Garuda Purana Download PDF

Garuda Purana - Download PDF in English, Hindi, Sanskrit

The Garuda Puran (Purana) in English, Hindi and Sanskrit as pdf downloads.

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Book Details

English
The Garuda Puran
Manmatha Nath Dutt
Society for the Resuscitation of Indian Literature, 1908

Hindi
Garud Purana
Kalyan Publishing House

Sanskrit
Garuda Purana
Editor: Pandit Shri Ramtej Pandey
Chaukhamba Vidyabhavan

About the Garuda Purana

A purana is a story about the deeds and life of a deity. They are part of the mythic literature of Hinduism, together with the epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Traditionally, there are 18 Puranas, and a few lesser Puranas or Upapuranas. The 18 major Puranas include the Skanda Purana, Padma Purana, Naradiya Purana, Shiv Puran, Varaha Purana, Vishnu Purana, Garuda Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Brahmavaivarta Purana, Kurma Purana, Agni Purana, Matsya Purana, Bhavisya Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana, Linga Purana, and Markandeya Purana.

Garuda is Vishnu's vahana or vehicle. He is depicted as a gigantic eagle, sometimes shown as a half-eagle, half-man. Garuda is the personification of courage and immense strength. His body is said to be the color of molten gold and is composed of sacred mantras from the Vedas, which allow one to transcend the physical world. Garuda’s red beak grips the Serpent of Time and crushes it into oblivion. The fact that Garuda is the sworn enemy of snakes suggests that he is also representative of the rising of thekundalini, the coiled psychic energy at the base of the spine.

The Garuda Purana is considered a sister work of the Agni Purana. They both deal with secular knowledge and metaphysical matters, called Pari Vidya and Apari Vidya respectively. The Purana contains three samhitas or sections - the Agastya Samhita, the Brihaspati Samhita (Nitisara), and the Dhanvantari Samhita. The Agastya Samhita recounts various procedures in identifying and handling precious gems, and lists out the many countries the ancient Indians procured these minerals from. Laymen and minerologists alike will likely delight in the stories, poetic accounts and descriptions of the cutting, polishing and setting of many kinds of jewels and stones. This section also looks at the power and potency of the rudraksha mala. This is rather odd considering that rudrakshas are seeds rather than gems or stones. The Brihaspati Samhita, commonly known as the Nitisara, lists observations on practical conduct and a knowledge of human nature. This precursor to the West's thesis on morality and ethics by Francis Bacon, is formulated in excellent poetry and harmony. Next comes the Dhanvantari Samhita, which deals with medical and health matters. This Samhita even contains lists of the various kinds of fevers which create chemical changes in the blood. Also listed are various kinds of causes for leprosy, cutaneous infections and other surprising facts that western medical science has come to know of only in the last century.