Saṃtaptaka and the Five Pretas

The Dharma Khaṇḍa of the Garuḍa Purāṇa tells how a brāhmaṇa named Saṃtaptaka met five pretas near a cremation ground. A preta is a being who suffers between worlds after death because of its pāpa (sin). The five pretas told him who they were and what pāpa had made them pretas. Saṃtaptaka felt only compassion. He did śrāddha (offerings for the departed) and called on the name of Bhagavān Vishṇu, and all five were freed.

The setting

Saṃtaptaka was a learned brāhmaṇa of spotless conduct. He was devoted to Bhagavān Vishṇu, kept his sandhyā-vandana (prayers at dawn and dusk) and his śrāddha faithfully, and was known for kindness to all beings.

One evening, after bathing at a tīrtha (holy place) on a river, he passed near a great śmaśāna (cremation ground) on his way home. The sun had set. The cremation ground was lit only by the glowing ash of burnt-out pyres.

At the edge of the śmaśāna he heard a terrible sound. Five voices were crying out in pain. It was not like the weeping of the living. It was hollow and desperate, the cry of beings caught between worlds. Saṃtaptaka was not afraid of the frightening place. He went toward the sound.

The five pretas

He found five beings of hideous look. They were so thin that they seemed like skeletons. They had matted hair, sunken eyes burning with hunger, and swollen yet empty bellies. Each one had features that showed, in a harsh way, the pāpa that had made its preta form.

Paryushita, the Stale One

The first preta had a body like rotting, stale food. It was slimy and decaying, and it smelled of rot. Saṃtaptaka asked who it was. It answered: “In my earlier life I was a householder. I ate food that was old and unfit, food that had gone stale and had been kept too long. I never offered anything to the fire, to the brāhmaṇas, to the ancestors or to guests. I ate unclean things without care, and this is the form that such a life has given me.” The stale and rotting body of the preta matched the stale and unclean food it had eaten and offered.

Sūcīmukha, the Needle-Mouthed

The second preta had a mouth as thin as a needle. The opening for food was so narrow that nothing could enter. This preta explained: “In life I was a rich man. I ate rich food alone and in secret. I never invited a guest and never put a morsel before a stranger who came hungry to my door. The atithi (a guest who comes without notice) stood at my threshold, and I did not offer even water. Now I must stand before all the piṇḍas offered to me and cannot eat them. My needle-mouth will not let them in, just as my heart would not let in the hunger of others.”

Śīghraga, the Swift-Going

The third preta could not stand still. It was always in restless motion, darting from place to place, unable to stay in one spot even for a moment. It said: “I lived by falsehood. I spoke lies all the time. I cheated others of their trust. I gave promises that I never meant to keep. I moved quickly from one deceit to the next. Now I cannot stop moving. I must rush about this śmaśāna with no purpose, no rest, no peace and no place to reach.”

Rodhaka, the Obstructor

The fourth preta had a form that seemed to block everything around it. Trees would not grow near it, paths seemed to close before it, and even the wind seemed to refuse it passage. It said of itself: “In life I was one who blocked the dharma of others. When a man wished to do a yajña (a fire ritual), I put obstacles in his way. When a woman wished to go on tīrtha-yātrā (a pilgrimage), I stopped her. When children and grandchildren wished to do śrāddha for their fathers, I spoiled the arrangements. I blocked the flow of dharma in the lives of those around me, and now dharma itself has blocked every path open to me.”

Lekhaka, the False Writer

The fifth preta had fingers that seemed to write all the time in the air. It wrote invisible words on an invisible surface, driven by a force within that it could not stop. It explained: “I wrote false papers. I made false deeds and records that passed the land and wealth of others to people who had no right to them. I wrote lies in ink that looked like truth, and people suffered because of what I wrote. Now I must write forever in the air. My false papers lasted only until the ink dried, but my preta state lasts for ages.”

Saṃtaptaka’s compassion and action

Saṃtaptaka listened to all five with deep compassion. He felt no disgust or fear at their hideous forms. In each he saw a jīva (living being) who had stumbled in the darkness of ignorance and desire and now suffered the result. He said: “You have told me your pāpas openly. That in itself is the beginning of your freedom. Let me do what I can for you.”

He drew water from a nearby tank. For each of the five he offered sesame (tila) and water (udaka-tarpaṇa), saying their names as they had given them. From his own travel food he made small piṇḍas of sesame and rice and offered them with the proper mantras, treating each preta as he would treat a departed ancestor.

Then, with the greatest power, he recited aloud the thousand names of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He called Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa to be present at the śmaśāna, and he prayed: “O Nārāyaṇa, these five jīvas have told their faults and asked for freedom. I have offered what a humble brāhmaṇa can offer. May your grace do what my rites cannot. May you receive these pretas and free them from their state.”

The five pretas are freed

When Saṃtaptaka finished his prayer, the śmaśāna filled with light. The hideous forms of the five pretas began to melt away. The stale body of Paryushita became clean and bright. The needle-mouth of Sūcīmukha opened into a full and peaceful face. The darting of Śīghraga stopped, and it stood still in peace. The blocks around Rodhaka melted away. Lekhaka’s endless writing stopped as its fingers relaxed.

Five shining forms rose where the pretas had been. They looked human but glowed, dressed in white, with calm faces. Each bowed to Saṃtaptaka and said: “By your śrāddha and by the power of the name of Nārāyaṇa that you called on, we are freed. We now go to the realm that our remaining puṇya (merit) gives us. May your family never lack anything, and may no preta be born in your family for seven generations.” With these blessings the five forms rose upward and went out of sight.

Sources

• Garuḍa Purāṇa (Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa), Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7