectar and other such qualities.

नामगोत्रं पितॄणां वै प्रापकं हव्यकव्ययोः । श्राद्धस्य मन्त्रास्तद्वत्तु प्रापकाश्चैव भक्तितः ॥ २,१०.

The name and lineage of the ancestors are indeed the means by which offerings to gods and ancestors reach them; so too, the mantras of śrāddha, and the devotion with which they are offered, are the conveyors.

अचेतनानि चैतानि प्रापयन्ति कथन्त्विति । सुपर्ण नावगन्तव्यं प्रापकं वच्मि तेऽपरम् ॥ २,१०.

These things, though insentient, do indeed convey the offerings—how is this so? O Suparṇa, do not doubt; I will tell you another means of conveyance.

अग्निष्वात्तादयस्तेषा माधिपत्ये व्यवस्थिताः । काले न्यायागतं पात्रे विधिना प्रतिपादितम् ॥ २,१०.

The Agniṣvāttas and others are established as their lords; at the proper time, to the worthy recipient, they deliver what is duly offered.

अन्नं नयन्ति तत्रैते जन्तुर्यत्रावतिष्ठते । नाम गोत्रञ्च मन्त्राश्च दत्तमन्नं नयन्ति ते ॥ २,१०.

These beings carry the food there, to wherever the soul abides; the name, lineage, and mantras, along with the food given, they deliver.

अपि योनिशतं प्राप्तांस्तांस्तृप्तिरुपतिष्ठति । तेषां लोकान्तरस्थानां विविधैर्नामगोत्रकैः ॥ २,१०.

Even if they have attained a hundred different wombs, satisfaction reaches them; those who dwell in other worlds, of various names and lineages, also receive it.

अपसव्यं क्षितौ दर्भे दत्ताः पिण्डास्त्रयस्तु वै । यान्ति तांस्तर्पयन्त्येवं प्रेतस्थानस्थितान्पितॄन् ॥ २,१०.

The three balls of rice placed on darbha grass, with the sacred thread reversed, go to and satisfy the ancestors who dwell in the realm of the departed.

अप्राप्तयातनास्थानाः श्रेष्ठा ये भुवि पञ्चधा । नानारूपास्तु जाता ये तिर्यग्योन्यादिजातिषु ॥ २,१०.

Those who have not yet reached the place of torment, the best among men in fivefold ways, and those born in various forms among animals and other births—

यदाहारा भवन्त्येते पितरो यत्र योनिषु । तासुतासु तदाहारः श्राद्धा अवतिष्ठति ॥ २,१०.

Whatever food the ancestors have in the various wombs they inhabit, that very food, through śrāddha, is established for them there.

यथा गोषु प्रनष्टासु वत्सो विन्दति मातरम् । तथान्नं नयते विप्र जन्तुर्यत्रावतिष्ठते ॥ २,१०.

Just as, when cows are lost, the calf finds its mother, so too, O Brahmin, the food reaches the being wherever he abides.

पितरः श्राद्धमोक्तारो विश्वेर्देवैः सदा सह । एते श्राद्धं सदा भुक्त्वा पितॄन्सन्तर्पयन्त्यतः ॥ २,१०.

The ancestors, together with all the gods, are always declared as the receivers of śrāddha; having always partaken of the śrāddha, they satisfy the ancestors.

वसुरुद्रादितिसुताः पितरः श्राद्धदेवताः । प्रीणयाते मनुष्याणां पितॄञ्श्राद्धेषु तर्पिताः ॥ २,१०.

The Vasus, Rudras, and Adityas are the sons of Aditi, and the ancestors are the deities of the śrāddha rite; when satisfied in the śrāddha, they gladden the ancestors of men.

आत्मानं गुर्विणी गर्भमपि प्रीणाति वै यथा । दोहदेन तथा देवाः श्राद्धैः स्वांश्च पितॄन्नृणाम् ॥ २,१०.

Just as a pregnant woman delights in herself and her unborn child, so too do the gods and the ancestors of men become pleased by offerings made in the śrāddha.

हृष्यन्ति पितरः श्रुत्वा श्राद्धकालमुपस्थितम् । अन्योन्यं मनसा ध्यात्वा सम्पतन्ति मनोजवम् ॥ २,१०.

The ancestors rejoice upon hearing that the time for śrāddha has arrived; thinking of each other in their minds, they swiftly come with the speed of thought.

ब्राह्मणैः सह चाश्नन्ति पितरो ह्यन्तरिक्षगाः । वायुभूताश्च तिष्ठन्ति भुक्त्वा यान्ति परां गतिम् ॥ २,१०.

The ancestors, dwelling in the intermediate space, partake together with the brāhmaṇas; having assumed the form of wind, they remain, and after eating, they attain the highest state.

निमन्त्रितास्तु ये विप्राः श्राद्धपूर्वदिनेः खग । प्रविश्य पितरस्तेषु भुक्त्वा यान्ति स्वमालयम् ॥ २,१०.

O bird, when brāhmaṇas are invited on the day before the śrāddha, the ancestors enter into them, partake of the offerings, and then return to their own abode.

श्राद्धकर्त्रा तु यद्येकः श्राद्धे विप्रो निमन्त्रितः । उदरस्थः पिता तस्य वामपार्श्वे पितामहः ॥ २,१०.

If only one brāhmaṇa is invited to a śrāddha by the performer, the father resides in his stomach, the grandfather on his left side.