What is the scriptural purpose of Narayan Bali Puja?

Narayan Bali is an expiatory death rite (Prayashchit) performed for souls who suffered an unnatural, untimely, or incomplete death — known as Durmaran. According to the Garuda Purana, when a person dies by weapon strikes, drowning, fire, snakebite, lightning, wild animal attack, dark magic, or Brahmin’s curse, the soul becomes trapped in the atmosphere (Antariksha) as a wandering spirit. Standard Shraddha and Pind Daan offerings are destroyed in space before reaching such a soul. Narayan Bali spiritually cleanses the taint of the unnatural death, grants the soul eligibility to receive subsequent ancestral offerings, and enables it to attain Uttamlok (the higher realms). Without Narayan Bali, no amount of regular Shraddha can liberate a soul that died unnaturally.