Garuda Purana

जरादर्शितपन्थानं प्रचण्डव्याधिसैनिकम् । अधिष्ठितो मृत्युशत्रुं त्रातारं किं न पश्यति ॥ २,४९.

Why does one not see the savior from death, who stands before him as an enemy, accompanied by the army of fierce diseases, and showing the path of old age?

तृष्णासूचीविनिर्भिन्नं सिक्तं विषयसर्पिषा । रागद्वेषानले पक्वं मृत्युरश्राति मानवम् ॥ २,४९.

Death devours the human being, pierced by the needle of craving, soaked with the ghee of sense-objects, and cooked in the fire of passion and hatred.

बालांश्च यौवनस्थांश्च वृद्धान गर्भगतानपि । सर्वानाविशते मृत्युरेवम्भूमिदं जगत् ॥ २,४९.

Death enters all—children, those in youth, the aged, and even those in the womb; thus is this world constituted.

स्वदेहमपि जीवोऽयं मुक्त्वा याति यमालयम् । स्त्रीमातृपितृपुत्त्रादिसम्बन्धः केन हेतुना ॥ २,४९.

This living being, abandoning even his own body, goes to the abode of Yama; what then is the cause of attachment to wife, mother, father, son, and others?

दुः खमूलं हि संसारः स यस्यास्ति स दुः खितः । तस्य त्यागः कृतो येन स सुखी नापरः क्वचित् ॥ २,४९.

For whom there is saṃsāra, the root of suffering, he is afflicted; but whoever has renounced it is happy—no one else, ever.

प्रभवं सर्वदुः खानामालयं सकलापदाम् । आश्रयं सर्वपापानां संसारं वर्जयेत्क्षणात् ॥ २,४९.

One should instantly abandon saṃsāra, the source of all suffering, the abode of every calamity, the refuge of all sins.

लोहदारुमयैः पाशैः पुमान्बद्धो विमुच्यते । पुत्त्रदारमयैः पाशैर्मुच्यते न कदाचन ॥ २,४९.

A man bound with chains of iron or wood is freed, but never is he released from the bonds made of son and wife.

यावतः कुरुते जन्तुः सम्बन्धान्मनसः प्रियान् । तावन्तोऽस्य निखन्यन्ते हृदये शोकशङ्कवः ॥ २,४९.

As many dear relationships as a creature forms in his mind, so many arrows of sorrow are driven into his heart.

वञ्चिताशेषवित्तैस्तैर्नित्यं लोको विनाशितः । हा हन्त विषयाहारैर्देहस्थोन्द्रियतस्करैः ॥ २,४९.

The world is ever ruined by those who, having deceived all with their wealth, consume sense-objects—alas!—with the thieves that are the senses dwelling in the body.

मांसलुब्धो यथा मत्स्यो लोहशङ्कुं न पश्यति । सुखलुब्धस्तथा देही यमवाधां न पश्यति ॥ २,४९.

Just as a fish greedy for flesh does not see the iron hook, so too the embodied one, greedy for pleasure, does not see the noose of Yama.

हिताहितं न जानन्तो नित्यमुन्मार्गगामिनः । कुक्षिपूरणनिष्ठा ये ते नरा नारकाः खग ॥ २,४९.

Those men who do not know what is beneficial or harmful, who always go astray, whose only aim is to fill their bellies—O bird, they are hell-bound.

निद्राभीमैथुनाहाराः सर्वेषां प्राणिनां समाः । ज्ञानवान्मानवः प्रोक्तो ज्ञानहीनः पशुः स्मृतः ॥ २,४९.

Sleep, fear, sex, and food are the same for all living beings; he who possesses knowledge is called a human, one without knowledge is regarded as a beast.

प्रभाते मलमूत्त्राभ्यां क्षुत्तृड्भ्यां मध्यगे रवौ । रात्रौ मदननिद्राभ्यां बाध्यन्ते मूढमानवाः ॥ २,४९.

At dawn, fools are troubled by excretion and urination, at midday by hunger and thirst, at night by lust and sleep.

स्वदेहधनदारादिनिरताः सर्वजन्तवः । जायन्ते च म्रियन्ते च हा हन्ताज्ञानमोहिताः ॥ २,४९.

All creatures, absorbed in their own bodies, wealth, wives, and so on, are born and die, alas, deluded by ignorance.

तस्मात्सङ्गः सदा त्याज्यः सचेत्त्यक्तुं न शक्यते । महद्भिः सह कर्तव्यः सन्तः सङ्गस्य भेषजम् ॥ २,४९.

Therefore, attachment should always be abandoned; but if it cannot be given up, one should associate with the great—association with the good is the remedy.

सत्सङ्गश्च विवेकश्च निर्मलं नयनद्वयम् । यस्य नास्ति नरः सोऽन्धः कथं न स्यादमार्गगः ॥ २,४९.

He who lacks association with the good, discernment, and pure vision—such a man is blind; how could he not go astray?

स्वस्ववर्णाश्रमाचारनिरताः सर्वमानवाः । न जानन्ति परं धर्मं वृथा नश्यन्ति दाम्भिकाः ॥ २,४९.

All men, absorbed in the conduct of their own varṇa and āśrama, do not know the supreme dharma; vainly do the hypocrites perish.

किमायासपराः केचिद्व्रतचर्यादिसंयुताः । अज्ञानसंवृतात्मानः सञ्चरन्ति प्रचारकाः ॥ २,४९.

Why do some, intent on austerities and vows, wander about, their selves shrouded in ignorance?

नाममात्रेण सन्तुष्टाः कर्मकाण्डरता नराः । मन्त्रोच्चारणहोमाद्यैर्भ्रामिताः क्रतुविस्तरैः ॥ २,४९.

Men devoted to ritual acts, satisfied with mere names, are deluded by recitation of mantras, offerings, and the elaborate details of sacrifices.

एकभुक्तोपवासाद्यैर्नियमैः कायशोषणैः । मूढाः परोक्षमिच्छन्ति मम मायाविमोहिताः ॥ २,४९.

Deluded by my māyā, fools desire the unseen by means of disciplines such as eating once a day, fasting, and mortifying the body.

देहदण्डनमात्रेण का मुक्तिरविवेकिनाम् । वल्मीकताडनादेव मृतः किन्नु महोरगः ॥ २,४९.

What liberation can there be for the undiscerning merely by punishing the body? If a great serpent dies from being struck by a plough, does it attain freedom?

जटाभाराजिनैर्युक्ता दाम्भिका वेषधारिणः । भ्रमन्ति ज्ञानिवल्लोके भ्रामयन्ति जनानपि ॥ २,४९.

Wearing matted locks and deerskins, adopting the guise of ascetics, hypocrites wander in the world as if they are wise, and lead others astray as well.

संसारजसुखासक्तं ब्रह्मज्ञोऽस्मीतिवादिनम् । कर्मब्रह्मोभयभ्रष्टं तं त्यजेदन्त्यजं यथा ॥ २,४९.

One who is attached to worldly pleasures yet claims to be a knower of Brahman, who has fallen from both action and knowledge of Brahman—such a one should be abandoned like an outcaste.

गृहारण्यसमा लोके गतव्रीडा दिगम्बराः । चरन्ति गर्दभाद्याश्च विरक्तास्ते भवन्ति किम् ॥ २,४९.

In this world, those who have lost all shame, who roam naked whether in house or forest—are such beings as donkeys and the like truly dispassionate?

मृद्भस्मोद्धूलनादेव मुक्ताः स्युर्यदि मानवाः । मृद्भस्मवासी नित्यं श्वा स किं मुक्तो भविष्यति ॥ २,४९.

If people were liberated merely by smearing themselves with clay or ashes, then would a dog, who always dwells in clay and ashes, also become liberated?

तृणपर्णोदकाहाराः सततं वनवासिनः । जम्बूकाखुमृगाद्याश्च तापसास्ते भवन्ति किम् ॥ २,४९.

Those who always live in the forest, subsisting on grass, leaves, and water—are such as jackals, rats, and deer thereby ascetics?

आजन्ममरणान्तञ्च गङ्गादितटिनीस्थिताः । मण्डूकमत्स्यप्रमुखा योगिनस्ते भवन्ति किम् ॥ २,४९.

Those who dwell on the banks of rivers like the Ganges from birth to death—are frogs, fish, and the like therefore yogis?

पारावताः शिलाहाराः कदाचिदपि चातकाः । न पिबन्ति महीतोयं व्रतिनस्ते भवन्ति किम् ॥ २,४९.

Pigeons who eat stones, or sometimes chataka birds who never drink water from the earth—are such creatures ascetics because of their vows?

तस्मान्नित्यादिकं कर्म लोकरञ्जनकारकम् । मोक्षस्य कारणं साक्षातत्त्वज्ञान खगेश्वर ॥ २,४९.

Therefore, O Lord of Birds, daily and other ritual acts performed merely to please the world are not the direct cause of liberation; true knowledge of reality is.