THE GARUDA PURANA 59 страница

32. The image of Visnu should be made of gold, that of Rudra of copper, that of Brahma of silver and that ofYama of iron.

33. The effigy of the dead should be made of lead or Darbha grass. Nyasa of Samavedin should be conducted with the mantra Yamaya tva.

34-35. Lord Govinda should be placed in the west with the mantra; agna ayahi, 1 Prajapati in the east with the mantra agnim He; 2 Yama in the south with the mantra ise tva 3 and in the middle a mystic diagram should be drawn on the ground where the body of darbha grass is placed.

36. In five vessels containing five gems there be invoked Brahma, Visnu, Rudra, Yama and the dead person.

37. The cloth, the sacred thread and the coins should be separate for each deity. The mantras too are separate for each deity.

38. Five sraddhas are performed separately for the deities with due observance of rules, and water is poured over the pindas separately.

39-41. Water with gingelly seeds shall be taken in a conch or a copper vessel or if it is not available in an earthen vessel along with the articles of worship. O lord of birds, the following articles should be gifted to a pious brahmin — seat, sandal, umbrella, coins, water pot, vessel, foodstuffs and grains, thus constituting the eight padas as well as a copper vessel with gingelly seeds along with gold and compatible daksinas.

42-43. Fields with grain plants already grown should be gifted to a Rgvedin, a milch cow to a Yajurvedin, a new cloth to a Samavedin with Lord Siva in view, and similarly gingelly seeds and iron with Yama in view. The sacrificial fee should be paid to the officiating priests.

1. RV. 616. 10

2. RV. 1. 1. 1

3. RV. 1. 1. 22

44. An effigy should be made with the medicinal herbs.

O Kasyapa, Palasa leaves and bunches should be split into several pieces.

45. The hide of a black deer should be spread and the effigy of ku$a grass placed over it. Three hundred and sixty blades ofkusa grass representing the number of bones in the body should be used.

46. The blades of kusa grass should be tied well to constitute the different limbs. Forty blades ofkusa grass at thehead and ten at the neck.

47. Twenty in the region of the heart, twenty in the belly, hundred in the thighs and twenty at the hips.

48. Four for the penis, six for the testicles, ten for the toes. This is the procedure to represent the bones.

49. A coconut is placed at the head; a silver piece in the palate; five gems in the mouth and a plantain fruit in the tongue.

50. Sands represent the entrails; saffron is placed at the nose; clay represents the fat and cow’s urine the urine.

51. Sulphur represents the Dhatus (the principal constituents of the body). Haritala 1, Manahsila 2 and fried barley flour represent flesh and honey represents the blood.

52. A clump of twigs and leaves represents the matted hair, hide of deer represents the skin, mercury represents semen and brass pieces the faeces.

53. Manahsila is scattered over the body, gingelly cakes on the joints, palm leaves on the ears and two Guiijas (berries) on the nipples.

54. Lotus petals are placed on the nose and the umbilical region; brinjal on the testicles and red garlic on the penis.

55. Ghi should be applied over the navel. Lac represents the loin cloth. Pearls are placed at the breast and saffron over the head.

56. Comphor, incense, aguru, garlands are used to decorate the effigy. It is clothed with silken cloth. A gold piece is placed over the chest.

1. Yellow orpiment 2. Red arsenic 57. Rddhi (success) and Vrddhi (prosperity) represent the arms, two chowrie pieces the eyes; red lead is applied to the corners of the eyes. Betal leaves are offered (to the mouth).

58. Thus, the worship of the dead is performed with different medicinal herbs. Due rites are performed in fire and sacrificial vessels are kept around.

59. The dead body is sanctified by the mantras Sanno devi 1, punantu ma 2 3, imam me Varuna 3 and by the water from the sdlagrama stone.

60. A good milch cow and a vessel full of gingelly seeds is gifted with Visnu in view.

61. Gingelly seeds, iron, gold, cotton, salt, cow — each of them is considered to be pious.

62. Then, Vaitarani 4 decorated with ornaments should be given accompanied by a sraddha.

63. Then rites for the release of the ghost should be performed with Visnu in view.

64. The Preta is mystically discharged. The corpse or the effigy is cremated while meditating upon Visnu.

65. (On the cremation of effigy) three days’ impurity is observed; Otherwise, impurity lasts for ten days while a riceball is offered on each of the ten days. All other rites are performed for a year. Thereby the dead man attains salvation.

1. RV. 1. 9. 4

2. VS. 19. 37

3. RV. 1. 25. 19

4. Here by Vaitarani a cow is meant, not the river.

CHAPTER FORTYONE.

Releasing the Bull ( Vrfotsarga ).

Lord Vi mu said:

1. O lord of birds, the rite of releasing the bull ( Vrfotsarga ) should be done, as prescribed in the month Karttika or on the full-moon day (purnima) or on other auspicious days.

2. One should get married, release the bull, perform Nandimukha 1 and establish fire.

3. Fire should be established beside the water reservoir, well, cowshed and everything should be done according to marriage rites such as the recitation of the mantras by the brahmins.

4. He should do patrasadana, Srapana, upanayana, etc. At the end of paryukfana, the brahmin should do home.

5-6. Six offerings should be made with the mantra prathama ahar 2 to Agni, Rudra, Sarva, Pasupati, Siva, Bhava, Mahadeva, Isana, Yama.

7. Once, homa should be made with pi} taka by reciting the mantra Pufa go 3 4. Homa should be made both with caru and Payasa.

8-9. First vyahrtp- homa should be made, then PrayaScitta, Saiiisrava-prasana, Pranita parimoksana and Pavitrapratipatti.

Daksina should be given to the brahmins officiating at the sacrifice. By reciting sadahga mantras dedicated to Rudra, the ghost obtains release.

10. Bull of one colour and a calf should be bathed and decorated with ornaments.

11. By releasing the twins the ghost obtains release.

Then water-libation should be made by reciting the mantras.

The brahmins should be feasted and gratified with the sacrificial fee.

12. Then ekoddista should be performed accompanied by water libation and gifts of food.

13. This should be done on the twelfth day and in each month separately. The prescription relates to the release of the ghost.

1. A Sraddha ceremony performed in memory of the manes preli minary to any festive occasion such as marriage.

2. Not mentioned in Bloomfield’s Vedic concordance. 3. RV. VI. 54. 5

4. \yahrti homa — Oblations poured into the fire by muttering the formula: bhuh svaha, bhuvah svaha, svah svaha.

CHAPTER FORTYTWO.

On bestowing gifts.

The lord said:

1. As a calf can trace its mother cow among a thousand cows, so also the actions done in previous births can follow the doer.

2. The sun, Varuna, Visnu, Brahma, moon, fire and lord Siva appreciate the person who gifts plots of land.

3. There is no gift equal to the gift of land, no treasure equal to landed property, no virtue equal to truthfulness and no sin equal to falsehood.

4. Gold is the first offspring of fire, land of Visnu, and cow of the sun. He who gifts gold, cow and land actually makes a gift of three worlds.

5. He who gifts knowledge, land and cow is blessed.

Reciting Epics and the Puranas, cultivating seeds in the fertile land and milking the cow save people from the distress of hell.

6. Even persons committing heinous sins are purified merely by making gift of a cow or a plot of land.

7. If someone seizes cows or land unlawfully due to greed he should be stopped. He goes to hell who does not protect these.

8. Even when the vital airs stick to the throat (when death is imminent) actions unworthy of performance should not be carried out; only worthy actions should be followed.

This is known to Vedic scholars who have declared thus.

9. There is as much of sin in seizing cows or land as that which results from slaughtering a thousand cows, in doing an evil action or in depriving someone of his lovelihood. In helping someone to secure the means of livelihood, the benefit that accrues is equal to that of the gift of a hundred thousand cows.

10. It is better to give away a cow once for all rather than give away a hundred cows and seize one. It one seizes a cov. he cannot expiate for that sin by even giving a hundred cows.

11. If a person voluntarily gifts something and wontonly seizes the same he becomes a great sinner. He goes to hell where he stays till the universe is dissolved in Deluge.

12. The merit that accrues to one in offering protection to a poor brahmin who is emaciated due to unemployment cannot be surpassed in sacredness even by performing a horse sacrifice accompanied by all sacrificial fees.

13. The merit one secures by guarding the Vedas and performing sacrifices accompanied by sacrificial gifts cannot equal the merit of protecting a weak brahmin.

14. The Vehicles and forces maintained with the wealth misappropriated from the brahmins break down at the time of battle like bunds made of sand.

15. If one seizes land gifted by another he is reborn as a worm in faeces where he remains for sixty thousand years.

16. The brahmanical asset enjoyed by the deception of affection burns the entire family till the seventh generation.

The same if enjoyed stealthily burns the race so long as the moon and the. stars shine in the sky.

1 7. Clever persons may be there who can digest powdered iron or stone or even poison. But is there a man in the world who can digest the property of a brahmin?

18. By destroying the wealth of gods (temples), by seizing a brahmin’s wealth or by dishonouring and slighting a brahmin a family falls in esteem.

19. There is no question of dishonouring a brahmin though devoid of learning. No one performs homa in ashes instead of in blazing fire.

20. Gifts made during the transit of the sun from one sign of Zodiac to the other, Havyas and Kavyas offered at that time enable one to be honoured in hea ven for seven Kalpas.

21. Out of the three — acceptance of monetary gifts, imparting knowledge to the seeker and presiding over another man’s sacrifice, acceptance of monetary gifts is the best. The sin, if any, in the acceptance of monetary gifts is removed by japas and homas but even the Vedas do not sanctify a person who presides over another man’s sacrifice but himself does not perform any sacrifice.

22. A person who performs japas and homas and abstains from accepting cooked food from others is not tarnished by any sin even if he accepts the gift of the whole earth, full of precious jewels.

CHAPTER FORTYTHREE.

On performing a Sraddha.

The lord said:

1. Those who violate rules for the observance of rites in water and fire, those who break vows of renunciation and fast should make gifts of cow or bull for the purity of sense-organs.

2. Either the mother or a kinsman can perform the expiatory rite on behalf of a boy less than twelve but above four.

3. Boys of less than four years in age can never be guilty or sinful. Even the king cannot punish them. There is no expiatory rite prescribed for such boys, in the sastras.

4. If a woman falls sick after the menstrual blood has come out let her discard her cloth on the fourth day and touch the havis. She becomes pure thereby.

5. Sometimes, a person is ill and the necessity arises for an ablution. In the circumstances, a healthy man should take ablution ten times. He should touch the sick man after every bath. Thereby, the sickman is purified even without ablution.

CHAPTER FORTYFOUR.

On accidental death.

Lord Visnu said:

1-3. O bird, now listen. Those who die of their will, or through horned animals, toothed animals, reptiles, low caste people (Candalas), suicide, poison, beating, water, fire, air, hunger are counted among great sinners. So also the women of bad character.

4. Such sinners do not deserve nava-sraddha or cremation or sapindana or sixteen sraddhas.

5. Just as money is thrown in water, or sacred fire on the cross-roads, similarly, rites performed for the sinner bear no fruit at all.

6-8. However, when the year is complete, the affectionate descendents should do the following: They should worship lord Visnu and Yama on the eleventh day of the bright half of the month with incense, flowers, uncooked rice and offer the rice-balls soaked in ghl and mixed with honey and gingelly seeds. This all the performer should do in silence, facing the south, putting the sacred thread on and meditating on lord Visnu and Yama.

9. Then taking the articles of worship together he should throw them into the water, muttering all the while the personal name and the surname of the dead.

10. Then again, he should worship lord Visnu and Yama with sandal paste, flowers, incense, lamp and eatables.

11. He should keep fast on that day and invite the brahmanas of noble families, of good character, learned and austere.

12. They may be nine or seven or five, according to his ability. Next day, at noon, Visnu and Yama should be worshipped.

13. The brahmins should be seated facing the north.

Lord Visnu and Yama should be invoked and worshipped.

14. The performer of the rite should keep wearing the sacred thread to the right. He should name the dead and think upon him, lord Visnu and Yama and complete the rite.

15. He should remember his other ancestors too and offer pinda to each separately or all together. Ten or five pindas, as prescribed, should be offered.

16. First, he should offer a pinda to Visnu, then to Brahma, Siva, his attendents and then the fifth to the dead.

17. While offering a pin da he should utter the name and surname of the dead and the name of lord Visnu. Bowing with head, he should give the fifth pinda to the departed soul.

18. Remembering the dead he should give, according to his ability, a cow, a plot of land, articles of food, gingelly seeds to the brahmanas with darbha grass in hand.

19. So also coins, betel and corn should be given to the brahmanas. The headman among the brahmanas should be honoured with gold.

20. Taking the personal name and the surname of the dead the performer should gift the articles with the formula:

May Visnu be pleased. While the brahmanas are leaving he should follow them with his face to the south and throw water over the earth.

21. While he throws water over the earth, he should mention the name and surname of the dead and pronounce:

‘May the departed soul be pleased’. Then he should eat together with his friends and relatives, in perfect silence. The procedure should be repeated every year on the anniversary of the dead.

22. When all this has been done, the sinners go to heaven. So also when sapindikarana has been performed.

23. If some one dies through water or by any other accident caused by inadvertence (and if he has no descendent to perform his obsequies) the king should perform the same as prescribed in the sastras.

24. A man should not approach a serpent, willingly or unwillingly. In each fortnight of the month he should worship a naga on the fifth day.

25. A replica of the naga should be made of clay and worshipped with white flowers and scented sandal.

26. One should offer incense and a lamp and throw white rice-grains. So also corn with mango-juice and milk.

27. Similarly, money and clothes should be given.

One should eat only sweets on that day and perform a deva-sraddha.

28. Then according to his ability he should offer an idol of snake made of gold to the best of brahmins. Then after giving a cow, he should say, ‘O king of serpents be pleased. ’

29. According to his means he should perform other rites too. All this should be done as prescribed in his own branch of the Vedas. Thus, he can effect the release of his ancestors from ghosthood and carry them forward on the path to heaven.

CHAPTER FORTYFIVE.

The mode of annual Sraddha.

1. O Foremost among birds, I shall now tell you the mode of annual sraddha. Either the ksetraja or the aurasa son should perform the annual sraddha in the manner as he performs the parvana sraddha.

2-3. The other sons should perform ekoddista and not parvana. If the father or the ksetraja and aurasa sons do not maintain fire, they should not perform ekoddista but should do parvana every year or they can perform ekoddista also.

4-7. If either or both, the son and the father, maintain sacrificial fire, the annual sraddha should be of parvana type and the ksetraja or aurasa son should perform it. But some say whether the dead man does or does not maintain the sacrificial fire, ekoddista should be performed on the ksaya day. If there is ksaya either at the time of amavasya or in the pretapaksa, the sraddha should be of parvana type and can be performed by any son, while ekoddista should be done for persons without sons or for women.

8. If at the time of parvana sraddha the performer is defiled by impurity he should perform it on the expiry of impurity.

9. If at the time of ekoddista there is any obstacle, the sraddha should be performed in the next month on the same day.

10. The sraddha of a sudra should be performed silently {i. e. without reciting mantras) by his wives or sons. The same holds good in the case of a sraddha of an unmarried girl in a brahmin family. So says Manu.

11. If two or more die at the same time, the bathing shall be done simultaneously with due mantras but sraddhas should be performed separately.

1 2. The Sraddha of the eldest should be performed first and thereafter according to the age. This is the procedure in simultaneous deaths.

13. He who does all this every year without fail will obtain the best of state having liberated all the manes.

14. If the day of death is not known nor the starting day, only the month is known then darsa should be the day for sraddha.

15. If the month is not known but the day is known then that day may be in Margaslrsa or in Magha.

16. If both the day and the month of death are not known then the day and the month when he sec out on journey should be taken into count for sraddha as stated by me before.

17. Even if the day and the month of starting are not known then those should be the same when the news of his death is received.

18. Even if the month and day are forgotten, when he is not on travel, these should be taken as before.

19-20. When the householder has gone out of his country and some one dies at home, the period of impdrity is over, the sraddha is on and the householder returns to learn about the sad news, in such a state the householder is not effected by impurity.

21. The sraddha that has been started by the sons should be finished by them, while the householder shall remain aloof.

22. If a donor or a receiver does not know of impurity due to birth or death of a relative then no fault accrues.

23. If either of these knows impurity accruing from death or birth of a relative, the fault is of the receiver only, not of the donor of the gift.

24. Whosoever performs the death anniversary of the dead in the above way, liberates him even if the day of death remains unknown to him.

The lord said:

25. In the daily sraddha the brahmins shall be worshipped, according to one’s capacity, with scents and other things and the manes should be invoked and worshipped.

26-27. Avahana, Svadhakara, Pinda, Agnikarana need not be performed. The performer shall observe celibacy during the period. He should worship the Visvedevas, offer the cooked food to the brahmins along with the fee. He should pay homage to them as they take leave of him.

28. With the Visvedevas in view, the brahmins are fed sumptuously. This rite of feeding the brahmins is called Nitya sraddha or Deva sraddha.

29. The Sraddha for the mother is performed first. That for the father on the anniversary day. That for the grandfather on the father’s and mother’s side on the next day.

30. If he is unable to perform the same on separate days he should perform all the sraddhas on the same day. The rite of Vaisvadeva should also be performed similarly.

31. In that case, the offering is made first to the father, then to the mother and then to the maternal grandfather.

32. In the sraddha to the mother, if brahmins are not available, eight noble and chaste ladies whose husbands and sons are alive should be fed.

33. When performing iffapurta, the procedure is the same.

When calamities set in, to ward them off, he should perform a sraddha in the manner of daily sraddha.

34. The person performing nitya, daiva and vrddha sraddhas as well as the kamya and naimittika rites in the manner as mentioned before achieves the desired result.

Thus, I have told you all, O Garuqja. What else do you want to know?

CHAPTER FORTYSIX.

Results of activity.

Garuda said:

1. The different kinds of heavenly enjoyments, worldly pleasures, strength, nourishment and valour men acquire by the power of merit.

2. All these happen to meritorious persons here or there, it is true, definitely true. The lord’s statement cannot be otherwise.

3. Virtue triumphs, not evil. Truth triumphs not falsehood. Forgiveness wins, not anger. Visnu conquers not the asuras.

4. I have understood this truth that everything auspicious results from merit. When our merit is at the peak we are devoted to lord Krsna.

5-6. There is still a query. What is that action by which one takes sinful births? How does one become a victim of hell?

O lord of deities, please tell me briefly what I desire to know; how and what are the forms taken by him?

Lord Krfna said:

7. O Tarkhya, men indulge in activities which result in meritorious or inauspicious fruits. O Kasyapa, now listen how men derive traits from their particular activities.

8. The preceptor guides the seeker, the king chastens the wicked, Yama regulates and rectifies the person of secret sins.

9-10. When the expiatory and deterrent tortures in hell cease, the living beings are born again in human form with the characteristic traits of their sins. O foremost among birds, I shall tell you what these signs are.

1 1. Having suffered and crossed tortures in hell they return to the world of mortals marked with the characteristic signs.

12. If a person has been guilty of falsehood in speech, he becomes a stammerer, a teller of lies or dumb. The brahmin slayer is born consumptive or leprous; the wine-addict becomes black-toothed.

13. The thief of gold becomes bad-nailed; the defiler of the preceptor’s bed becomes ugly-skinned; he who associates with sinners is born in a low family.

14. He who takes meals at another’s house without prior invitation is born a crow. A brahmin who performs a sacrifice for low castes is born a village-pig. He who performs many such sacrifices is born an ass.

15. He who eats unscrupulously becomes a tiger in wilderness. He who scolds others without a cause becomes a cat; he who burns dry wood is born a glow-worm.

16. He who imparts knowledge to the undeserving 1 becomes a bull. He who offers stale food to a brahmin becomes a hunch-back. He who is malicious to others is born blind. He who steals a book is born similarly.

1 7. He who habitually steals fruits is born a monkey or alternatively suffers from goitre.

18-19. He who takes food offered unwillingly becomes impotent. He who is averse to thinking on self is born a stupid trader. He who is ignorant of the truth of virtue falls in a deep ocean. He who steals gold is born an alligator. He who poisons others becomes a snake.

20-21. O bird, he who has sexual intercourse with an ascetic lady assumes a ghostly form. He who steals water becomes a Cataka. 2 He who steals grams becomes a mouse. He who rapes an immature girl becomes a serpent. He who covets his preceptor’s wife becomes a chameleon. He who interferes with the flow of water becomes a fish.

22. He who sells the forbidden articles becomes deformed in the eye. He who censures others is born of defiled womb.

He who deceives a woman becomes an owl.

1. Imparts knowledge to the unworthy —

Compare a sruti text quoted by Yaska in his Niruktam — a treatise on etymology:

Vidya ha vai brahmanam ajagama Gopaya mam sevadhis te’ham asmi /

Asuyakayanrjave’ yataya Na ma bruya viryavati yatha syam //

2. Cataka — a bird which is supposed to live only on rain drops.

23-24. He who takes food on the fast day after a relative’s death becomes a dog. He who does not pay the promised sum to a brahmin becomes a jackal. He who kills a serpent becomes a boar. He who slanders brahmins becomes a tortoise.

He who subsists on the worship of idols becomes a Candala. 1

25. The seller of forbidden fruits becomes indigent. He who keeps a Sudra woman as concubine becomes a bull. He who kicks the sacred fire becomes a cat. He who eats another’s meat becomes a patient.

26. He who indulges in sex at the prohibited time becomes a eunuch. A stealer of scents becomes a foul-smeller.

A stealer of other goods becomes a swallow.

27. O lord of birds, these and other signs brought about by their actions are seen in men and others.

28. Persons who commit such sins fall into hell and are re-born in different species of animals.

29. After passing through these births men and women are re-born in human form when their merit and demerit are equalized.

30. When men and women unite in sexual act and both the semen and the blood are mixed, the child born will be nourished with all the elements in proper proportion.

31-32. The receptivity, the inducement, misery, desire, death, effort, feature, complexion, love, hatred, birth, death

—

these are attributed to the beginningless soul that seeks for its beginning (by entering the womb).

33-34. Bound by its own action the soul takes up body after body and undergoes series of births. This is what I have told you already. This is how the circle whirls in the four species of being. Thus, O Garuda, do the birth and death of living beings rotate. The rise in the course is due to virtue and the fall is due to evil.

1. The statement would seem absurd but priesthood and idol-worship have often been the target of criticism from very early time. They have become the object of derison even in modern age, at the hands of social reformists among the Arya-samaja — a sect which is very popular in northern India now-a-days.

Compare an oft-quoted verse from the Pailcatanlra:

Narakaya matis to cet paurohityam samacara /

Varsam yavat kimanyena mathacinta-dina-trayam //

35. O bird, all these take place in all castes according to their previous actions. In deityhood or manhood the acts of benevolence and indulgence recur due to their previous karman.

36-37. O son of Vinata, whatever is observed is the fruit of action. If a person indulges habitually in evil actions due to passion, it is certain that he will fall into a terrible hell from which there is no escape.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN.

On Sins and Vaitarani.

Garuda said:

1. O lord of gods, please tell me the mode of gifts, their glory and greatness and the magnitude of Vaitarani. 1

The lord said:

2. Listen to the magnitude of the dreadful Vaitarani, the mighty river at the threshold of Yama’s city.

3. That river is hundred yojanas wide. It is impassable and foul-smelling. To the sinner it is terrifying even at the very first sight.

4. It is full of putrid blood with sediments and marshy deposits of flesh. On seeing a sinner it assumes the form of melted ghi in a vessel. It abounds in worms and flesh brought by vultures.

1. Vaitarani — a river in the way to hell, full of pus, blood, flesh and abounding in worms, etc. which the dead have to cross before they reach the city of Yama. If a person has donated the Vaitarani cow at the time of his death, the river assumes a pleasant sight for him to cross over but if he has not, it flows with pus, etc. making it very unpleasant for him to wade through.

5. It is full of crocodiles, fishes with adamantine bladelike tails. It abounds in aquatic creatures capable of piercing through the flesh.

6. There blaze as many as twelve suns as it were the time of Deluge. The sinful people groan aloud and fall into it.

7. “Alas brother, alas son, alas mother”, they shout frequently. They try to swim about but sink in it.

8. It is incumbent on all mortals to witness the mighty river. Persons who had made gifts in their life-time can cross it easily, otherwise they sink into it.

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