Garuda Purana — Preta Kalpa, Shloka 21

Yamamārga, Antyeṣṭi-vidhi, and Daśāhika Piṇḍa-dāna

Road to Yama and Ten-Day Offerings

Devanagari script

योजनत्रयविस्तारदेहो रौद्रो ऽतिभीषणः / लोहदण्डधरो भीमः पाशपाणिर्दुराकृतिः

Transliteration

yojanatrayavistāradeho raudro 'tibhīṣaṇaḥ / lohadaṇḍadharo bhīmaḥ pāśapāṇirdurākṛtiḥ

Translation

اُس کا جسم تین یوجن تک پھیلا ہوا ہے؛ وہ رَودْر اور نہایت ہیبت ناک، نہایت مکروہ صورت والا ہے۔ ہاتھ میں لوہے کا ڈنڈا لیے، ہولناک اور ہاتھ میں پاش (رسی) تھامے ہوئے ہے۔

Word by Word

• yojana-traya-vistāra-dehaḥ: one whose body has the extent of three yojanas
• yojana-traya-vistāra-dehaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yojana (प्रातिपदिक) + traya (प्रातिपदिक) + vistāra (प्रातिपदिक) + deha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (yojanatrayasya vistāraḥ yasya dehaḥ)

• raudraḥ: fierce
• raudraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: raudra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• ati-bhīṣaṇaḥ: extremely terrifying
• ati-bhīṣaṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ati (अव्यय) + bhīṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव-समासः (ati + bhīṣaṇa)

• loha-daṇḍa-dharaḥ: bearing an iron staff
• loha-daṇḍa-dharaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: loha (प्रातिपदिक) + daṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक) + dhara (कृदन्त; √dhṛ धातु, धारणे, -a प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (lohadaṇḍaṃ dharati)

• bhīmaḥ: terrible
• bhīmaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhīma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• pāśa-pāṇiḥ: having a noose in hand
• pāśa-pāṇiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pāśa (प्रातिपदिक) + pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (pāśaḥ pāṇau yasya / pāśaṃ pāṇinā dharati)

• dur-ākṛtiḥ: of dreadful appearance
• dur-ākṛtiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dur (अव्यय/उपसर्ग) + ākṛti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (durā + ākṛtiḥ)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (describing the messengers of Yama to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Pretakalpa Layer

Afterlife Stage: Yamaloka Journey

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Karmic accountability is enforced by Yama’s agents; the soul cannot evade the consequences of deeds.

Vedantic Theme: Karma-phala-niyati (the inevitability of results) within saṃsāra; the jīva’s subjection to dharma’s ordinance until liberation.

Application: Live with restraint and ethical clarity; remember death and accountability to reduce arrogance and harmful action.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhayanaka

Secondary Rasa: raudra

Geographic Context

Type: threshold/encounter-space

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: descriptions of Yamadūtas and their terrifying forms (general parallel across death-journey passages)

Characters & Entities

• Yamadutas
• Pasha (noose)
• Danda (rod of punishment)

FAQs

What is the importance of describing Yamadutas in the Garuda Purana?

This verse emphasizes the overwhelming, fear-inducing authority of Yama’s messengers, reinforcing the Purana’s ethical warning that karma leads to unavoidable accountability after death.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul after death?

By depicting the Yamadutas as armed with a rod and noose, the text signals the forcible escort and restraint of the departed being (preta) toward Yama’s domain when negative karma ripens.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Use it as a reminder to live with dharma—avoid harm and deceit—so that one’s post-death passage is not marked by fear and coercion but by clarity and merit.