The Body's Apertures and the Soul's Departure

Verse 1 (garuda.2.11.1)

गरुड उवाच । मानुषत्वं लभेत्कस्मान्मृत्युमाप्नोति तत्कथम् । म्रियते कः सुरश्रेष्ठ देहमाश्रित्य कुत्रचित्

garuḍa uvāca | mānuṣatvaṁ labhetkasmānmṛtyumāpnoti tatkatham | mriyate kaḥ suraśreṣṭha dehamāśritya kutracit

Garuda said: By what cause does a man attain humanhood, and how does death come upon him? O best of gods, having taken on a body, where does a creature die?

Verse 2 (garuda.2.11.2)

इन्द्रियाणि कुतो यान्ति ह्यस्पृश्यः स कथं भवेत् । क्व कर्माणि कृतानीह कथं भुङ्क्ते प्रसर्पति

indriyāṇi kuto yānti hyaspṛśyaḥ sa kathaṁ bhavet | kva karmāṇi kṛtānīha kathaṁ bhuṁkte prasarpati

Where do the senses go, and how does the body become untouchable? Where do the deeds performed here go, and how, having experienced their fruit, does the soul move on?

Verse 3 (garuda.2.11.3)

प्रसादं कुरु मे मोहं छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः । काश्यपोऽहं सुरश्रेष्ठ विनतागर्भ संभवः । यमलोकं कथं यान्ति विष्णुलोकं च मानवाः

prasādaṁ kuru me mohaṁ chettumarhasyaśeṣataḥ | kāśyapo'haṁ suraśreṣṭha vinatāgarbha saṁbhavaḥ | yamalokaṁ kathaṁ yānti viṣṇulokaṁ ca mānavāḥ

Show me your grace, and be pleased to sever my delusion entirely. O best of gods, I am the son of Kashyapa, born of Vinata's womb. How do men journey to the world of Yama, and to the world of Vishnu?

Verse 4 (garuda.2.11.4)

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच । परस्य योषितं हृत्वा ब्रह्मस्वमपहृत्य च

śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca | parasya yoṣitaṁ hṛtvā brahmasvamapahṛtya ca

Shri Krishna said: Having seized another's wife, and having stolen a brahmin's property,

Verse 5 (garuda.2.11.5)

अरण्ये निर्जने देशे जायते ब्रह्मराक्षसः । हीनजातौ प्रजायेत रत्नानामपहारकः

araṇye nirjane deśe jāyate brahmarākṣasaḥ | hīnajātau prajāyeta ratnānāmapahārakaḥ

one is born, in a lonely forest, as a brahmarakshasa. The thief of jewels is born into a lowly caste.

Verse 6 (garuda.2.11.6)

यंयं काममभिध्यायेत्स तल्लिङ्गोऽभिजायते । नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः

yaṁyaṁ kāmamabhidhyāyetsa talliṁgo'bhijāyate | nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ

Whatever desire a man dwells upon at the moment of death, with that very mark he is born again. Weapons cannot cut it, fire cannot burn it,

Verse 7 (garuda.2.11.7)

न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः । वाक्चक्षुर्नासिका कर्णौ गुदं मूत्रस्य सञ्चरः

na cainaṁ kledayantyāpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ | vākcakṣurnāsikā karṇau gudaṁ mūtrasya sañcaraḥ

water cannot wet it, wind cannot dry it. Speech, the eye, the nose, the ear, the anus, and the passage of urine —

Verse 8 (garuda.2.11.8)

अण्डजादिकजन्तूनां छिद्राण्येतानि सर्वशः । आनाभेर्मूर्धपर्यन्तमूर्ध्वच्छिद्राणि चाष्ट वै

aṇḍajādikajantūnāṁ chidrāṇyetāni sarvaśaḥ | ānābhermūrdhaparyantamūrdhvacchidrāṇi cāṣṭa vai

these are the apertures common to all creatures, whether egg-born or otherwise. From the navel up to the crown of the head, there are, in the upward direction, eight apertures,

Verse 9 (garuda.2.11.9)

सन्तः सुकृतिनो मर्त्या ऊर्ध्वच्छिद्रेण यान्ति वै । मृताहे वार्षिकं यावद्यथोक्तविधिना खग

santaḥ sukṛtino martyā ūrdhvacchidreṇa yānti vai | mṛtāhe vārṣikaṁ yāvadyathoktavidhinā khaga

and the virtuous, those of meritorious deeds, depart from the body only through this upward aperture. From the day of death up to the yearly shraddha, by the procedure duly told,

Verse 10 (garuda.2.11.10)

कुर्यात्सर्वाणि कर्माणि निर्धनोऽपि हि मानवः । देहे यत्र वसेज्जन्तुस्तत्र भुङ्क्ते शुभाशुभम्

kuryātsarvāṇi karmāṇi nirdhano'pi hi mānavaḥ | dehe yatra vasejjantustatra bhuṁkte śubhāśubham

a man should perform all these rites, even if he be poor. In whatever body a creature comes to dwell, there he experiences the fruit of his own good and evil,

Verse 11 (garuda.2.11.11)

मनोवाक्कायजान्दोषांस्तथां भुङ्क्ते खगेश्वर । मृतः स सुखमाप्नोति मायापाशैर्न बध्यते । पाशबद्धो नरो यस्तु विकर्मनिरतो भवेत्

manovākkāyajāndoṣāṁstathāṁ bhuṁkte khageśvara | mṛtaḥ sa sukhamāpnoti māyāpāśairna badhyate | pāśabaddho naro yastu vikarmanirato bhavet

and, O lord of birds, there too he experiences the faults born of mind, speech, and body. Such a man, when dead, attains happiness, and is not bound by the fetters of illusion; the man who remains bound by those fetters is one who remains devoted only to evil deeds.