Why Dead Bodies Are Tied After Death: Garuda Purana Explained

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There exists a truth in this world that is deliberately avoided. It is ignored, unnamed, and feared. That truth is death — the absolute end. Whenever a funeral procession passes through a street, a single chant fills the air: “Ram naam satya hai.” A familiar sight follows — a body wrapped in white cloth, lifted onto a bamboo bier, moving silently toward fire.

Yet beneath that calm exterior lies a disturbing reality rarely questioned.

The body is not merely covered. It is tightly bound with ropes, secured firmly to bamboo poles. Most unsettling of all, the two big toes are tied together.

The body is lifeless. It cannot move, flee, or resist. It has no strength, no will, no awareness.

Then why is it restrained like a captive?

Is it only for balance? Or does this ritual conceal a far older and darker knowledge — one recorded in the forbidden passages of the Garuda Purana, scriptures many avoid even opening?

According to ancient belief, these bindings are not symbolic. They are protective mechanisms — safeguards not for the dead, but for those still alive.

If the knots were loosened, if the toes were left untied, the still form on the bier could move again.

The Garuda Purana describes death not as an instant, but as a transition. When life force exits the body, biology records cellular failure. Spiritually, however, the environment itself shifts. The space becomes altered, unstable.

Scripture states that immediately after death, the soul does not recognize its own departure. It remains suspended in confusion, like a mind trapped between wakefulness and sleep. It observes the body from outside, watching grief unfold, unable to understand why it has been abandoned.

This realization arrives as a violent shock. The connection to the physical world collapses. Attachment transforms into desperation.

This is where danger begins.

For several hours, the soul remains entangled in moha — deep attachment. The house it occupied, the identity it wore, the body it protected — none are easily relinquished. The impulse to return arises.

This is why the body is bound immediately.

The question remains: why the big toes?

Yogic science provides the answer. The human body is described as a network of 72,000 nadis, channels through which life energy flows. Even after death, residual prana lingers, circulating faintly through the limbs.

Tying the big toes acts as an energetic lock, collapsing the remaining circuit. It seals the pathway, closing the body as a vessel.

The message is absolute: this form is no longer accessible.

Yet the threat extends beyond the soul itself.

The Preta Kalpa section of the Garuda Purana warns of unseen entities — restless forces drawn to death, decay, and abandoned matter. A body without protection is an empty structure, vulnerable to intrusion.

Just as an unguarded house attracts trespassers, a lifeless body can become a host.

This phenomenon is known as Prakaya Pravesh — the occupation of a vacant form. Folklore speaks of corpses that sit up or move unnaturally, behaving unlike the person they once were. Science attributes such events to muscle reflexes. Tantra identifies them as pisach badha.

To prevent this, the body is bound using natural fibers and placed on bamboo, materials considered energetically neutral and protective. Together, they form a ritual seal, maintaining security until cremation.

Modern science offers its own explanation.

Within hours after death, rigor mortis sets in. Muscles stiffen, joints lock, and the body becomes rigid. In ancient times, bodies were carried long distances over uneven terrain. Without binding, limbs could protrude, shift, or even fall, violating dignity and causing fear.

Additionally, bacterial activity generates internal gases. These gases can cause sudden movements — mouths opening, eyes shifting, hands lifting without warning.

Ropes restrained these involuntary reactions, preserving calm and order.

Astrology introduces another layer — Panchak. When certain lunar positions coincide with specific constellations, death is considered volatile. Improper rituals during this period were believed to attract repeated loss.

To counter this, five symbolic effigies were created and cremated — a ritual diversion, dispersing concentrated death energy.

Direction also carried significance.

While the body remained at home, its head was never placed toward the south — the realm of Yama, lord of death. During the procession, direction was deliberately altered, then reversed once more at a resting point. This sequence severed spatial attachment, signaling final departure.

Coins and grains scattered along the path were not offerings of charity. They served as distractions, diverting negative forces drawn toward the body.

At the cremation ground, a transformation occurs.

All ropes are cut away.

This ground belongs to Shiva, where form dissolves into the five elements. Binding here would trap what must be released.

Then comes Kapala Kriya.

When the body is partially consumed by fire, the skull is broken using a bamboo staff. Spiritually, this opens the Sahasrara Chakra, the final exit point. Ego, memory, and identity are released.

Scientifically, it prevents pressure buildup from boiling brain fluids, avoiding rupture.

Even after fire, the journey continues.

For thirteen days, rituals are performed as the soul exists without form. Through pind daan, a subtle body is shaped — thumb-sized, the same measure as the toes once bound.

On the thirteenth day, the soul becomes eligible to enter the ancestral realm.

In the modern age, these rites are often dismissed as superstition. Yet they reveal profound psychological intelligence. They structured grief, prevented panic, and safeguarded mental balance.

The Garuda Purana is not a book of terror. It is a guide to death psychology.

The ropes on a funeral bier are not symbols of fear. They are thresholds of release.

Life is fleeting. Every being walks the same path eventually.

The only difference lies in what remains behind — sorrow, or silent acceptance.

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Disclaimer:

The views and interpretations expressed in this article are derived from ancient Hindu scriptures, spiritual texts, and traditional belief systems. These interpretations may vary across regions and schools of thought. This content is meant to explore spiritual philosophy and should not be taken as factual or literal truth.