Garuda-purana – An introduction

The word ‘Purāṇa’, as is popularly known, means ‘ancient’. The Bhāratīya tradition holds that the Purāṇas are a corpus of sacred literature that explicated the esoteric teachings of the Vedas1. What has been alluded to or presented in an abstract form in the Vedas unfolds in the Purāṇas in the form of lived practices that are embedded in allegorical narratives. The great aesthetician Mammaṭa calls the style of the Itihāsas and the Purāṇas ‘suhṛt-saṃhitā’, the affectionate advice of a dear friend. In contrast, he terms the style of the teachings of the Vedas ‘prabhu-saṃhitā’, the exhortations of a master. This highlights that the teachings presented in the Purāṇas are essentially non-different from those presented in the Vedas, but vary largely in the tone of instruction adopted. 1The term ‘Vedas’ refers to the entire Vedic corpus including the Upaniṣads. Yet another point of divergence is the mode of instruction. Vedas often deal with abstract and esoteric terms, which make the comprehension of the literature a virtual impossibility without the help of commentaries learnt at the feet of an enlightened master. Purāṇas, on the other hand, although learnt through the tradition of the guru-śiṣya-paramparā (line of preceptors and disciples), are far less involved. The explanation offered in the tradition is that the Vedas are concretised and made explicit in the Purāṇas. The didactic teachings and philosophical flight of thoughts of the Vedic corpus are re-presented as lived practices in the Purāṇas. Essentially, Purāṇas synchronise and locate the theological and philosophical tenets of the Vedas in societal life. Through narratives, they present the lived models of practices that can potentially be emulated in human society. Purāṇas also explicate amply, the nature of dharma and adharma, the yield of adherence to dharma, the result of indulgence in adharma, and the process of expiation that can absolve sin accrued through indulgence in adharma. Amongst the different ways in which the Purāṇas are categorised, they are classified as ‘Mahāpurāṇas’ or major Purāṇas that are eighteen in number, and ‘Upapurāṇas’ or minor Purāṇas that are also enlisted to be eighteen in number. This categorisation is by no means a judgment on its value. Scholars often explain that the Mahāpurāṇas are the texts that were more popularly known than the Upapurāṇas. As a testimony of the significance of the Upapurāṇas, it may be pointed out that theological schools often depend on the Upapurāṇas to inform their lived practices and tenets; for instance, the Gāṇapatya and Śākta schools of theology. Among the several explanations that were put forward, an explanation states that some of these Upapurāṇas could be called so because they are sections of Mahāpurāṇas that were significant enough to be presented as a treatise on their own. The Gaṇeśa-purāṇa, for instance, is a section of the Garuḍa-purāṇa. This is by no means a comprehensive explanation, nor it is meant to be one. The Garuḍa-purāṇa is a significant and rather unique Purāṇa. The Purāṇa is called so because the treatise unfolds as a dialogue shared between lord Viṣṇu and his avian chariot, Garuḍa. Composed of eighteen-thousand eight-hundred verses, predominantly in the Anuṣṭup meter, the Purāṇa elaborates on the five topics that determine a Purāṇa, namely creation, dissolution, genealogy (of great kings and sages), (transpiration in) Manvantaras, and the Solar and Lunar dynasties. However, the uniqueness of a Purāṇa rests in the unorthodox way in which it deals with these primary topics and the way it sheds lights on the wide variety of topics other than these. The Garuḍa Purāṇa can be divided into two sections, the Pūrva-Kāṇḍa and the Uttara-Kāṇḍa, which are also referred to as Ācāra-Kāṇḍa and Dharma or Preta-Kāṇḍa. The Ācāra-Kāṇḍa derives its name from the centrality of the description on the mode of worship of various deities, which is found elaborately in the section. The Uttara-Kāṇḍa or the Preta-Kāṇḍa, as the name suggests, deals largely with obsequies, the journey of a soul after death; especially the one that must be cleansed in the netherworlds. This section of the Purāṇa is thus a mine of information on the Sanātana-dharma’s conception of sin, rites of absolution, and the netherworlds that are earned in the absence of atonement. Here is an introduction to the Purāṇa – The Pūrva-Kāṇḍa begins with an explanation on the history of the guru-śiṣya-paramparā through which the Purāṇa was handed down. The Purāṇa was originally narrated by lord Viṣṇu to lord Brahmā and lord Śiva. Lord Brahmā initiated Sage Vyāsa into the Purāṇa, and sage Vyāsa, in turn, recited the Purāṇa to Sūta. Sūta, as is famously known, is the Purāṇic character who narrates nearly all the Purāṇas to a gathering of sages in the forest of Naimiṣa. Yet another interesting dialogue embedded in the history of this Purāṇa is the one shared by Garuḍa with lord Viṣṇu, and that of sage Kaśyapa. Garuḍa was once distressed by his mother Vinatā’s bond of slavery to her co-wife, Kadrū2. Required to secure a pot of amṛta (nectar) from the Gods to release his mother from the bondage, Garuḍa undertook penance to win the grace of lord Viṣṇu. Pleased with the stupendous penance, lord Viṣṇu appeared before Garuḍa and urged him to seek a boon. Delighted with the words of encouragement extended by lord Viṣṇu, Garuḍa explained the predicament of his mother and pleaded with the lord, 2 Kadrū and Vinatā were both wives of sage Kaśyapa. To Kadrū were born the nāgas or celestial serpents and to Vinatā the pakṣīs or celestial birds. The rivalry between Kadrū and Vinatā led to Vinatā being enslaved by her co-wife, Kadrū, which in turn led to the eternal animosity between the nāgas and the pakṣīs. मम माता च विनता नागैर्दासीकृता हरे। यथाहं देव ताञ्जित्वा चामृतं ह्यानयामि तत्॥ दास्याक्षिमोक्षयिष्यामि यथाहं वाहनस्तव॥ महाबलो महावीर्यः सर्वज्ञो नागदारणः। पुराणसंहिताकर्ता यथाहं स्यां तथा कुरु॥ mama mātā ca vinatā nāgairdāsīkṛtā hare | yathāhaṁ deva tāñjitvā cāmṛtaṁ hyānayāmi tat || dāsyākṣimokṣayiṣyāmi yathāhaṁ vāhanastava || mahābalo mahāvīryaḥ sarvajño nāgadāraṇaḥ | purāṇasaṃhitākartā yathāhaṁ syāṁ tathā kuru || O’ Hari! The nāgas have enslaved my mother, Vinatā. Lord, act in such a manner that I may procure amṛta, defeat them (nāgas), and rescue her from bondage; that I would become your vehicle, be supremely strong, supremely valiant, all-knowing, a destroyer of nāgas, and a creator of a Purāṇa. - Garuḍa-purāṇa, 1.2.50, 51 Pleaded with thus in earnest by Garuḍa, lord Viṣṇu blessed him to accomplish all that he sought. He added further, “This Purāṇa that shall be my very embodiment shall emerge forth through your lips and will be renowned in the world by your name.” यथाहं देवदेवानां श्रीः ख्यातो विनतासुत। तथा ख्यातिं पुराणेषु गारुडं गरुडैष्यति॥ yathāhaṁ devadevānāṁ śrīḥ khyāto vinatāsuta | tathā khyātiṁ purāṇeṣu gāruḍaṁ garuḍaiṣyati || Just as I am the glorious wealth of the gods of gods, O’ Garuḍa, son of Vinatā, this Garuḍa-purāṇa will attain to glory (rivalling my own). - Garuḍa-purāṇa, 1. 2. 56 Imbued with these blessings of the lord, Garuḍa formulated the Purāṇa and vocalised it to sage Kaśyapa who sought the wisdom from him. The sage, in turn, internalised the essence of the Purāṇa that he heard from the lips of Garuḍa. He was able to revive a dead tree as a testimony to the potency of the treatise. Having described the history of the emergence of the treatise, the Purāṇa then describes its scope. In describing its scope, though the work draws an elaborate list in the third chapter of the Pūrva-Kāṇḍa, it falls short of doing justice to the vast number of topics discussed in the treatise. The Pūrva-Kāṇḍa describes the rituals and rites of worship elaborately, and in extension, describes the various holy shrines and sacred water bodies. The famous Gayā-māhātmya or the greatness of the sacred city of Gayā finds mention in this Kāṇḍa. Interestingly, the science of Gemmology, which the Garuḍa-purāṇa links to sage Agastya, is also elaborately mentioned in this Kāṇḍa. The origin of gems, testing of gems, the various blemishes that may be found in gems, and even the pricing of gems has been dealt with in elaborate. Twelve gems are dealt with, in detail; and each gem elicits a chapter of its own. Yet another curious feature in the Purāṇa is the elaboration of sāmudrikā-lakṣaṇa in two separate chapters; one concentrating on that of men and the other on women. Sāmudrikā-lakṣaṇa may be described as the ideal (bodily) features of a man and woman and informs many classical Sanskrit texts. This feature of the Purāṇa is unique to the Garuḍa-purāṇa and does not find mention in other Purāṇas. Dharmaśāstra forms the basis of several chapters in the Pūrva-Kāṇḍa with the duties of the various classes and orders of men, those of kings, and those of servants elaborated. The methodology of raising sacrificial altars (Vāstuśāstra) is explained in specific chapters of the treatise. Astronomy and astrology find mention in other chapters, in which the movements of the celestial bodies and their effects on society are elaborated. An entire section of the Pūrva-Kāṇḍa, called ‘Dhanvantari-saṃhitā’, is dedicated to diagnostics and the description of diseases and their cures. About fifty medical conditions are dealt with in detail, including what may popularly have been thought to be modern conditions; for instance, syphilis3. In addition, the Garuḍa-purāṇa has a chapter that is dedicated to the treatment of illnesses in quadrupeds. 3 The first modern case of the disease is said to have been recorded in the fourteenth century. The case was recorded in France and is believed to have migrated from Spain. The Uttara-Kāṇḍa or the Preta-Kāṇḍa begins with the description of the rites of cremation and the journey of a soul after death. The entire Kāṇḍa elaborates on the various rituals connected with obsequies, the nature of sin, the nature of religious merit that accompanies a soul on its journey afterlife, the harrowing scenes of the various netherworlds, affairs in the case of the various kinds of death (natural and unnatural), affairs in the case of various times of death (at birth, during childhood, and so on), the suffering of a soul after death, and rebirth. The Purāṇa draws to a close with the mokṣa-Kāṇḍa that surprisingly discusses the nature of the various embodiments of the Supreme as the various Gods and not the nature of salvation. In a nutshell, the Garuḍa-purāṇa is one of the most interesting Purāṇas for the sheer variety of topics it sheds lights on.

Garuda-purana – An introduction

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