Uttarakhanda

by Sage Vyasa (traditional attribution; narrated as a dialogue between Vishnu and Garuda, and further transmitted by Suta to the sages)

78 chapters · 4,875 shlokas

This khanda opens with Garuda's own questions to Vishnu about death and what follows it, and answers with the tradition's most detailed and widely-known account of the afterlife journey — the seven classical hells and their torments, the precise procedure for cremation and the sixteen shraddha rites owed to the departed, and the soul's arduous year-long passage through sixteen cities en route to Yama's own realm, its trials shaped by how a person lived and died, interwoven with narrative interludes like the story of King Vipracitti and the five pretas. Its second half, the Brahmakanda, turns from the individual soul's fate to cosmology at large: Krishna's extended teaching to Garuda on the structure of the cosmic egg (Brahmanda), the layered creation of gods and sages from Brahma's own body across successive spans of divine years, and a systematic gradation (taratamya) of every being in existence — from Lakshmi and Shesha down through the sages and the fiercest demons — ranked by nearness to Vishnu. The khanda closes with Brahma's own long hymn of praise and a final teaching distinguishing genuine wisdom about Hari from its counterfeits.

Chapters

1The Unfolding of Questions70 v 2The Manner of Death and the Fruits of Deeds92 v 3The Hells106 v 4Atonement, Cremation, and the Rites of Death185 v 5The Sixteen Shraddhas and the Soul's Journey Through the Sixteen Cities154 v 6The Glory of the Bull-Release: King Virvahana's Story144 v 7Santapaka and the Five Pretas102 v 8Who May Perform the Rites, and the Shraddha for the Living33 v 9King Babhruvahana and the Preta Sudeva74 v 10How the Shraddha Offering Reaches the Ancestors96 v 11The Body's Apertures and the Soul's Departure11 v 12The Rarity of Human Birth and the Folly of Craving33 v 13The Necessity of the Bull-Release and the Rule of the Sonless25 v 14The Fruit of Gifts Given in Life and Death, and the Kshayaha Rite59 v 15The Path to Yama's Realm, Retold95 v 16The Journey Continued: Through Vaitarani to the City of Dharmaraja53 v 17The Origin and Glory of the Shravanas26 v 18The Fruit of Gifts on the Journey, and the Twenty-One Hells42 v 19The Assembly of Chitragupta and the Judgment of Dharmaraja21 v 20The Earthbound Pretas and the Signs of Their Affliction47 v 21The Release of Pretas and the Worship of One's Parents34 v 22Bhishma's Account: The Causes of the Preta State78 v 23The Signs of a Preta Seen in Dreams15 v 24Untimely Death and the Rites for Children46 v 25The Rites for Children, and the Ten Kinds of Sons45 v 26The Rite of Sapindikarana67 v 27King Babhruvahana and the Preta66 v 28Garuda's Questions on the After-Death Rites34 v 29The Need for a Son, Sesame, Darbha, Tulasi and Salt33 v 30The Description of Various Gifts53 v 31The Fruits of Gifts, and Entry into a New Body43 v 32Conception, Embryology, the Body, and the Cosmic Body130 v 33The Extent and Description of Yamaloka40 v 34The After-Death Rites, the Ten-Day Rite, and the Gift of the Bed146 v 35Sapindikarana of the Maternal Line and the Rules for the Corpse46 v 36The Destiny of Death by Fasting37 v 37The Gift of Water-Pots in Shraddha16 v 38The Causes of the Highest Worlds, Liberation, and Human Birth40 v 39The Duration and Rules of Sutaka Impurity21 v 40The Rite of Narayana-bali for Those Who Died by Misfortune65 v 41The Rite of Vrishotsarga13 v 42The Gift of Land and the Protection of Brahmin Property22 v 43The Rules of Purification5 v 44What Should and Should Not Be Done for an Evil Death29 v 45The Yearly Shraddha and Other Rites34 v 46The Good and Evil Destinies of the Soul37 v 47The River Vaitarani and the Ripening of Deeds52 v 48The Dharma and Adharma That Bring Man Happiness and Sorrow44 v 49The Means of Liberation136 v 50The Classification of the Puranas and the Order of Homage91 v 51The Order of Creation: Bimba, Reflection, and the Awakening of Vishnu70 v 52The Potency of Hari: Avatara, Prakriti, and the Five Eternal Differences58 v 53Gunavaishamya: The Proportions of the Gunas in Mahat-tattva77 v 54The Origin of the Tattva-Presiding Deities and Their Gradation58 v 55The Praises of Vishnu by Lakshmi, Brahma, Vayu, and Sarasvati60 v 56The Praises of Vishnu by Indra and the Company of Sages74 v 57The Praises of Vishnu by Mitra, Tara, and Vishvaksena17 v 58The Nature of the Ajanaja Beings and the Fruit of This Hymn27 v 59The Structure of the Brahmanda and the Gradation of Liberation through the Viraja57 v 60The Veiling Power of Prakriti and the True Cause of Ignorance48 v 61Brahma's Hymn of Praise and the Gradation of Souls110 v 62The Origin and Succession of the Gods Created by Brahma53 v 63The Fullness of Hari's Form and the Discernment of Essence and Non-Essence in the Vaishvadeva Offering49 v 64The Enumeration of Vishnu's Incarnations and Their Identity with Narayana30 v 65The Incarnations of Mahalakshmi and the Forms of Brahma and Vayu102 v 66The Reason for Bharati's Attainment of a Distinguished Body48 v 67The Cause of Rudra's Weeping and the Gradation of Bliss78 v 68The Gradation of Bliss and the Vow of Nila75 v 69The Austerities of Bhadra and Mitravinda for Union with the Lord50 v 70The Cause of the Lord's Marriage to Kalindi33 v 71The Cause of Lakshmana's Marriage and the Marks of the Lord85 v 72The Order of Pilgrimage to Venkatesha Hill48 v 73The Order of Ascending Venkatesha Hill, Its Devotees, and the Names of the Mountain126 v 74The Goddess's Vision of Venkatesha and Her Praise of Him60 v 75The Glory of Venkata Hill: Its Sacred Waters, Deities, and Shalagrama Stones136 v 76The Maiden's Various Pilgrimages and the Birth of Jambavati40 v 77Establishing, Through the Doctrine of Gradation, That Vishnu Alone Is to Be Worshipped149 v 78The Secret of Truth, in the Dialogue Between Krishna and Garuda71 v

Why it matters today

The Pretakalpa remains one of the most functionally alive portions of the entire Puranic corpus — it is still the specific text recited by priests during Hindu funeral rites across much of India today. The Brahmakanda's taratamya (gradation) doctrine, by contrast, is a distinctly Madhva-Vaishnava theological framework, of real historical and sectarian interest but not shared by Hindu tradition as a whole.