: गरुड़ पुराण) is one of the Puranas

Puranas

The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...

 which are part of the Hindu

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 body of texts known as smriti

Smriti

Smriti literally "that which is remembered," refers to a specific body of Hindu religious scripture, and is a codified component of Hindu customary law. Smṛti also denotes non-Śruti texts and is generally seen as secondary in authority to Śruti. The literature which comprises the Smrti was...

. It is a Vaishnava Purana and its first part contains a dialog between Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

 and Garuda

Garuda

The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...

, the King of Birds. The second half contains details of life after death, funeral rites and the metaphysics of reincarnation, thus it is recited as a part Antyesti

Antyesti

Antyesti or Hindu funeral rites, also referred to as Antim Sanskar, is an important Sanskara, sacrament of Hindu society. Extensive texts of such rites are available, particularly in the Garuda Purana. There is wide inconsistency in theory and practice, and the procedures differ from place to place...

 (Antim Sanskar) or funeral

Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...

 rites (funeral liturgy

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

) in Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

.

Overview

Bhagawaan* = from the Sanskrit language: The Supreme, possessed of all material and spiritual opulences, in a proportion beyond limited human imagination or infinite as in the Sanskrit word, Ananta.

Garuda Purana is in the form of instructions by Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

 to his carrier, Garuda

Garuda

The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...

 (The King of Birds – a vahana

Vahana

Vāhana denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical entity, a particular deva is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vāhana is often called the deity's mount. Upon the partnership between the deva and his vāhana is woven much iconography and mythology...

 of Bhagawaan* Vishnu). This Purana deals with astronomy, medicine, grammar, and gemstone

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

 structure and qualities. In addition, the Garuda Purana is considered the authoritative Vedic

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

 reference volume describing the Nine Pearls

Nine Pearls

The Nine Pearls, sometimes known as the Nava Moti, are a group of sacred gemstones described in the Vedic text known as the Garuda Purana.The nine are enumerated as the Oyster Pearl, Conch Pearl, Cobra Pearl, Boar Pearl, Elephant Pearl, Bamboo Pearl, Whale Pearl, Fish Pearl, and Cloud Pearl...

, which includes not only the well known Oyster Pearl

Pearl

A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...

, but also the Conch Pearl, Cobra Pearl, Boar Pearl, Elephant Pearl, Bamboo Pearl, Whale Pearl, Fish Pearl, and Cloud Pearl.

The Garuda Purana is a Vaishnava Purana. The others in this group are Vishnu Purana

Vishnu Purana

The Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...

, Narada Purana, Bhagavata Purana

Bhagavata purana

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...

, Padma Purana

Padma Purana

Padma Purana , one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts.In the first part of the text, sage Pulastya explains to Bhishma about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail Prithvi...

 and Varaha Purana

Varaha Purana

The Varaha Purana is one of the major eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts. It describes in detail about the Varaha incarnation of Vishnu, and narrates about the rescue of the Prithvi.-Contents:...

.

The Garuda Purana has nineteen thousand shloka

Shloka

A ' is a category of verse line developed from the Vedic Anuṣṭubh. It is the basis for Indian Epic verse, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other meter in classical Sanskrit poetry. The Mahabharata and Ramayana, for...

s (lines). It is a medium-sized Purana. The Skanda Purana

Skanda Purana

The Skanda Purana is the largest Mahapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text is devoted mainly to the lilas of Kartikeya , a son of Shiva and Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him...

, for example, has eighty-one thousand shlokas. And the Markandeya Purana only nine thousand. The thousand shlokas of the Garuda Purana are divided into two parts, a purva khanda (first part) and an uttara khanda (subsequent part). Each khanda has several chapters (adhyaya). The purva khanda is much longer, it has two hundred and thirty-four chapters. The Uttara khanda has only forty-five.

The latter half of this Purana deals with life after death. The followers of the eternal Vedas, addressed as "Hindus" of India generally read this Purana while cremating the physically dead bodies of departed atmaas/souls. This has given great importance to the origin of Garuda. There are nineteen thousand verses describing the ways to the Lord.

Suta and the other sages

Suta

Suta

Sūta refers both to the bards of Puranic stories and to a mixed caste. According to Manu Smriti the sūta caste are children of a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother. The narrator of the several of the Puranas, Ugrasrava Sauti, son of Lomaharshana, was also called Sūta. Authorities are divided on...

 was a very learned sage. He was very well-versed in the Puranas and in the shastras (sacred texts). He was also devoted to Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

.

Vedavyasa taught the Puranas to one of his disciples named Romaharshana or Lomaharshana. He was thus named because the hair (roma) on his body was thrilled (harshana) when he heard the Puranas from his teacher. It was Romaharshana who related the stories of the Puranas to everyone else. The Bhagavata Purana says the Romaharshana had a son named Suta and it was this son who related the story of that particular Purana to the other sages . On the other hand, Romaharshana himself belonged to the suta class, so that he too could be addressed as Suta. From reading the Garuda Purana, one does get the impression that it is Romaharshana himself who is relating the story, and not his son.

To come back to the point, Romaharshana came to a forest known as Naimisharanya. He sat there and contemplated the mysteries of the Lord Vishnu.

Several other rishis (sages) led by Shounaka

Shaunaka

Shaunaka is the name applied to teachers, and to a Shakha of the Atharvaveda. It is especially the name of a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian, author of the , the , the and five Anukramaṇīs to the Rigveda. He is claimed as the teacher of Katyayana and especially of Ashvalayana, and is said to have...

 also came to the forest. They told Romaharshana, "Sage, you know everything. Who is the god of all gods? Who is to be worshipped? What does one meditate on? Who destroys evil? How did the world come to be created? What is dharma (righteousness)? Tell us all these things and more".

"I will", replied Romaharshana. "I will recite to you the Garuda Purana. Many years ago, this Purana was told to the sage Kashyapa by the great bird Garuda

Garuda

The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...

 himself. I learnt it from my teacher Vyasadeva. But first let me list for you the twenty-two avataras of Vishnu.

The first incarnation

Incarnation

Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....

 was a young boy. In this form, Vishnu adopted celibacy (brahmacharya

Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya is one of the four stages of life in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts in Hinduism. It refers to an educational period of 14–20 years which starts before the age of puberty. During this time the traditional vedic sciences are...

) and performed difficult tapasya (meditation).

The second incarnation was as a boar (varaha

Varaha

Varaha is the third Avatar of the Hindu Godhead Vishnu, in the form of a Boar. He appeared in order to defeat Hiranyaksha, a demon who had taken the Earth and carried it to the bottom of what is described as the cosmic ocean in the story. The battle between Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to...

). In this form, Vishnu rescued the earth from the underworld.

The third incarnation was as a great sage (devarishi). In this form, Vishnu spread the knowledge of several texts (tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

s).

The fourth incarnation was as two sages named Nara-Narayana

Nara-Narayana

Nara-Narayana is a Hindu deity pair. Nara-Narayana is the twin-brother incarnation of the preserver-god Vishnu on earth, working for the preservation of dharma or righteousness...

.

The fifth incarnation was as the great sage Kapila. Kapila taught his disciple Asuri the wonderful philosophy known as Samkhya yoga.

The sixth incarnation was as the sage Dattatreya

Dattatreya

Dattatreya or Datta is a Hindu deity encompassing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. The name Dattatreya can be divided into two words - "Datta" and "Atreya" referring to the sage Atri, his physical father.Various Hindu sects worship him differently...

, the son of Atri

Atri

This article is about the sage named Attri. See also the gotra named Atri. For the Italian city, see Atri, AbruzzoIn Hinduism, Attri or Atri is a legendary bard and scholar and was one of 9 Prajapatis, and a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmin, Prajapatis, kshatriya and Vaishya...

 and Anasuya

Anasuya

Anusuya Anusuya Anusuya (IAST: Anasūyā, sanskrit:अनसूया Sati Anasuya, also referred as अनुसूया or Sati Anusuya, in Hindu mythology, was wife of the sage Atri and mother of Dattatreya who is considered by some Hindus (in western India) to be an incarnation of the Divine Trinity Brahma, Vishnu and...

.

The seventh incarnation took place in the manvantra known as svayambhuva. Vishnu was born as the son of Ruchi and Akuti and performed many yajnas (sacrifices).

In the eighth incarnation, Vishnu was born as Urukrama, the son of Nabhi and Meru. He taught everyone the righteous way of life.

In the ninth incarnation, Vishnu became the king Prithu

Prithu

According to Hindu mythology, Prithu is a sovereign , named in the Vedic scriptures and considered an Avatar of the preserver god—Vishnu. He is also called Pruthu, Prithi and Prithu Vainya, literally, Prithu — the son of Vena...

 and restored foodgrains and herbs to the earth.

The tenth of Vishnu’s incarnations was as a fish (matsya

Matsya

Matsya was the first Avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism. The great flood finds mention in Hindu mythology texts like the Satapatha Brahmana, where in the Matsya Avatar takes place to save the pious and the first man, Manu and advices him to build a giant boat.-The Legend:According to the Matsya...

). He saved Vaivasvata Manu from the flood that enveloped the world.

In the eleventh incarnation, Vishnu adopted the form of a turtle (kurma

Kurma

In Hinduism, Kurma was the second Avatar of Vishnu. Like the Matsya Avatar also belongs to the Satya yuga.-Samudra manthan :...

). This was to help out the gods (devas

Deva (Hinduism)

' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...

) and demons (asuras) in the churning of the ocean (samudra manthana

Samudra manthan

In Hinduism, Samudra manthan or Ksheera Sagara Mathanam, Churning of the Ocean of Milk is one of the most famous episodes in the Puranas...

).

The twelfth incarnation was as Dhanvantari

Dhanvantari

Dhanvantari is an Avatar of Vishnu from the Hindu tradition. He appears in the Vedas and Puranas as the physician of the gods , and the god of Ayurvedic medicine...

, physician of the gods and the originator of medicine.

The thirteenth was Mohini

Mohini

Mohini , in Hindu mythology, is the name of the only female Avatar of the god Vishnu. She is portrayed as a femme fatale, an enchantress, who maddens lovers, sometimes leading them to their doom. Mohini is introduced into the Hindu mythos in the narrative epic of the Mahabharata...

 avatara. In this form, Vishnu adopted the body of a beautiful woman to charm and rob the asuras of the amrita

Amrita

Amrit is a Sanskrit word that literally means "immortality", and is often referred to in texts as nectar. The word's earliest occurrence is in the Rigveda where it is one of several synonyms of soma, the drink which confers immortality upon the gods. It is related etymologically to the Greek...

 (a life-giving drink).

In the fourteenth incarnation, Vishnu became Narasimha

Narasimha

Narasimha or Nrusimha , also spelt as Narasingh and Narasingha, whose name literally translates from Sanskrit as "Man-lion", is an avatar of Vishnu described in the Puranas, Upanishads and other ancient religious texts of Hinduism...

, a being who was half-man and half-lion, to kil the evil asura Hiranyakashipu

Hiranyakashipu

Hiranyakashipu [golden-haired] is an Asura from the Puranic scriptures of Hinduism. The Puranas describe Hiranyakashipu as an Asura. His younger brother, Hiranyaksha was slain by Varaha, one of the Avatars of Vishnu and angered by this, Hiranyakashipu decided to gain magical powers by performing...

.

The fifteenth incarnation witnessed Vishnu’s adoption of the form of dwarf (Vamana

Vamana

Vamana is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the Fifth Avatar of Vishnu, and the first incarnation of the Second Age, or the Treta yuga. Also he is the first Avatar of Vishnu which appears with a completely human form, though it was that of a dwarf brahmin. He is also sometimes known as...

). This was to hoodwink the asura King Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

 and restore the heaven to gods.

In the sixteenth incarnation, Vishnu became Parashurama

Parashurama

Parashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the treta yuga, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka. He is considered one of the seven immortal human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of...

, killed all the wicked Kshatriyas in the world twenty-one times.

The seventeenth incarnation was as Vedavyasa, the son of Parashara

Parashara

' is a Rigvedic Maharishi and author of many ancient Indian texts. Parāśara was the grandson of Vashista, the son of Śakti Maharṣi, and the father of Vyasa. There are several texts which give reference to Parāśara as an author/speaker...

 and Satyavati

Satyavati

Satyavati was the queen of the Kuru king Shantanu of Hastinapur and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes . She is also the mother of the seer Vyasa, author of the epic...

. Vedavyasa divided and classified the Vedas

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

.

Vishnu’s eighteen incarnation was as the sage Narada

Narada

Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...

.

The nineteenth incarnation was Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

. This incarnation is thought to be a bit contradictory, (Parshuram was present in the swayamvar of Sita

SITA

SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...

) but it is not. Parshuram was ardh-avatara(Half incarnation) & Rama was poorna manav Avatara (Full Incarnation as a Human Soul).

The twentieth incarnation was Balarama

Balarama

Balarama , also known as Baladeva, Balabhadra and Halayudha, is the elder brother of the divine being, Krishna in Hinduism. Within Vaishnavism Hindu traditions Balarama is worshipped as an Avatar of Vishnu, and he is also listed as such in the Bhagavata Purana...

.

In the twenty-first incarnation, Vishnu was Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

 .

The twenty-second incarnation is yet to come. And Vishnu will come to destroy evil in the world and restore righteousness".

There have been several other incarnations of Vishnu. But the ones mentioned above are the major ones.

List of Punishments

Garuda Purana	Wrong doings	Punishment given in Naraka Naraka Naraka is the Sanskrit word for the underworld; literally, of man. According to Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism, Naraka is a place of torment, or Hell...	Schema
Thamisra	Stealing other's property including wife, children and belongings	Thrashing with the weapon, gada
Andhathamisra	Post marital cheating between husband and wife	Unconscious circulation in abyss
Rourava	Destroying, spiliting other's family and their belongings	Spanking the Life organs with trident by Yama kinkaras
Maharourava	Brutally destroying other's property and family for the sake of acquisition	A wild animal, Guru, tortures them in various forms
Kumbipaka	Destroying innocent lives for food	Roasting in hot oil tank by yama kinkaras
Kalasuthira	Torturing and putting elders & parents in starvation	Same set of treatment in hell
Asipathira	Abetting God and devolve from Dharma practises	Torture by evil spirits; results in fear
Panrimukha	Punishing innocent people and accomplice unlawful activiites	Grinding under the sharp teeth of an animal resembling pig
Anthakoopa	Torturing lives and inhumane activities	Biting by wild animals; wild run over by animals
Agnikunda	Snatching other's property by force, gaining undue advantage and unlawfully making best out of everything in the world	Roasting in agni kunda in inverted position with hands and legs ties under a stick
Vajrakandaka	Unchaste people in physical contact with unmatching people	Physical hugging with fire spitting idols
Krimibhojana	Selfish survival; eating other's work	Insects are left intruding the body
Sanmali	Unchaste relationships by kamukas	Thrashing with gada
Vaitharani	Using official stature to attain undue advantge, acting against dharma	Submerging in Vaitarna river Vaitarna river Vaitarna or Vaitarani river, as mentioned in the Garuda Purana and various other Hindu religious texts, lies between the earth and the infernal world, the realm of Yama, Hindu god of death, or the Yamaloka and is believed to purify ones sins. Further while the righteous see it filled with nectar... where water is mixed with blood, urine and feces
Booyoga	Shameless behaviour, mixing with unchaste women & leading the life without any motive	Biting by poisonous insects and animals
Prayanyoga	Torturing lives and killing them	Spanking the Life organs with arrows by Yama kinkaras
Pasusava	All devatas are in cows; torturing those cows	Slashing by canes
Sarameyathana	Gutting houses, torturing lives, poisoning lives, involving in massacre	Torture by unknown wild animals
Aveesi	Giving false evidence	Submerging and torturing in livebodies
Paribathana	Drinking and making others drink alcohol	Drinking lava
Sharakarthama	Involving in bad activities and defaming elders and living with selfish motives	Torture the Life organs by unknown spirits
Rakshogana	Performing narametha yaga, eating non vegetarian dishes and torturing soft animals	The same victims torture the hecklers
Soolaproga	Killing innocent people, masterminding people, committing suicide and doing nambike droha [i.e., betraying(droha) a person's trust(nambike).]	Unknown birds peck and torture with shoola
Susimuga	Not doing any good, amassing wealth by wrong doings and stealing wealth	Stinging with nails and torturing with hunger and thirst
Kunthasootha	Not doing any good and always doing bad to others	Stinging by insects like scorpio
Vadaroga	Severrly torturing living beings	Handcuffed and burnt in fire
Piravarthana	Defaming guests and not treating them	Torturing with hunger and thirst
Lalapakshuga	Torturing wife and involving her in unchaste relationships	Same set of treatment in hell

Further reading

• Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopedia. 1st English ed. Manipal: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.
• Govindarajan "Garuda Puranam", 1st edition. New Horizon,2007

External links

• The Garuda Purana at sacred-texts.com (Wood and Subrahmanyam translation, 1911)
• Roman diacritic transliteration, Bombay: Venkatesvara Steam Press, part 1
• Roman diacritic transliteration, Bombay: Venkatesvara Steam Press, part 2
• Roman diacritic transliteration, Bombay: Venkatesvara Steam Press, part 3
• The Garuda Purana summary
• The Garuda Purana excerpts English translation of important verses