Garud's Questions to Vishnu

Garud was the swiftest of flyers. He had travelled across the earth, the sky and many worlds. He saw that every being is born and one day leaves. Some leave in peace, some in pain. Seeing all this, many questions rose in his mind.

One day he came to Lord Vishnu in Vaikunth. Bowing, he said: Lord, I have seen all the worlds, yet I do not know what happens after death. Where does a being go? What is the road to Yamlok like? Why do some suffer? And how is one freed from all this?

Garud also asked what a family should do for the one who has died. Why is pind daan offered? What does shraddha mean? Why does someone become a preta, and how is it released? These are the same questions that still come to a grieving family today.

Lord Vishnu was pleased. He said: Garud, you have asked this for the good of the whole world. Whoever hears and understands these things will be able to set their life right. Now listen carefully. Then the Lord began to explain everything, one step at a time.

The beauty of this conversation is that Garud asks not out of fear, but out of curiosity and compassion. He wants to know not only for himself but for all beings. So this text also teaches us that it is not wrong to ask questions about hard subjects.