Garuda Purana: Pretha Khanda: English Translation only without Slokas

Book excerpt: Garuda Purana is often referred to by Pandits as Vigyana Sarvasva. It covers every single aspect of Vedas, Upanishads, and Puranas at a high level. It discusses the worship of various deities like Siva, Tripura, Durga, Ganesha, Vishnu, Sudarshana, and Gayatri. Though Mahabharata is well known for being the origin of Sri Vishnu Sahasranama, very few know that Vishnu Sahasranama is also recorded in Garuda Purana. Garuda Purana also covers various aspects of human life and how one can achieve happiness in this physical life by following ancient methods such as Meditation, Vastu Sastra, Jyotishya (astrology). Achara Khanda covers how one can improve their lifestyle naturally using, Yoga, Ayurveda, and other sciences. For those eager to earn money and richness, it describes in detail Nava Nidhis (treasures), the science of recognizing and understanding gems such as diamonds and crystals. For health enthusiasts, it covers various types of diseases, how to prevent them, various types of foods, nutrition, and ayurvedic medicines. For the enthusiasts of Dharma, it offers the minute details of Dharma Sastras. Preta Khanda offers a glimpse of Karma Siddhanta (how Karma works), what happens after death, the Soul’s journey through various lokas (dimensions), and all the way until their reincarnation and the rites that need to be performed for the Soul to have a smooth journey post-life. Brahma / Moksha khanda describes incarnations of Vishnu, Mahalakshmi, Siva / Rudra. It details the narrations of Nila, Bhadra, Kalindi, Lakshmana, and Jambavati. Glories of Tirumala Tirupati are also recorded. It recounts the Solar race (Surya Vamsha) and the Lunar race (Chandra Vamsha) and depicts the Mahabharata in detail.