The Garuda Purana: Hindu Visions of Heaven and Hell

The Garuda Purana is a dialogue between Garuda and Lord Vishnu in which we learn Hindu funeral rites, rituals to honor our ancestors, and we encounter Hindu vision of heaven and hell.

Wait? Hindu visions of heaven and hell? I thought Hindus believe in reincarnation.

Yes, and yes.

Hinduism teaches a cycle of reincarnation with the time between births spent in a heavenly realm or a hellish one, depending on your merit or lack thereof. Heaven is like if you earned a lot of money and got to take a great vacation. Hell if like going to prison. Either way, when your time is up, it's back to the daily grind. The goal is neither heaven nor hell, but release from the endless cycle, called samsara.

In this edition of the classic text, which has been compared to Dante's Inferno, I walk you through with my essay A Quick Tour of the Garuda Purana.