Akālamṛtyu: Preta-state Categories and the Nārāyaṇa-bali / Ekoddiṣṭa Remedy
ऊरुद्वये शतञ्चापि त्रिंशज्जङ्घाद्वये न्यसेत् / दद्याच्चतुष्टयं शिश्रे षड् दद्याद् वृषणद्वये / दश पादाङ्गुलीभागे एवमस्थीनि विन्यसेत्
ūrudvaye śatañcāpi triṃśajjaṅghādvaye nyaset / dadyāccatuṣṭayaṃ śiśre ṣaḍ dadyād vṛṣaṇadvaye / daśa pādāṅgulībhāge evamasthīni vinyaset
دونوں رانوں میں سو، اور دونوں پنڈلیوں میں تیس مقرر کرے۔ عضوِ تناسل میں چار، دونوں خصیوں میں چھ، اور پاؤں کی انگلیوں کے حصوں میں دس دے؛ یوں ہڈیوں کی ترتیب کرے॥
Lord Vishnu (in discourse to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Concept: Completeness and precision in ritual mapping of the body, including private organs, without aversion or attachment.
Vedantic Theme: Dehābhimāna is transcended by seeing the body as a composite of parts; equanimity toward all limbs.
Application: Maintain ritual purity and composure; follow counts exactly; treat all body parts with equal ritual seriousness.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Related Themes: Garuda Purana 2.40.47 (preceding counts); Garuda Purana 2.40.49-51 (symbolic substitutions: fruits, gems, metals)
This verse provides a precise distribution of bones by body region, supporting the Garuda Purana’s ritual-anatomical framework used when explaining pretakriyā and śrāddha-related conceptions of the embodied being after death.
By detailing bodily components, the text contextualizes how post-death rites address the departed’s condition (preta-state) and symbolically ‘reconstruct’ order and completeness through ritual knowledge of the body.
It encourages careful, rule-based performance of ancestral rites (where one follows traditional prescriptions) and also serves as a reminder of bodily impermanence, strengthening ethical living and detachment.