Garuda Purana — Preta Kalpa, Shloka 1

Determining Rites for Difficult/Inauspicious Deaths; Annual and Daily Śrāddha Rules

Devanagari script

दुर्मरणे कार्याकार्यक्रियादिनिरूपणं नाम चतुश्चत्वारिंशो ऽध्यायः श्रीविष्णुरुवाच / प्रत्यब्दं श्राद्धमेवं ते कथयामि खगेश्वर / प्रत्यब्दं पार्वणेनैव कुर्यातां क्षेत्रजोरसौ

Transliteration

durmaraṇe kāryākāryakriyādinirūpaṇaṃ nāma catuścatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ śrīviṣṇuruvāca / pratyabdaṃ śrāddhamevaṃ te kathayāmi khageśvara / pratyabdaṃ pārvaṇenaiva kuryātāṃ kṣetrajorasau

Translation

အခန်း ၄၅ ကို «မကောင်းသော (ဒုర్మရဏ) သေဆုံးမှုတွင် လုပ်သင့်/မလုပ်သင့်သော အခမ်းအနားများကို သတ်မှတ်ခြင်း» ဟု ခေါ်သည်။ သီဝိရှ္ဏုဘုရား မိန့်တော်မူသည်– «အို ခဂေရှ္ဝရ (ဂရုဍ)၊ နှစ်စဉ် ပြုလုပ်ရသော ရှရဒ္ဓကို သင်အား ငါရှင်းပြမည်။ နှစ်တိုင်း pārvana နည်းဖြင့် က్షೇತ್ರಜ్ఞ (ခေတ္တရဇ္ဉ) နှင့် ရသပါဝင်သော ကိုယ်တော်ရှိသူတို့က ပြုလုပ်စေသင့်သည်»။

Word by Word

• दुर्मरणे: in/with regard to bad (untimely) death
• दुर्मरणे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्मरण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विषय/अधिकरण (locative)

• कार्याकार्यक्रियादिनिरूपणम्: the exposition of what should/should not be done, rites, etc.
• कार्याकार्यक्रियादिनिरूपणम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कार्य-अकार्य-क्रिया-आदि-निरूपण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; शीर्षपद ‘निरूपणम्’ (exposition) with dvandva inside (कार्य+अकार्य) and tatpurusha links

• नाम: named
• नाम: Vākyārtha-marker (वाक्यार्थ-सूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाम (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; नामार्थक/इति-अर्थे (called/namely)

• चतुःचत्वारिंशः: forty-fourth
• चतुःचत्वारिंशः: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुःचत्वारिंशत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ordinal sense ‘forty-fourth’ qualifying ‘अध्यायः’

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• श्रीविष्णुः: Śrī Viṣṇu
• श्रीविष्णुः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री-विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; honorific ‘श्री’ as qualifier

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• प्रत्यब्दम्: every year
• प्रत्यब्दम्: Kāla (काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रति-अब्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्यय (accusative used adverbially) = ‘every year’

• श्राद्धम्: śrāddha rite
• श्राद्धम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्राद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• एवम्: thus
• एवम्: Prakāra (प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार (thus)

• ते: to you
• ते: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; pronoun (to you/your)

• कथयामि: I tell
• कथयामि: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कथय् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• खगेश्वर: O lord of birds (Garuḍa)
• खगेश्वर: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: खग-ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, संबोधन-प्रथमा (vocative), एकवचन

• प्रत्यब्दम्: every year
• प्रत्यब्दम्: Kāla (काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रति-अब्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्यय = ‘every year’

• पार्वणेन: by the pārvaṇa (type of śrāddha)
• पार्वणेन: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्वण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; करण

• एव: only/indeed
• एव: Avadhāraṇa (अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण (only/indeed)

• कुर्याताम्: the two should perform
• कुर्याताम्: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, द्विवचन; आत्मनेपद

• क्षेत्रजौ: the two sons born of the field (kṣetraja)
• क्षेत्रजौ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्रज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन

• रसौ: the two (named) Rasas / the pair ‘Rasa’
• रसौ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रस (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; here used as a paired designation with ‘क्षेत्रजौ’ (two persons)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu

Shraddha Ritual

Ritual Type: Parvana

Beneficiary: Pitr

Timing: Pratyabda (annual) śrāddha; chapter introduces rules especially for durmaraṇa contexts

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Even in cases of durmaraṇa (inauspicious/difficult death), annual śrāddha is to be regulated; pārvana method is prescribed as the standard yearly observance.

Vedantic Theme: Īśvara as śāstra-pravartaka: divine instruction orders human duty; dharma sustains cosmic and familial continuity.

Application: Observe annual śrāddha consistently; when death circumstances are complex, follow the chapter’s determinations and the pārvana framework under qualified guidance.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka

Geographic Context

Type: scriptural discourse space

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana Book 2, ch.45 (Durmaraṇa-kāryākārya): subsequent verses detailing exceptions, prohibitions, and prescriptions; Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: annual śrāddha (pratyabda) and pārvana/ekoddiṣṭa distinctions in ritual chapters

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu
• Garuda

FAQs

What is the importance of annual (pratyabda) śrāddha in the Garuda Purana?

This verse introduces the rule that śrāddha is to be performed every year, establishing it as a recurring duty that sustains ancestral rites and dharmic continuity after death-related observances.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul in context?

By framing the chapter around difficult/inauspicious death and then prescribing annual śrāddha, it links post-death welfare and the subtle journey with prescribed rites, implying that ritual support continues beyond immediate funeral ceremonies.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Maintain a consistent yearly śrāddha/ancestor-offering practice (as per one’s tradition and guidance of qualified priests), treating it as an ongoing dharmic responsibility rather than a one-time ritual.