ये केचित्पेतरूपा विकृतमुखदृशो रौद्ररूपाः कराला मन्यन्ते नैव गोत्रं सुतदुहितृपितॄन् भ्रातृजायां वधूं वा । कृत्वा काम्यं च रूपं सुखगतिरहिता भाषमाणा यथेष्टं हा कष्टं भोक्तुकामा विधिवशपतिताः संस्मरन्ति स्वपाकम् ॥ २,२०.
Those who take on forms of ghosts, with distorted faces, fierce and terrible in appearance, do not recognize family, sons, daughters, fathers, brothers, wives, or brides. Having assumed forms at will, devoid of happiness, they speak as they please—alas, in their desire to consume, fallen under the power of fate, they remember their own suffering.
श्रीगरुडमहापुराणम् २१ गरुड उवाच । मुक्तिं यान्ति कथं प्रेतास्तदहं प्रष्टुमुत्सुकः । यन्मुक्तौ च मनुष्याणां न पीडा जायते पुनः ॥ २,२१.
Garuḍa said: How do the spirits attain liberation? I am eager to ask this, for when liberation is gained by people, suffering does not arise again.
एतैश्च लक्षणैर्देव पीडोक्ता प्रेतजा त्वया । तेषां कदा भवेन्मुक्तिः प्रेतत्वं न कथं भवेत् ॥ २,२१.
And, O Lord, you have described the suffering of spirits with these characteristics. When will their liberation occur, and how will their state as spirits come to an end?
प्रेतत्वे हि प्रमाणं च कति वर्षाणि संख्यया । चिरं प्रेतत्वमापन्नः कथं मुक्तिमवाप्नुयात् ॥ २,२१.
What is the measure of time for being a spirit—how many years, by count? Having long fallen into the state of a spirit, how does one attain liberation?
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच । मुक्तिं प्रायन्ति ते प्रेतास्तदहं कथयामि ते । यदैव मनुजोऽवैति मम पीडा कृता त्वियम् ॥ २,२१.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: Those spirits do indeed attain liberation; I shall tell you this. When a person realizes, 'This suffering has been caused by me,'
पृच्छार्थं हितमन्विच्छन्दै वज्ञे विनिवदयेत् । स्वप्ने दृष्टः शुभो वृक्षः फलितश्चूतचम्पकः ॥ २,२१.
Desiring the welfare of the departed, one should ask and perform the prescribed rites. If, in a dream, an auspicious tree is seen, bearing mangoes or campaka flowers,
विप्रो वा वृषभो देवो भ्रमते तीर्थगो यदि । एवं दृष्टो यदा स्वप्नो मृतः कोऽपिस्वगोत्रजः ॥ २,२१.
Or if a brāhmaṇa, a bull, or a deity is seen wandering, or someone is seen going to a sacred place—if, in a dream, a deceased relative appears,
स्वप्ने सत्यं परिज्ञाय दृष्टं प्रेतप्रभावतः । अद्भुतानि प्रदृश्यन्ते प्रेतदोषाद्विनिश्चितम् ॥ २,२१.
Recognizing the truth in a dream, seen through the influence of the spirit, marvelous things are revealed—these are certainly due to the fault of the spirit.
तीर्थस्नाने मतिर्यावच्चित्तं धर्मपरायणम् । धर्मापायं प्रकुरुते प्रेतपीडा तदा व्रजेत् ॥ २,२१.
As long as the mind is intent on bathing at sacred places and devoted to righteousness, if one acts contrary to dharma, then the suffering of the spirit arises.
तदा तत्र विनाशाय चित्तभङ्गं करोति सा । श्रेयांसि बहुविघ्नानि सम्भवन्ति पदेपदे ॥ २,२१.
At that time, to bring about destruction, it causes disturbance of mind; many obstacles to auspicious things arise at every step.
अश्रेयसि प्रवृत्ति च प्रेरयन्ति पुनः पुनः । उच्चाटनं च क्रूरत्वं सर्वं प्रेतकृतं खग ॥ २,२१.
Again and again, they prompt engagement in inauspicious acts, and all forms of expulsion and cruelty—O bird—are caused by spirits.
सर्वविघ्नानि सन्त्यज्य मुक्त्युपायं करोति यः । तस्य कर्मफलं साधु प्रेतवृत्तिश्च शाश्वती ॥ २,२१.
Whoever, abandoning all obstacles, performs the means of liberation, for him the fruit of action is good, and the spirit's condition is made lasting.
स भवेत्तेन मुक्तस्तु दत्तं श्रेयस्करं परम् । स्वयं तृप्यति भोः पक्षिन्यस्योद्देशेन दीयते ॥ २,२१.
By that, he becomes liberated; the supreme, auspicious gift is given. He himself is satisfied, O bird, for whom the offering is made.
शृणु सत्यमिदं तार्क्ष्य यद्ददाति भुनक्ति सः । आत्मानं श्रेयसा युञ्ज्यात्प्रेतस्तृप्तिं चिरं व्रजेत् ॥ २,२१.
Hear this truth, O Tārkṣya: whatever one gives and enjoys, one should dedicate oneself to auspiciousness, and the spirit attains satisfaction for a long time.
ते तृप्ताः शुभमिच्छन्ति निजबन्धुषु सर्वदा । अज्ञातयस्तु ये दुष्टाः पीडयन्ति स्ववंशजान् ॥ २,२१.
Those who are satisfied always wish well for their own relatives; but those unknown and wicked spirits afflict their own descendants.
निवारयन्ति तृप्तास्ते जायमानानुकम्पकाः । पश्चात्ते मुक्तिमायन्ति काले प्राप्ते स्वपुत्रतः । सदा बन्धुषु यच्छन्ति वृद्धिमृद्धिं खगाधिप ॥ २,२१.
Those who are satisfied restrain and show compassion to those being born; later, at the proper time, they attain liberation through their own sons. They always bestow growth and prosperity upon their relatives, O lord of birds.
दर्शनाद्भाषणाद्यस्तु चेष्टातः पीडनाद्गतिम् । न प्रापयति मूढात्मा प्रेतशापैः स लिप्यते ॥ २,२१.
But the deluded one who, by sight, speech, action, or affliction, does not bring about their progress, is bound by the curses of spirits.
अपुत्रकोऽपशुश्चैव दरिद्रो व्याधितस्तथा । वृत्तिहीनश्च हीनश्च भवेज्जन्मनिजन्मनि ॥ २,२१.
He becomes without sons, without cattle, poor, diseased, lacking livelihood, and deficient, birth after birth.
एवं ब्रुवन्ति ते प्रेताः पुनर्याभ्यं समाश्रिताः । तत्रस्थानां भवेन्मुक्तिः स्वकाले कर्मसंक्षये ॥ २,२१.
Thus, those departed souls who speak in this way and again take refuge with you, will attain liberation from that place at the proper time, when their karmic bonds are exhausted.
गरुड उवाच । नाम गोत्रं न दृश्येत प्रतीतिर्नैव जायते । केचिद्वदन्ति दैवज्ञाः पीडां प्रेतसमुद्भवाम् ॥ २,२१.
Garuḍa said: The name and lineage are not seen, nor does certainty arise; some astrologers say that the affliction is caused by spirits of the dead.
न स्वप्नश्चैष्टितं नैव दर्शनं न कदाचन । किं कर्तव्यं सुरश्रेष्ठ तत्र मे ब्रूहि निश्चितम् ॥ २,२१.
There is no dream, no movement, nor any vision at any time; O best of gods, what should be done in that case? Tell me with certainty.
श्रीभगवानुवाच । सत्यं वाप्यनृतं वापि वदन्ति क्षितिदेवताः । तदा सञ्चिन्त्य हृदये सत्यमेतद्द्विजेरितम् ॥ २,२१.
The Blessed Lord said: Whether true or false, the earthly deities speak; considering this in your heart, know that what the twice-born declare is true.
भावभक्तिं पुरस्कृत्य पितृभक्तिपरायणः । कृत्वा कृष्णबलिं चैव पुरश्चरण पूर्वकम् ॥ २,२१.
With devotion and faith, being dedicated to honoring the ancestors, one should perform the offering to Kṛṣṇa, preceded by the proper rites.
जपहोमैस्तथा दानैः प्रकुर्याद्देहसोधनम् । कृतेन तेन विघ्नानि विनश्यन्ति खगेश्वर ॥ २,२१.
By recitation, fire offerings, and gifts, one should purify the body; by this, all obstacles are destroyed, O lord of birds.
भूतप्रेतपिशाचैर्वा स चेदन्यैः प्रपीड्यते । पित्रुद्देशेन वै कुर्यान्नारायणबलिं तदा । विमुक्तः सर्वपीडाभ्य इति सत्यं वचो मम ॥ २,२१.
If one is afflicted by ghosts, spirits, or fiends, or by others, then, for the sake of the ancestors, one should perform the offering to Nārāyaṇa; thus freed from all afflictions—this is my true word.
पितृपीडा भवेद्यत्र कृत्यैरन्यैर्न मुच्यते । तस्मात्सर्वप्रयत्नेन पितृभक्तिपरो भवेत् ॥ २,२१.
Where there is affliction from the ancestors that is not removed by other means, therefore, with all effort, one should be devoted to honoring the ancestors.
नवमे दशमे वर्षे पिक्षुद्देशेन वै पुमान् । गायत्त्रीमयुतं जप्त्वा दशांशेन च होमयेत् ॥ २,२१.
In the ninth or tenth year, for the sake of the ancestors, a man should recite the Gāyatrī ten thousand times and offer oblations with a tenth part.
कृत्वा कृष्णबलिं पूर्वं वृषोत्सर्गादिकाः क्रियाः । सर्वोपद्रवहीनस्तु सर्वसौख्यमवाप्नुयात् । उत्तमं लोकमाप्नोति ज्ञातिप्राधान्यमेव च ॥ २,२१.
Having first performed the offering to Kṛṣṇa and the rites beginning with the release of the bull, one becomes free from all troubles, attains all happiness, reaches the highest world, and gains preeminence among relatives.
पितृमा तृसमं लोके नास्त्यन्यद्दैवतं परम् । तस्मात्सर्वप्रयत्नेन पूजयेत्पितरौ सदा ॥ २,२१.
In this world, there is no deity greater than the ancestors; therefore, with all effort, one should always worship one's parents.
हितानामुपदेष्टा हि प्रत्यक्षं दैवतं पिता । अन्या या देवता लोके न देहप्रभवो हि ताः ॥ २,२१.
The father is the direct deity and the giver of good counsel; other deities in the world are not the source of the body.