Garuda Purana

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.

शरीरमेव जन्तूनां स्वर्गमोक्षैकसाधनम् । देहो दत्तो हि येनैवं कोऽन्यः पूज्यतमस्ततः ॥ २,२१.

For living beings, the body alone is the sole means to heaven and liberation; since the body is given by them, who else is more worthy of worship than they?

इति सञ्चिन्त्यहृदये पक्षिन्यद्यत्प्रयच्छति । तत्सर्वमात्मना भुङ्क्ते दानं वेदविदो विदुः ॥ २,२१.

Thus, whatever is given with a pure heart, O bird, is enjoyed entirely by oneself; those learned in the Vedas know this as true giving.

पुन्नामनरकाद्यस्मात्पितरं त्रायते सुतः । तस्मात्पुत्त्र इति प्रोक्त इह चापि परत्र च ॥ २,२१.

Because a son saves his father from the hell called Put, therefore he is called 'putra' both here and hereafter.

अपमृत्युमृतौ स्यातां पितरौ कस्यचित्खग । व्रततीर्थाविवाहादिश्राद्धं संवत्सरं त्यजेत् ॥ २,२१.

If, O bird, either parent dies an untimely death, one should abstain for a year from vows, pilgrimages, marriages, and ancestral rites.

स्वप्नाध्यायमिमं यस्तु प्रेत लिङ्गनिदर्शकम् । यः पठेच्छृणुयाद्वापि प्रेतचिह्नं न पश्यति ॥ २,२१.

Whoever recites or hears this chapter on dreams, which reveals the signs of spirits, does not see any sign of spirits.

श्रीगरुडमहापुराणम् २२ गरुड उवाच । सम्भवन्ति कथं प्रेताः केन तेषां गतिर्भवेत् । कीदृक्तेषां भवेद्रूपं भोजनं किं भवेत्प्रभो ॥ २,२२.

Garuḍa said: How do spirits come into being, what is their fate, what is their form, and what do they eat, O Lord?

सुप्रीतास्ते कथं प्रेताः क्व तिष्ठन्ति सुरेश्वर । प्रसन्नः कृपया देव प्रश्रमेनं वदस्व मे ॥ २,२२.

O Lord of the gods, how do those departed ones become satisfied, and where do they dwell? Gracious and compassionate God, please tell me this with care.

श्रीभगवानुवाच । पापकर्मरता ये वै पूर्वकर्मवशानुगाः । जायन्ते ते मृताः प्रेतास्ताञ्छृणुष्व वदाम्यहम् ॥ २,२२.

The Blessed Lord said: Those who delight in sinful deeds, compelled by the force of their past actions, are born as pretas after death. Listen, I will tell you about them.

वापीकूपतडागांश्च आरामं सुरमन्दिरम् । प्रपां सद्म सुवृक्षांश्च तथा भोजनशालिकाः ॥ २,२२.

Wells, ponds, tanks, gardens, temples of the gods, rest-houses, houses, beautiful trees, and also fields of food—

पितृपैतामहं धर्मं किक्रीणाति स पापभाक् । मृतः प्रेतत्वमाप्नोति यावदाभूतसंप्लवम् ॥ २,२२.

He who, being sinful, sells the ancestral or paternal dharma, after death attains the state of a preta until the dissolution of creation.

गोचरं ग्रामसीमां तडागारामगह्वरम् । कर्षयन्ति च ये लोभात्प्रेतास्ते वै भवन्ति हि ॥ २,२२.

Those who, out of greed, seize pasture, village boundaries, tanks, gardens, or forests—these indeed become pretas.

चण्डालादुदकात्सर्पाद्ब्राह्मणाद्बैद्युताग्नितः । दंष्ट्रिभ्यश्च पशुभ्यश्च मरणं पापकर्मिणाम् ॥ २,२२.

Death by a caṇḍāla, water, snake, brāhmaṇa, lightning, fanged animals, or beasts—such is the fate of evil-doers.

उद्बन्धनमृता ये च विषशस्त्रहताश्च ये । आत्मोपघातिनो ये च विषूच्यादिहतास्तथा ॥ २,२२.

Those who die by hanging, by poison, by weapons, those who commit suicide, and those killed by diseases like cholera—

महारोगैर्मृता ये च पापरोगैश्च दस्युभिः । असंस्कृतप्रमीता ये विहिताचारवर्जिताः ॥ २,२२.

Those who die from great diseases, from sinful illnesses, from robbers, those who die unsanctified, or who neglect prescribed conduct—

वृषोत्सर्गादिलुप्ताश्चलुप्तमासिकपिण्डकाः । यस्यानयति शूद्रोग्निं तृणकाष्ठहवींषि सः ॥ २,२२.

Those whose funeral rites are lost due to the release of a bull, or whose monthly offerings are omitted, or whose fire is not brought by a Śūdra, or whose offerings of grass and wood are neglected—

पतनात्पर्वतानां च भित्तिपातेन ये मृताः । रजस्वलादिदोषैश्च न च भूमौ मताश्च ये ॥ २,२२.

Those who die from falling off mountains, from the collapse of walls, from the impurity of menstruation and similar causes, and those who are not buried in the earth—

अन्तरिक्षे मृता ये च विष्णुस्मरणवर्जिताः । सूतकैः श्वादिसंपर्कैः प्रेतभावा इह क्षितौ ॥ २,२२.

Those who die in the air, who do not remember Viṣṇu, who have contact with the impure, with dogs and the like—these become pretas on earth.

एवमादिभिरन्यैश्च कुमृत्युवशगाश्च ये । ते सर्वे प्रेतयोनिस्था विचरन्ति मरुस्थले ॥ २,२२.

In this way, and by other such improper deaths, all those overcome by untimely death wander as pretas in the desert.

मातरं भगिनीं भार्यां स्नुषां दुहितरं तथा । अदृष्टदोषां त्यजति स प्रेतो जायतेध्रुवम् ॥ २,२२.

He who abandons his mother, sister, wife, daughter-in-law, or daughter, though they are without fault, certainly becomes a preta.

भ्रातृध्रुग्ब्रह्महा गोघ्नः सुरापो गुरुतल्पगः । हेमक्षौमहरस्तार्क्ष्य स वै प्रेतत्वमाप्नुयात् ॥ २,२२.

He who betrays his brother, kills a brāhmaṇa, slays a cow, drinks liquor, violates the teacher’s bed, or steals gold or cloth, O Tārkṣya, he indeed attains the state of a preta.