The Signs of a Preta Seen in Dreams

Verse 1 (garuda.2.23.1)

गरुड उवाच । किङ्किं कुर्वन्ति वै प्रेताः पिशाचत्वेव्यवस्थिताः । वदन्ति वा कदाचित्किं तद्वदस्व सुरेश्वर

garuḍa uvāca | kiṁkiṁ kurvanti vai pretāḥ piśācatvevyavasthitāḥ | vadanti vā kadācitkiṁ tadvadasva sureśvara

Garuda said: What do pretas, established in the state of a pishacha, do? Do they ever speak? Tell me this, O lord of gods.

Verse 2 (garuda.2.23.2)

श्रीभगवानुवाच । तेषां स्वरूपं वक्ष्यामि चिह्नं स्वप्नं यथातथम् । क्षुत्पिपासार्दितास्ते वै प्रविशेयुः स्ववेश्मनि

śrībhagavānuvāca | teṣāṁ svarūpaṁ vakṣyāmi cihnaṁ svapnaṁ yathātatham | kṣutpipāsārditāste vai praviśeyuḥ svaveśmani

The Blessed Lord said: I shall tell you truly of their form, their signs, and the dreams they cause. Tormented by hunger and thirst, they enter into their own house,

Verse 3 (garuda.2.23.3)

प्रतिष्ठा वायुदेहेषु शयानांस्तु स्ववंशजान् । तत्र यच्छन्ति लिङ्गानि दर्शयन्ति खगेश्वर

pratiṣṭhā vāyudeheṣu śayānāṁstu svavaṁśajān | tatra yacchanti liṁgāni darśayanti khageśvara

and, dwelling in a body of wind, while their own descendants sleep, they there give signs, displaying tokens, O lord of birds.

Verse 4 (garuda.2.23.4)

स्वपुत्रस्वकलत्राणि स्वबन्धुन्तत्र गच्छति । हयो गजो वृषो मर्त्योदृश्यते विकृताननः

svaputrasvakalatrāṇi svabandhuntatra gacchati | hayo gajo vṛṣo martyodṛśyate vikṛtānanaḥ

They go to their own son and their own wife, to their own kinsmen. A horse, an elephant, a bull, or a man with a deformed face appears in the dream.

Verse 5 (garuda.2.23.5)

शयानं विपरीतं तु आत्मानं च विपर्ययम् । उत्थितः पश्यति यस्तु तद्विन्द्यात्प्रेतनिर्मितम्

śayānaṁ viparītaṁ tu ātmānaṁ ca viparyayam | utthitaḥ paśyati yastu tadvindyātpretanirmitam

He who sees the sleeping figure inverted, or sees himself reversed, and, upon waking, should know this to be caused by a preta.

Verse 6 (garuda.2.23.6)

स्वप्ने नरौ हि निगडैर्बध्यते बहुधा यदि । अन्नं च याचते स्वप्ने कुवेषः पूर्वजो मृतः

svapne narau hi nigaḍairbadhyate bahudhā yadi | annaṁ ca yācate svapne kuveṣaḥ pūrvajo mṛtaḥ

If in a dream a man is seen bound in various ways with fetters, and begs for food in the dream, if a deceased ancestor appears in wretched garb,

Verse 7 (garuda.2.23.7)

स्वप्ने यो भुज्यमानस्य गृहीत्वान्नं पलायते । आत्मनस्तु परो वापि तृषार्तस्तु जलं पिबेत्

svapne yo bhujyamānasya gṛhītvānnaṁ palāyate | ātmanastu paro vāpi tṛṣārtastu jalaṁ pibet

who, in the dream, snatches food from someone eating and flees — whether from one's own self or from another — and, tormented by thirst, drinks water,

Verse 8 (garuda.2.23.8)

वृषभारोहणं स्वप्ने वृषभैः सह गच्छति । उत्पत्य गगनं याति तीर्थे याति क्षुधातुरः

vṛṣabhārohaṇaṁ svapne vṛṣabhaiḥ saha gacchati | utpatya gaganaṁ yāti tīrthe yāti kṣudhāturaḥ

riding upon a bull in the dream, going together with bulls, rising up and going into the sky, going to a tirtha, being tormented by hunger,

Verse 9 (garuda.2.23.9)

स्ववाचा वदते यस्तु गोवृषद्विजावाजिषु । लिङ्गे गजे तथा देवे भूते प्रेते निशाचरे

svavācā vadate yastu govṛṣadvijāvājiṣu | liṁge gaje tathā deve bhūte prete niśācare

uttering with one's own voice the words cow, bull, brahmin, and horse, or linga, elephant, deity, spirit, preta, and night-wanderer —

Verse 10 (garuda.2.23.10)

स्वप्नमध्ये तु पक्षीन्द्र प्रेतलिङ्गान्यनेकधा । स्वकलत्रं स्वबन्धुं वा स्वसुतं स्वपतिं विभुम् । विद्यमानं मृतं पश्येत्प्रेतदोषेण निश्चितम्

svapnamadhye tu pakṣīndra pretaliṁgānyanekadhā | svakalatraṁ svabandhuṁ vā svasutaṁ svapatiṁ vibhum | vidyamānaṁ mṛtaṁ paśyetpretadoṣeṇa niścitam

O lord of birds, in dreams there are many such signs of a preta. To see one's own wife, one's own kinsman, one's own son, or one's own husband and lord, though living, as dead — this certainly comes about through the fault of a preta.

Verse 11 (garuda.2.23.11)

याचते यः परं स्वप्ने क्षुत्तृड्भ्यां च परिप्लुतः । तीर्थे गत्वा दहेत्पिण्डान्प्रेतदौषैर्न संशयः

yācate yaḥ paraṁ svapne kṣuttṛḍbhyāṁ ca pariplutaḥ | tīrthe gatvā dahetpiṇḍānpretadauṣairna saṁśayaḥ

He who, in a dream, begs from another, overwhelmed by hunger and thirst; and he who, going to a tirtha, burns away the pindas — in these there is no doubt of the fault of a preta.

Verse 12 (garuda.2.23.12)

निर्गच्छेद्वा गृहाद्वापि स्वप्ने पुत्रस्तथा पशुः । पिता भ्राता कलत्रं च प्रेतदोषैस्तु पश्यति

nirgacchedvā gṛhādvāpi svapne putrastathā paśuḥ | pitā bhrātā kalatraṁ ca pretadoṣaistu paśyati

Or if, from the house, one's son, cattle, father, brother, or wife are seen departing — this too is seen through the fault of a preta.

Verse 13 (garuda.2.23.13)

चिह्नान्येतानि पक्षीन्द्र प्रायश्चित्तं निवेदयेत् । कृत्वा स्नानं गृहे तीर्थे श्रीवृक्षे तर्पणं जलैः

cihnānyetāni pakṣīndra prāyaścittaṁ nivedayet | kṛtvā snānaṁ gṛhe tīrthe śrīvṛkṣe tarpaṇaṁ jalaiḥ

O lord of birds, when these signs appear, atonement should be performed — bathing at home, at a tirtha, or beneath a sacred tree, offering tarpana with water,

Verse 14 (garuda.2.23.14)

कृष्णधान्यानि पूजां च प्रदद्याद्वेदपारगे । होमं कुर्याद्यथाशक्ति सम्पूर्णं वाचयेत्सुधीः

kṛṣṇadhānyāni pūjāṁ ca pradadyādvedapārage | homaṁ kuryādyathāśakti sampūrṇaṁ vācayetsudhīḥ

black grains and worship should be offered to a brahmin learned in the Veda. Oblation should be performed according to one's means; the wise man should recite this chapter in full.

Verse 15 (garuda.2.23.15)

एतद्धि श्रद्धया यस्तु प्रेतलिङ्गनिदर्शनम् । पठते शृणुते वापि प्रेतचिह्नं विनश्यति

etaddhi śraddhayā yastu pretaliṁganidarśanam | paṭhate śṛṇute vāpi pretacihnaṁ vinaśyati

Whoever, with faith, reads or hears this chapter revealing the signs of a preta, for him the mark of a preta is destroyed.