Garuda Mahā Purana - Preta Khaṇḍa
39 -
Garuda said:
1. O lord, out of compassion for me, please tell me the rules of impurity, for my knowledge and for the welfare of human beings. The lord said:
2. O lord of birds, the impurity accruing from birth and death is fourfold. The rules of impurity are applicable to all the four castes.
3. The days of impurity are ten for the relatives on the father's and mother's side. People should avoid taking meals, during this period, with the relatives of the dead. The bereaved family should neither offer nor receive gifts, should neither undertake nor conduct sacrifices. The study of the Vedas and shåstras is strictly prohibited.
4. One should observe the following while performing obsequial rites: suitability of place and time, sufficiency of wealth, justification of purpose, validity of reason and his capability.
5. If a person is dead in the forest conflagration or in a foreign country, the relatives should take bath along with the dress; the impurity is soon removed thereby.
6. If a child is dead in the womb or is born dead, there should be no obsequial rite, no water-libation and no impurity at all.
7. Artisans, architects, physicians, slaves (male or female), kings and Vedic scholars are purified immediately.
8. He who is at fast or at sacrifice reciting the mantras or he who has set up a sacrificial fire or he who is a reigning ruler--these are exempt from impurity as also those who are exempted by the king.
9. In impurity accruing from birth, the rules are less strict. Mother is purified after ten days, father just after taking bath.
10. During the days of marriage, festivity, sacrifice, if a person dies, there is no impurity. The food-stuff collected for use can be utilized by the persons concerned. This is what Manu has said.
11. In birth the relatives incur no impurity. Impurity attaches to parents alone. Primarily, it is the mother who be comes impure. Father is purified by the touch of water alone.
12. In birth or death impurity lasts for ten days, O bird.
13. By giving food to the hungry and the indigent, the parents get rid of impurity-the sages have declared.
14. Man is purified after bathing in water from the earthen jar mixed with gingelly seeds and clay from holy places.
15-16. He should gift some articles to the village assembly, gold, cow and bull to a bråhmaņa. If kșhatriya he should do the same twice, if vaishya thrice, if shūdra four times. Wealth should be given to a brahmin.
17. A person distanced by seven or eight generation or he who has not undergone a Sacrament incurs no impurity.
18. For men who have lost life for the sake of a brahmin, a cow, a woman or in the battlefield, infirmity lasts only for a single night.
19-20. Brahmins do not incur impurity if they are engaged in an auspicious rite. Those who arrange cremation of an orphan child with the brahmin assisting them in this act become purified as soon as they take bath.
21. When shūdras, following a corpse, reach a pond or a stream or a reservoir, they should return home. While returning they should be glanced at by a brahmin which is enough for their purification. This is what the Vedic scholars say.
Summary of chapter 39 of the Garuda Mahā Purana - Preta Khaṇḍa is as follows:
Bhagavān Vishṇu extols the sacred pilgrimage city of Gayā as the supreme sanctuary for ancestral redemption, revealing its divine origin and unique spiritual energy. The Lord explains that offering a single Piṇḍa at Gayā, especially upon the sacred footprint of Lord Vishṇu, bestows permanent satisfaction upon all ancestors for seven generations past and future. The Supreme Lord promises that even if an ancestor is suffering in the deepest hellish realm or trapped in ghostly bondage, the performance of Gayā Śrāddha instantly elevates them to the exalted realm of Brahma-loka.