Garuda Purana

श्रीविष्णुरुवाच । मानुष्यं भारते वर्षे त्रयोदशसु जातिषु ॥ २,३८.

Śrī Viṣṇu said: Human birth in the land of Bhārata occurs among thirteen classes.

तत्प्राप्य म्रियते क्षेत्रे पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते । अयोध्या मथुरा माया काशी काञ्ची अवन्तिका ॥ २,३८.

Having attained that, if one dies in the field, there is no rebirth: Ayodhyā, Mathurā, Māyā, Kāśī, Kāñcī, Avantikā,

पुरी द्वारवती ज्ञेया सप्तैता मोक्षदायिकाः । सन्न्यस्तमिति यो ब्रुयात्प्राणैः कण्ठगतैरपि ॥ २,३८.

Purī and Dvāravatī are to be known—these seven grant liberation. If one says 'renounced' even with life at the throat,

मृतो विष्णुपुरं याति न पुनर्जायते क्षितौ । सकृदुच्चरितं येन हरिरित्यक्षरद्वयम् ॥ २,३८.

Dying, he goes to Viṣṇu's city and is not born again on earth. By uttering even once the two syllables 'Hari,'

बद्धः परिकरस्तेन मोक्षाय गमनं प्रति । कृष्णकृष्णेति कृष्णेति यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः ॥ २,३८.

He is bound with the girdle for liberation on the path; whoever remembers me always, saying 'Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa.'

जल भित्त्वा यथा पद्मं नरकादुद्धराम्यहम् । शालग्रामजिला यत्र यत्र द्वारवती शिला ॥ २,३८.

Just as a lotus rises after breaking through water, so do I rescue from hell wherever there is a Śālagrāma stone or a Dvāravatī stone.

उभयोः सङ्गमो यत्र मुक्तिस्तत्र न संशयः । शालग्रामशिला यत्र पापदोषक्षयावहा ॥ २,३८.

Wherever the union of both occurs, there is liberation without doubt; wherever there is a Śālagrāma stone, it brings the destruction of sin and fault.

तत्सन्निधानमरणान्मुक्तिर्जन्तोः सुनिश्चता । रोपणात्पालनात्सेकाद्ध्यानस्पर्शनकीर्तनात् । तुलसी दहते पापं नृणां जन्मार्जितं खग ॥ २,३८.

By its presence, liberation from death is assured for a creature; by planting, tending, worship, meditation, touch, and praise, the tulasī burns away the sins acquired by humans, O bird.

ज्ञानहृदे सत्यजले रागद्वेषमलापहे । यः स्नातो मानसे तीर्थे न स लिप्येत पातकैः ॥ २,३८.

He who bathes in the inner pilgrimage, with knowledge in the heart, truth in the water, and free from the stains of attachment and aversion, is not tainted by sins.

न काष्ठे विद्यते देवो न शिलायां कदाचन । भावे हि विद्यते देवस्तस्माद्भावं समाचरेत् ॥ २,३८.

The deity is never present in wood nor ever in stone; the deity is present in feeling alone, therefore one should cultivate feeling.

प्रातः प्रातः प्रपश्यन्ति नर्मदां मत्स्यघातिनः । न ते शिवपुरीं यान्ति चित्तवृत्तिर्गरीयसी ॥ २,३८.

Those who see the Narmadā river early morning, again and again, yet kill fish, do not reach the city of Śiva; the movement of their mind is weighty.

यादृक्चित्तप्रतीतिः स्यात्तादृक्कर्मफलं नृणाम् । परलोकगतिस्तादृक सूचीसूत्रविचारवत् ॥ २,३८.

As is the conviction of the mind, so is the fruit of action for people; the journey to the next world is likewise, just as with the thread passing through a needle.

ब्राह्मणार्थे गवार्थे च स्त्रीणां बलवधेषु च । प्राणत्यागपरो यस्तु स वै मोक्षमवाप्नुयात् ॥ २,३८.

He who gives up his life for the sake of a Brāhmaṇa, a cow, or in the defense of women, attains liberation.

अनाशके मृतौ यस्तु स वै मोक्षमवाप्नुयात् । अनाशके मृतो यस्तु स मुक्तः सर्वबन्धनैः ॥ २,३८.

He who dies without hope attains liberation; he who dies without hope is freed from all bonds.

दत्त्वा दानानि विप्रेभ्यस्ततो मोक्षमवाप्नुयात् । एते वै मोक्षमार्गाश्च स्वर्गमार्गास्तथैव च ॥ २,३८.

Having given gifts to Brāhmaṇas, one then attains liberation; these are indeed the paths to liberation, and likewise the paths to heaven.

गोग्रहे देशविध्वंसे मरणं रणतीर्थयोः । उत्तमाधममध्यस्य बाध्यमानस्य देहिनः । आत्मानं तत्र सन्त्यज्य स्वर्गवासं लभेच्चिरम् ॥ २,३८.

In the seizure of cows, in the destruction of land, in death at the holy places of battle, whether highest, lowest, or middling, when the embodied one is oppressed, abandoning oneself there, one obtains long residence in heaven.

जीवितं मरणञ्चैव द्वयं शिक्षेत पण्डितः । जीवितं दानभोगाभ्यां मरणं रणतीर्थयोः ॥ २,३८.

A wise person should learn both life and death; life through giving and enjoyment, death at the holy places of battle.

हरिक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे भृगुक्षेत्रे तथैव च । प्रभासे श्रीस्थले चैव अर्बुदे च त्रिपुष्करे ॥ २,३८.

In Hari's field, Kurukṣetra, Bhṛgu's field, Prabhāsa, Śrīsthala, Arbuda, and Tripuṣkara—

भूतेश्वरे मृतो यस्तु स्वर्गे वसति मानवः । ब्रह्मणो दिवसं यावत्ततः पतति भूतले ॥ २,३८.

He who dies at Bhūteśvara dwells in heaven for as long as a day of Brahmā, then falls to earth.

वर्षवृत्तिन्तु यो दद्याद्ब्राह्मणे दोषवर्जिते । सर्वं कलं स मुद्धृत्य स्वर्गलोके महीयते ॥ २,३८.

He who gives the annual offering to a Brāhmaṇa free from faults, having removed all sin, is honored in the heavenly world.

कन्यां विवाहयेद्यस्तु ब्राह्मणं वेदपारगम् । इन्द्रलोके वसेत्सोऽपि स्वकुलैः परिवेष्टितः ॥ २,३८.

He who gives his daughter in marriage to a Brāhmaṇa versed in the Vedas dwells in Indra's world, surrounded by his own family.

महादानानि दत्वा च नरस्तत्फलमामुयात् ॥ २,३८.

Having given great gifts, a man attains the fruit thereof.

वापी कूपतडागानामारामसुरसद्मनाम् । जीर्णोद्धारं प्रकुर्वाणः पूर्वकर्तुः फलं लभेत् । जीर्णोद्धारेण वा तेषां तत्पुण्यं द्विगुणं भवेत् ॥ २,३८.

One who restores ruined wells, ponds, tanks, gardens, or temples obtains the fruit of the original creator; by restoring them, the merit becomes double.

शीतवा तातपहरमपि पर्णकुटीरकम् । कृत्वा विप्राय विदुषे प्रददाति कुटुम्बिने ॥ २,३८.

One who builds a leaf-hut, which protects from cold and heat, and gives it to a learned Brahmin who has a family,

तिस्रः कोट्योर्धकोटी च नरः स्वर्गे महीयते ॥ २,३८.

That person is honored in heaven for thirty million and half a crore years.

या स्त्री सवर्णा संशुबा मृतं पतिमनुव्रजेत् । सा मृता स्वर्गमाप्नोति वर्षाणां रोमसंख्यता ॥ २,३८.

A woman of the same caste, who is virtuous and follows her deceased husband, attains heaven after death for as many years as there are hairs on her body.

पुत्रपौत्रादिकं त्यक्त्वा स्वपतिं यानुगच्छति । स्वर्गं लभेतां तौ चोभौ दिव्यस्त्रीभिरलङ्कृतौ ॥ २,३८.

She who abandons her sons, grandsons, and others, and follows her own husband, both attain heaven, adorned with divine women.

कृत्वा पापान्यनेकानि भर्तृद्रोहमतिः सदा । प्रक्षालयति सर्वाणि या स्वं पतिमनुव्रजेत् ॥ २,३८.

Even if she has committed many sins and always harbored thoughts of betraying her husband, she washes away all those sins by following her own husband.

महापापसमाचारो भर्ता चेद्दुष्कृती भवेत् । तस्याप्यनुव्रता नारी नारायेत्सर्वकिल्बिषम् ॥ २,३८.

If the husband is engaged in great sins and is wicked, yet the woman remains devoted to him, she removes all his faults.