rule



 

Canto 5

Kabe Ha'be

 



Chapter 26: The Hellish Worlds or the Karmic Rebound

(1) The king said: 'Oh great saint, how came this variegation of life in the different worlds about?'

(2) The sage said: 'Because of the different convictions, by which the acting person relates to the three basic qualities of nature, there is the variegation of all the destinations, that more or less can be attained by everyone. (3) From the godlessness of what we know as forbidden actions, there will, depending the particular conviction of the one thus engaged, be a different consequence in the form of a karmic rebound. Let me now in detail explain what kinds of thousands of hellish conditions since time immemorial are the logical consequence of lust motivated souls who in countless ways ignorantly desired their advantage.'

(4) The king said: 'What one calls hell, my lord, is that a particular place on earth, is it found outside the worlds we know or is it a place found somewhere in between of them?'

(5) The rishi said: 'Hell is found in between the three worlds, in the south below the earth and a little above the causal waters [below Pātālaloka], in the direction where those forefathers who neglected the sacrificial fire reside [the Agnishvāttas], and who, fully absorbed in the truth, desire the blessings for their families. (6) The son of the sun god [Yamarāja] has his kingdom there together with his followers. The deceased, who are brought there by his people, are, according to the gravity of their karmic faults, subjected there to punishments carefully executed not to be in offense with the Supreme Lord. (7) Some [scholars] mention a number of  twenty-one hells, oh King, and some count twenty-eight. Their names, forms and characteristics I shall, one after the other, relate to you. The [28] names of the hells or different places of requital are: Tāmisra, Andhatāmisra, Raurava, Mahāraurava, Kumbhīpāka, Kālasūtra, Asipatravana, Sūkaramukha, Andhakūpa, Krimibhojana, Sandams'a, Taptasūrmi, Vajrakanthaka-s'ālmalī, Vaitaranī, Pūyoda, Prānarodha, Vis'asana, Lālābhaksha, Sārameyādana, Avīci, Ayahpāna, and also Kshārakardama, Rakshogana-bhojana, S'ūlaprota, Dandas'ūka, Avatha-nirodhana, Paryāvartana and Sūcīmukha.

(8) Someone who takes away the money, the wife or children of someone else is sure to be bound with the fetters of time by the most frightening men of Yamarāja and by force to be thrown into the hell of Tāmisra ['the darkness']. Having landed in that darkest of all conditions being deprived of food and water, beaten with sticks and scolded, he sometimes, in his desperation, loses his consciousness because of the severe punishments received. (9) He who by cheating enjoys the wife, possessions etc. of someone else, is the same way by force thrown into the hell that is called Andhatāmisra ['blind darkness'] because the embodied soul, as a consequence of the constant agony there, apart from his mind also loses his sight and thus becomes as blind as a tree cut by the roots. (10) He who in his life on earth, taking his body for his self and property, harmed other living beings while day after day laboring to support his own family only, will, upon leaving this world, because of that sin end up in Raurava. (11) With Yamarāja presenting the consequences for this offense, the living beings that were hurt by him in this life will in his afterlife turn into savage creatures [called rurus] who then hurt him to the same extent. Because of these wild beasts that are more vicious than snakes, the scholars speak of Raurava ['the hell of the monsters']. (12) Similarly there is Mahāraurava [the 'great monster'] wherein someone is killed and eaten by the ruru beasts named kravyāda, just as he himself did solely for the maintenance of his body. (13) But a person who in this life was very cruel towards [land and sea] animals or birds and cooked them alive, is condemned by even the most cruel-hearted man eaters. After his death the servants of Yamarāja will throw him in Kumbhīpāka ['the hell of the cooking pot'] to be cooked in boiling oil himself. (14) And anyone who in this life kills a brahmin, ends up in a hell named Kālasūtra ['the long course of time'] that has a surface of copper with a circumference of ten thousand yojanas and is heated by the sun from above and by a fire from below. With his body internally plagued by hunger and thirst and externally being scorched, he at times lies down and then rolls about, then he jumps to his feet again and next runs hither and thither - and that for the duration of as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the body of an animal. (15) He who in this life unnecessarily deviated from his path of self-realization and yielded to hypocrisy [or heresy], is forced into a hell known as Asipatravana ['the razor-sharp forest'] where he is beaten with a whip so that he, fleeing away left and right, cuts his body on the two-edged razor sharp palm leaves. He, in denial of his own nature [or neglect of his civil duty], will thus have to face the result of following the wrong path and then, with a lot of pain, stumbling at every step, stupefied thinks: 'Oh, what have I done to myself?' (16) Or that head of state or state official who in this life punishes someone innocent or inflicted corporeal punishment on a brahmin, will in his next life land in the hell of Sūkaramukha ['hog's mouth']. There the different parts of his body will be crushed by the strong assistants [of Yamarāja] as if it concerned sugarcane. Just like someone who innocently was arrested to be punished, he will then, pitiably crying out loud, be overwhelmed by desperation and faint. (17) Some creatures are by the Creator designed to live as parasites unaware of the harm they do to others, but he who in his will to survive himself causes pain very well knowing what he is doing to other creatures of God, lands in his afterlife in Andhakūpa ['the overgrown well']. With the harm he did to the beings in question, he will experience that evil himself. Just like the creatures with an inferior body - the game, the birds, snakes, mosquiDo it yourself helltos, lice, worms, flies and whatever - [himself having such an inferior body,] he in his turn everywhere in the darkness will be persecuted, hurt and disturbed by them and then wander around without being able to find a place to rest. (18) He who in his life eats whatever he obtained by the grace of God but does not share it with others and thus neglects the five forms of sacrifice [to the gods, the wise, the ancestors, the needy and the animals], is just like a crow. Such a person will in his afterlife fall in the most abominable hell of Krimibhojana ['to feed on worms'] where, having landed in a hundred thousand yojanas wide lake full of worms, he as a worm himself may feed on and in his turn be eaten by the other worms, for as many years as that lake measures in yojanas. Such is the pain that he causes himself who - without atoning for his sins - eats food that he did not share and sacrifice. (19) When one for no apparent reason in this life by means of theft or violence, takes away gold, gems and so on from a brahmin or from others, oh King, one will in his afterlife by the men of Yamarāja be forced to hold red-hot iron balls and then get his skin torn off by tongs [because of which that hell is called Sandams'a, 'tongs hell']. (20) Any person, man or woman, who in this life approached someone of the same or the opposite sex for illicit [by law prohibited] sexual intercourse, will in his afterlife be beaten by whips and forced to embrace a very hot iron image in the form of a man when one is a woman or in the form of a woman when one is a man [: Taptasūrmi, the hell of 'the red hot iron statue']. (21) Anyone who in this life indulges in indiscriminate sexual intercourse [also with animals e.g.], will in his afterlife land in the hell of Vajrakanthaka-s'ālmalī ['the thunderbolt-thorn cotton tree'] where he, being hung [on thorns], will be pulled down. (22) They who in this life belonging to the royalty or the government despite their high birth transgressed the boundaries of dharma, will after their death land in Vaitaranī ['the river of impetuous passion']. Having broken with the code of conduct for the ruling class they suffer in the moat around that hell being eaten by ferocious animals in the stream here and there. Unable to relinquish the body because of the strenght of  the vitality of their sin, they are then reminded of their bad deeds as they are pained in the river of stool, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and fat. (23) Those men who in this life as husbands of lower class women lost their cleanliness, good behavior and regulated life, and shamelessly behaved themselves like animals, will, when they have died, land in an ocean full of pus, excrement, urine, mucus and saliva, and only be able to subsist on everything that is extremely revolting [: the Pūyoda hell of 'fetid waters']. (24) The leaders belonging to the higher classes - including the brahmins -  who in this life keeping dogs or asses take pleasure in hunting with them, will, killing animals other than prescribed, after their death themselves become the target of Yamarāja's men who will pierce them with arrows [: the hell of Prānarodha, 'smothering the breath']. (25) People who, in this life being most proud of their wealth and position, kill animals for their prestige in sacrificing, will in the next world fall into the hell of Vis'asana ['the sleeplessness'], where the helpers of Yamarāja make them suffer and cut them to pieces. (26) But he who in this life as someone of the higher classes [dvija], bewildered by his lusts causes his wife of the same caste to drink his semen, will because of that sin in his next life be thrown into a river of semen and be forced to drink it himself [this is the hell of Lālābhaksha, 'to have semen for food']. (27) Or those kings and their servants who in this world as thieves, arsonists and poisoners ransack villages and plunder caravans, will, after they died, be devoured by the voracious seven hundred twenty dogs with mighty teeth of the Yamadūtas [: the hell of Sārameyādana 'the dogs' meal']. (28) Also the one who in this life speaks a lie or bears false witness in business transactions, in gifts of charity or in other affairs, will, after his death, head first free fall be thrown from the top of a hundred yojanas high mountain in the hell of Avīcimat ['having no water']. There the arid land consisting of stones waves like a sea where he, with his body broken everywhere, does not die, but instead is dragged to the top to be thrown down again. (29) When a brahmin or his wife drinks soma-rasa [a sacred intoxicating beverage], or when a ruler or trader in this life in a state of illusion drinks liquor, while they have taken a vow [not to], they will all be brought to the hell where, with a foot on their chest, red-hot molten iron will be poured into their mouths [: the hell of Ayahpāna, 'drinking iron'].

(30) Next to that one must consider anyone a living corpse who, being low-born or degraded, in this life falsely proud failed to be respectful towards a more honorable person of a higher birth, austerity, knowledge, good behavior and faithfulness to the principles. After his death, he will, head first, be thrown in the hell of Kshārakardama [the 'pool of acrid mud'] to suffer there the severest agony. (31) Men who in this life sacrificed other people in worship [of Kālī] and the women who ate those people, those kind of murderers will be slain like animals in the abode of Yamarāja by groups of punishing Rākshasas who, just like those man-eaters did themselves, will cut them with swords to pieces, drink their blood and dance and sing thereto in delight [: the hell called Rakshogana-bhojana, 'to be the food of the devil']. (32) But persons who in this world lured innocent creatures, seeking shelter in the forest or the village, by making them feel safe, but instead caused them pain by playing games with them, piercing their bodies or putting them on a leash, those people after their death can be sure that their own bodies will be fixed likewise and that they, starved and thirsty and such, will be tortured from all sides by sharp beaked birds like herons and vultures so that they may remember the sins they committed [the hell of S'ūlaprota, 'pierced by the pike']. (33) Also those men who, like snakes with an angry nature, in this life caused pain to others without any necessity, will, after their death, fall down in a hell called Dandas'ūka ['the cudgel in return'] where, oh King, five- and seven-hooded serpents raise before them in order to eat them just like mice. (34) Or they who in this life confine living beings either in blind wells, in granaries or in caves, will likewise in their next life be forced to enter the same places, to be locked up there with poisonous fumes, fire and smoke [: the hell called Avatha-nirodhana, 'to be thrown in the dark']. (35) Someone who in this life, as a householder, every time he received guests or visitors, gave them a sinful look of anger as if he wanted to burn them with his eyes, for sure will land in the hell meant for those with a sinful vision, where his eyes will be plucked out by the powerful beaks of herons, vultures and crows [the hell of Paryāvartana, 'the eyes plucked']. (36) Also those egoists who with a look of disapproval regard all with suspicion, whose heart and face dry up by the thought of expenditure and loss, and who like evil spirits protecting their wealth are never happy, will after their death because of their sinful deeds to protect those riches and increase their incomes, fall down in a hell called Sūcīmukha ['the pin first'], where the commanders of Yamarāja like expert weavers with thread and needle will stitch the limbs of the bodies of those money grabbing ghosts and sinners.

(37) For all those who act against the dharma as I mentioned and also for those I did not mention, there are, according to the degree of sinfulness, all these sorts of hells to fall into. There are many hundreds and thousands of them in the realm of Yamarāja, oh King. For those souls of principle and piety however, who reached the end of their virtue or vice, there are elsewhere in this world [or in this universe] new lives to enter [compare B.G. 4: 9 and 3.30: 29]. (38) In the beginning I described to you the path of liberation [in cantos two and three]. There I showed you how the Supreme Lord Nārāyana in the stories of the Purāna could be as much as the universe that is like an egg divided in fourteen parts. I described His gross form, consisting of His energy and qualities, as being directly the Gigantic Person [the virāth-rūpa]. He who with veneration hears, reads or explains that song of the Supreme Personality of the Supersoul shall, however difficult it is to understand, because of his faith and devotion find his intelligence purified and arrive at comprehension. (39) Hearing about both the gross and the subtle form of the Supreme Lord, the devotee should lead his mind, which is captivated by the gross form, step by step in contemplation to the subtle, spiritual form. (40) Of this planet earth I have described to you the different realms and regions, the rivers, the mountains, the sky, the oceans and the direction and positions of the lower worlds, the hellish worlds and the higher worlds above them, oh King. How wonderful is this gross body of the Supreme Controller wherein the aggregate of all living beings has its place!'

Thus the fifth Canto of the S'rīmad Bhāgavatam ends named: The Creative Impetus.

 

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Third revised edition, loaded July 31, 2018.

 

 

 

Previous Aadhar edition and Vedabase links:

Text 1

The king said: 'Oh great saint, how came this variegation of life in the different worlds about?'
The king said: 'O great saint, from where came the variegated of living in the different worlds?' (Vedabase)


Text 2

The sage said: 'Because of the different convictions, by which the acting person relates to the three basic qualities of nature, there is the variegation of all the destinations, that more or less can be attained by everyone.

The sage said: 'Because of the varying degrees of belief of the ones engaged with the three modes of material nature, became so the complete of the resulting diversity of destinations possible. (Vedabase)
 

Text 3

From the godlessness of what we know as forbidden actions, there will, depending the particular conviction of the one thus engaged, be a different consequence in the form of a karmic rebound. Let me now in detail explain what kinds of thousands of hellish conditions since time immemorial are the logical consequence of lust motivated souls who in countless ways ignorantly desired their advantage.'

Now, of the impiety of what we know as forbidden actions will there accordingly no doubt, depending the difference of faith of the performer, be a different consequence to the karmic action; let me explain to you about the extend of the thousands of hellish conditions typical for the ones of desire who from time immemorial out of ignorance indeed in so many different ways were out for their advantage.' (Vedabase)
 

Text 4

The king said: 'What one calls hell, my lord, is that a particular place on earth, is it found outside the worlds we know or is it a place found somewhere in between of them?'

The king said: 'What one calls hell out here, my lord, is that a particular place on earth or is that outside of the worlds we know, or somewhere in between?' (Vedabase)

 

Text 5

The rishi said: 'Hell is found in between the three worlds, in the south below the earth and a little above the causal waters [below Pātālaloka], in the direction where those forefathers who neglected the sacrificial fire reside [the Agnishvāttas], and who, fully absorbed in the truth, desire the blessings for their families.

The rishi said: 'It is found between the three worlds towards the lower region, beneath the earth; somewhere above the causal waters live they, the forefathers headed by Agnishvāttā, who, in the directing of their own families, with great absorption in the truth are longing for the blessings. (Vedabase)

  

Text 6

The son of the sun god [Yamarāja] has his kingdom there together with his followers. The deceased, who are brought there by his people, are, according to the gravity of their karmic faults, subjected there to punishments carefully executed not to be in offense with the Supreme Lord.

It is there that their ruler, the son of the Sungod [Yamarāja] has his kingdom; the dead brought there by his people are according the weight of their karmic faults subjected to punishments that are executed by him who with his followers is never in transgression with the Supreme Lord. (Vedabase)

  

Text 7

Some [scholars] mention a number of  twenty-one hells, oh King, and some count twenty-eight. Their names, forms and characteristics I shall, one after the other, relate to you. The [28] names of the hells or different places of requital are: Tāmisra, Andhatāmisra, Raurava, Mahāraurava, Kumbhīpāka, Kālasūtra, Asipatravana, Sūkaramukha, Andhakūpa, Krimibhojana, Sandams'a, Taptasūrmi, Vajrakanthaka-s'ālmalī, Vaitaranī, Pūyoda, Prānarodha, Vis'asana, Lālābhaksha, Sārameyādana, Avīci, Ayahpāna, and also Kshārakardama, Rakshogana-bhojana, S'ūlaprota, Dandas'ūka, Avatha-nirodhana, Paryāvartana and Sūcīmukha.

Some are sure to count there twenty-one hells, o King, of which the names, forms and characteristics, I thus, one after another outlining them, will recount to you. There are: Tāmisra, Andhatāmisra, Raurava, Mahāraurava, Kumbhīpāka, Kālasūtra, Asipatrāvana, Sūkaramukha, Andhakūpa, Krimibhojana, Sandams'a, Taptasūrmi, Vajrakanthaka-s'ālmalī, Vaitaranī, Pūyoda, Prānarodha, Vis'asana, Lālābhaksha, Sārameyādana, Avīci, Ayahpāna, and some more like Kshārakardama, Rakshogana-bhojana, S'ūlaprota, Dandas'ūka, Avatha-nirodhana, Paryāvartana and Sūcīmukha. These twenty-eight hells are the different places of requital. (Vedabase)

 

Text 8

Someone who takes away the money, the wife or children of someone else is sure to be bound with the fetters of time by the most frightening men of Yamarāja and by force to be thrown into the hell of Tāmisra ['the darkness']. Having landed in that darkest of all conditions being deprived of food and water, beaten with sticks and scolded, he sometimes, in his desperation, loses his consciousness because of the severe punishments received.

There is the person who, but having taken the money, the wife or another man's children away, is sure, by the most terrible men of death, to be bound with the ropes of time and by force to be thrown into the hell of Tāmisra ['the darkness'] where he has to starve, crave for water, is beaten up with sticks and is scolded at; the living entity by the severe punishments received there loses at times his consciousness having landed in that most dark condition. (Vedabase)


Text 9

He who by cheating enjoys the wife, possessions etc. of someone else, is the same way by force thrown into the hell that is called Andhatāmisra ['blind darkness'] because the embodied soul, as a consequence of the constant agony there, apart from his mind also loses his sight and thus becomes as blind as a tree cut by the roots.

Sure so too is there Andhatāmisra where he, who but cheats another man to enjoy his wife and children, by his life forcibly is thrown into; by suffering always the utmost misery has he, being lost in losing his sense and sight, become much like a tree cut down by the roots, the reason for which one speaks of Andhatāmisra [the 'blind of darkness']. (Vedabase)


Text 10

He who in his life on earth, taking his body for his self and property, harmed other living beings while day after day laboring to support his own family only, will, upon leaving this world, because of that sin end up in Raurava.

The one who in his life here considers his body either to be his self or his own and who so, envious of others selfish, day after day labors to support his own family only, such a person will, giving up on this world, for sure of that sin see himself fall down in Raurava.  (Vedabase)

 

Text 11

With Yamarāja presenting the consequences for this offense, the living beings that were hurt by him in this life will in his afterlife turn into savage creatures [called rurus] who then hurt him to the same extent. Because of these wild beasts that are more vicious than snakes, the scholars speak of Raurava ['the hell of the monsters'].

The beings who in this life were harmed by him, who in the afterlife is being subjected to the miseries of restraint, turn into savage creatures indeed that to the same extend hurt him; because of these savage creatures [called rurus], that are more vicious than snakes, do the scholars thus speak of the name Raurava [which also refers to the fearful, the unsteady and the dishonest]. (Vedabase)

 

Text 12

Similarly there is Mahāraurava [the 'great monster'] wherein someone is killed and eaten by the ruru beasts named kravyāda, just as he himself did solely for the maintenance of his body.

So is there the certainty of Mahāraurava [ the 'great beast'] wherein a person, who is only intent upon maintaining his body, is thrown to be killed and eaten by the ruru animals named kravyāda. (Vedabase)


Text 13

But a person who in this life was very cruel towards [land and sea] animals or birds and cooked them alive, is condemned by even the most cruel-hearted man eaters. After his death the servants of Yamarāja will  throw him in Kumbhīpāka ['the hell of the cooking pot'] to be cooked in boiling oil himself.

But a person who in this life is either very cruel towards animals or cooks them alive is, condemned by even the most cruel hearted man-eaters, in his next life by the servants of Yamaraj thrown in Kumbhīpāka ['the hell of the cooking pot'] to be cooked in boiling oil himself. (Vedabase)


Text 14

And anyone who in this life kills a brahmin, ends up in a hell named Kālasūtra ['the long course of time'] that has a surface of copper with a circumference of ten thousand yojanas and is heated by the sun from above and by a fire from below. With his body internally plagued by hunger and thirst and externally being scorched, he at times lies down and then rolls about, then he jumps to his feet again and next runs hither and thither - and that for the duration of as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the body of an animal.

But anyone out here who kills a brahmin, such a person will be forced into a hell named Kālasūtra ['the long course of time'] that with a circumference of ten-thousand yojanas and a surface of copper is heated by the sun and by fire from above and below. Internally plagued by hunger and thirst and externally being scorched does his body at times stay down, at times move its limbs; at times standing and at times running hither and thither, for the duration of as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the body of an animal. (Vedabase)


Text 15

He who in this life unnecessarily deviated from his path of self-realization and yielded to hypocrisy [or heresy], is forced into a hell known as Asipatravana ['the razor-sharp forest'] where he is beaten with a whip so that he, fleeing away left and right, cuts his body on the two-edged razor sharp palm leaves. He, in denial of his own nature [or neglect of his civil duty], will thus have to face the result of following the wrong path and then, with a lot of pain, stumbling at every step, stupefied thinks: 'Oh, what have I done to myself?'

And anyone who in his life for no reason deviates from the path laid out for him in the Vedas resorting to a system of his own making, is forced into Asi-patravana ['the razor-sharp forest']. There he is beaten with a whip to make him, with that in mind, run in all directions having his body on both sides cut by the razor sharp edges of palm trees; he who killed his own religious principles will thus suffer the result of following an atheistic path and fall down at every step, to which he, having lost his bearings, in the greatest pain then thinks: 'Oh how lost I am!' (Vedabase)


Text 16

Or that head of state or state official who in this life punishes someone innocent or inflicted corporeal punishment on a brahmin will in his next life land in the hell of Sūkaramukha ['hog's mouth']. There the different parts of his body will be crushed by the strong assistants [of Yamarāja] as if it concerned sugarcane. Just like someone who innocently was arrested to be punished, he will then, pitiably crying out loud, be overwhelmed by desperation and faint.

But anyone who in this life as a king or servant of the king inflicts punishment upon an innocent man or beats a brahmin's body, that most sinful one will in his afterlife fall down in the hell of Sūkaramukha ['hog's mouth']. There will the different parts of his body by the strong assistants be crushed as if it concerned sugarcane; just like someone innocently arrested to be punished, will he then, pitiably crying out loud, fully illusioned, at times be fainting. (Vedabase)


Text 17

Some creatures are by the Creator designed to live as parasites unaware of the harm they do to others, but he who in his will to survive himself causes pain very well knowing what he is doing to other creatures of God, lands in his afterlife in Andhakūpa ['the overgrown well']. With the harm he did to the beings in question, he will experience that evil himself. Just like the creatures with an inferior body - the game, the birds, snakes, mosquitos, lice, worms, flies and whatever - [himself having such an inferior body,] he in his turn everywhere in the darkness will be persecuted, hurt and disturbed by them and then wander around without being able to find a place to rest.

Anyone though who in this life, like some creatures designed by the Creator which parasite unaware of the pain caused to others, himself causes pain in his survival while he very well knows what he does to others of God, will land in his afterlife in Andhakūpa ['the overgrown well']. Therein will that person indeed fall down according the evil he did to them, the respective entities, the animals, wild beasts, birds, snakes, mosquitos, lice, worms and flies and whatever others; just as the ones with their inferior body will he in the darkness be persecuted, hurt and disturbed by them everywhere and wander around not being able to find a place to rest. (Vedabase)

 

Text 18

He who in his life eats whatever he obtained by the grace of God but does not share it with others and thus neglects the five forms of sacrifice [to the gods, the wise, the ancestors, the needy and the animals], is just like a crow. Such a person will in his afterlife fall in the most abominable hell of Krimibhojana ['to feed on worms'] where, having landed in a hundred thousand yojanas wide lake full of worms, he as a worm himself may feed on and in his turn be eaten by the other worms, for as many years as that lake measures in yojanas. Such is the pain that he causes himself who - without atoning for his sins - eats food that he did not share and sacrifice.

Or anyone who in his life, without dividing it among others, eats whatever he obtained by the grace of God in neglect of the five forms of sacrifice [to the gods, the wise, the ancestors, the needy and the animals], is considered to be alike a crow; such a person will in his afterlife fall down into the most abominable hell of Krimibhojana ['to feed on worms'] where, landing in a hundred thousand yojanas wide lake full of worms, he as a worm himself may feed on and on his turn be eaten by the other worms for as many years as that lake is wide. Such is the pain that he, who without atonement eats food not shared and offered, gives himself. (Vedabase)

 

Text 19

When one for no apparent reason in this life by means of theft or violence, takes away gold, gems and so on from a brahmin or from others, oh King, one will in his afterlife by the men of Yamarāja be forced to hold red-hot iron balls and then get his skin torn off by tongs [because of which that hell is called Sandams'a, 'tongs hell'].

Anyone indeed who without apparent reason in this life is of theft or violence, stealing gold, gems and so on from a brahmin or from others, that person, o King, will in his afterlife by the men of Yamarāja with red-hot iron balls and tongs have his skin torn to pieces [because of the tongs is that hell called Sandams'a]. (Vedabase)

 

Text 20

Any person, man or woman, who in this life approached someone of the same or the opposite sex for illicit [by law prohibited] sexual intercourse, will in his afterlife be beaten by whips and forced to embrace a very hot iron image in the form of a man when one is a woman or in the form of a woman when one is a man [: Taptasūrmi, the hell of 'the red hot iron statue'].

Or any person, both man or woman, who in this life approaches an unsuitable desirous one for sexual intercourse, will in his afterlife be beaten by whips and forced to embrace a very hot iron image to the form of a man being a woman or the form of a woman being a man [: Taptasūrmi, the hell of 'the red hot iron statue']. (Vedabase)

 

Text 21

Anyone who in this life indulges in indiscriminate sexual intercourse [also with animals e.g.], will in his afterlife land in the hell of Vajrakanthaka-s'ālmalī ['the thunderbolt-thorn cotton tree'] where he, being hung [on thorns], will be pulled down.

Anyone who in this life indiscriminately has sexual intercourse, will in his afterlife be in the hell of Vajrakanthaka-s'ālmalī ['thunderbolt-thorn cotton tree'] where hung [on the thorns] he will be pulled down. (Vedabase)

 

Text 22

They who in this life belonging to the royalty or the government despite their high birth transgressed the boundaries of dharma, will after their death land in Vaitaranī ['the river of impetuous passion']. Having broken with the code of conduct for the ruling class they suffer in the moat around that hell being eaten by ferocious animals in the stream here and there. Unable to relinquish the body because of the strenght of  the vitality of their sin, they are then reminded of their bad deeds as they are pained in the river of stool, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and fat.

Or persons who in this life were truly of royalty or of the government, but despite of a high birth transgressed the boundaries of dharma, they having died fall down in Vaitaranī ['the river of impetuous passion']; having broken with the principles of rule do they suffer in that moat around hell being eating by ferocious animals in the stream here and there. Unable to relinquish the body and carried by the vitality of their sin are they then reminded of their bad deeds pained in the river of stool, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and fat. (Vedabase)

 

Text 23

Those men who in this life as husbands of lower class women lost their cleanliness, good behavior and regulated life, and shamelessly behaved themselves like animals, will, when they have died, land in an ocean full of pus, excrement, urine, mucus and saliva, and only be able to subsist on everything that is extremely revolting [: the Pūyoda hell of 'fetid waters'].

But persons who in this life indeed as husbands to low class women lost their cleanliness, good behavior and regulated life, in shamelessly behaving like animals, they too will, having died, fall in an ocean full of pus, excrement, urine, mucus and saliva, only eating all that which is so extremely disgusting [: the Pūyoda hell of 'fetid waters']. (Vedabase)

 

Text 24

The leaders belonging to the higher classes - including the brahmins -  who in this life keeping dogs or asses take pleasure in hunting with them, will, killing animals other than prescribed, after their death themselves become the target of Yamarāja's men who will pierce them with arrows [: the hell of Prānarodha, 'smothering the breath'].

Those though affiliated to the brahminical, who in this life either keeping dogs or asses, take pleasure in hunting with them to kill animals in defiance of the rules, will after their death themselves become the targets of Yamarāja's men who will pierce them with arrows [the hell of Prānarodha, 'the suppression of breath']. (Vedabase)


Text 25

People who, in this life being most proud of their wealth and position, kill animals for their prestige in sacrificing, will in the next world fall into the hell of Vis'asana ['the sleeplessness'], where the helpers of Yamarāja make them suffer and cut them to pieces.

And people who in this life being so very proud of their wealth and position for their prestige in sacrifices kill animals, they will in the next world fall into the hell of Vis'asana ['the sleeplessness'], where the helpers of Yamarāja will make them suffer and will kill them. (Vedabase)

 

Text 26

But he who in this life as someone of the higher classes [dvija], bewildered by his lusts causes his wife of the same caste to drink his semen, will because of that sin in his next life be thrown into a river of semen and be forced to drink it himself [this is the hell of Lālābhaksha, 'to have semen for food'].

But he who in this life as a high class person, deluded by his lusts causes the wife of the same caste to drink his semen, will of that sin in his next life be thrown into a river of semen and be forced to drink it himself [this is the hell of Lālābhaksha, 'to have semen for food'].  (Vedabase)

 

Text 27

Or those kings and their servants who in this world as thieves, arsonists and poisoners ransack villages and plunder caravans, will, after they died, be devoured by the voracious seven hundred twenty dogs with mighty teeth of the Yamadūtas [: the hell of Sārameyādana 'the dogs' meal'].

And persons who out here as real thieves of arson and poison plundered villages, as well as those of the mercantile class, the royalty and the government who as such belong to them, will for certain after they died, be devoured by the voracious sevenhundred-twenty mighty toothed dogs of the Yamadūtas [: the hell of Sārameyādana 'the dogs meal']. (Vedabase)

 

Text 28

Also the one who in this life speaks a lie or bears false witness in business transactions, in gifts of charity or in other affairs, will, after his death, head first free fall be thrown from the top of a hundred yojanas high mountain in the hell of Avīcimat ['having no water']. There the arid land consisting of stones waves like a sea where he, with his body broken everywhere, does not die, but instead is dragged to the top to be thrown down again.

He who also in this life speaks a lie or bears false witness in exchange for goods, in giving charity or in some other way, will after his death, head first, free fall been thrown into the hell of Avīcimat ['having no water'] from the top of a hundred yojana high mountain. There is the arid land of stone waves where he, with the body broken in pieces, does not die but is raised to the top to fall down again.  (Vedabase)

 

Text 29

When a brahmin or his wife drinks soma-rasa [a sacred intoxicating beverage], or when a ruler or trader in this life in a state of illusion drinks liquor, while they have taken a vow [not to], they will all be brought to the hell where, with a foot on their chest, red-hot molten iron will be poured into their mouths [: the hell of Ayahpāna, 'drinking iron'].

Or if a brahmin or his wife, or anyone under a vow, ot of illusion in this life, drinks liquor, or when a learned one, a ruler or a trader drinks intoxicating beverages [soma-rasa], will they all, being brought to hell, by foot be stepped on their chest and have red-hot molten iron poured into their mouths [: the hell of Ayahpāna, 'iron-drink']. (Vedabase)

 

Text 30

Next to that one must consider anyone a living corpse who, being low-born or degraded, in this life falsely proud failed to be respectful towards a more honorable person of a higher birth, austerity, knowledge, good behavior and faithfulness to the principles. After his death, he will, head first, be thrown in the hell of Kshārakardama [the 'pool of acrid mud'] to suffer there the severest agony.

Furthermore, anyone also who in this life but by false pride proved himself degraded before a more honorable one of good birth, austerity, knowledge, good behavior and loyalty to the principles, in not showing much of respect, is a dead man alive who after dying head down is thrown into the hell of Kshārakardama [the 'pool of acrid mud'] to suffer there the most painful conditions. (Vedabase)

 

Text 31

Men who in this life sacrificed other people in worship [of Kālī] and the women who ate those people, those kind of murderers will be slain like animals in the abode of Yamarāja by groups of punishing Rākshasas who, just like those man-eaters did themselves, will cut them with swords to pieces, drink their blood and dance and sing thereto in delight [: the hell called Rakshogana-bhojana, 'to be the food of the devil'].

And persons who in this life as men and women sacrificed other people in worship [of Kālī] to eat them afterwards, those killers will like animals be slain in the abode of Yamarāja by punishing rākshasas just like them who cut them with swords to pieces, drink their blood and dance and sing thereto in delight just like they as man-eaters themselves did in the world [the hell called Rakshogana-bhojana, 'to be the food of the devil']. (Vedabase)

 

Text 32

But persons who in this world lured innocent creatures, seeking shelter in the forest or the village, by making them feel safe, but instead caused them pain by playing games with them, piercing their bodies or putting them on a leash, those people after their death can be sure that their own bodies will be fixed likewise and that they, starved and thirsty and such, will be tortured from all sides by sharp beaked birds like herons and vultures so that they may remember the sins they committed [the hell of S'ūlaprota, 'pierced by the pike'].

Persons though who out here allured innocent creatures seeking shelter in the forest or the village, making them believe to be safe, but instead gave them pain fixing them like a plaything on a lance or a leash, those people are certain after their death to have their own bodies be fixed likewise and, overwhelmed by hunger and thirst and such, to be tortured by sharp beaked birds like herons and vultures, so that they may remember the sins they committed [the hell of S'ūlaprota, 'pierced on the lance']. (Vedabase)

 

Text 33

Also those men who, like snakes with an angry nature, in this life caused pain to others without any necessity, will, after their death, fall down in a hell called Dandas'ūka ['the cudgel in return'] where, oh King, five- and seven-hooded serpents raise before them in order to eat them just like mice.

Those men of an angry nature, who in this life actually caused unnecessary pain to others, they too will after their death fall down in a hell called Dandas'ūka ['the cudgel in return'] where, o King, five- and seven hooded serpents raise to eat them just like mice.  (Vedabase)

 

Text 34

Or they who in this life confine living beings either in blind wells, in granaries or in caves, will likewise in their next life be forced to enter the same places, to be locked up there with poisonous fumes, fire and smoke [: the hell called Avatha-nirodhana, 'to be thrown in the dark'].

Or, people who in this life either in a blind well, in granaries or in caves, confine living beings, will likewise in the next life for sure be forced to enter the same places to be confined there with poisonous fumes, fire and smoke [the hell called Avatha-nirodhana, 'to be thrown in the dark']. (Vedabase)

 

Text 35

Someone who in this life, as a householder, every time he received guests or visitors, gave them a sinful look of anger as if he wanted to burn them with his eyes, for sure will land in the hell meant for those with a sinful vision, where his eyes will be plucked out by the powerful beaks of herons, vultures and crows [the hell of Paryāvartana, 'the eyes plucked'].

But a person who this life as a householder repeatedly receiving guests or visitors, gave them a sinful look of anger as if to burn them with his eyes, he for sure lands in the hell of those with a sinful vision where one's eyes violently by the powerful beaks of herons, vultures and crows are plucked out [the hell of Paryāvartana, 'the eyes plucked']. (Vedabase)

 

Text 36

Also those egoists who with a look of disapproval regard all with suspicion, whose heart and face dry up by the thought of expenditure and loss, and who like evil spirits protecting their wealth are never happy, will after their death because of their sinful deeds to protect those riches and increase their incomes, fall down in a hell called Sūcīmukha ['the pin first'], where the commanders of Yamarāja like expert weavers with thread and needle will stitch the limbs of the bodies of those money grabbing ghosts and sinners.

The egotistical ones whose vision is crooked, who are full of suspicion towards all and whose heart and face by the thought of expenditure and loss have dried up, and who like ghosts protecting the wealth never find happiness, they too, after death will of the sinful acts to protect those riches and their increase of income, fall down in a hell called Sūcīmukha ['the pin-first'], where indeed the commanders of Yamarāja like expert weavers with thread and needle stitch the limbs of the body of the money grabbing ghost and great sinner. (Vedabase)

 

Text 37

For all those who act against the dharma as I mentioned and also for those I did not mention, there are, according to the degree of sinfulness, all these sorts of hells to fall into. There are many hundreds and thousands of them in the realm of Yamarāja, oh King. For those souls of principle and piety however, who reached the end of their virtue or vice, there are elsewhere in this world [or in this universe] new lives to enter [compare B.G. 4: 9].

For all lacking in dharma as I mentioned and also for those I did not mention, are there, according the degree of sinfulness, all these sorts of hells to fall into. There are many hundreds and thousands of them in the realm of Yamarāja, o King; similarly are there elsewhere in this world for the ones of principle and piety new births to enter when the results of their piety or vice are exhausted [compare B.G. 4: 9 and 3.30: 29]. (Vedabase)

 

Text 38

In the beginning I described to you the path of liberation [in cantos two and three]. There I showed you how the Supreme Lord Nārāyana in the stories of the Purāna could be as much as the universe that is like an egg divided in fourteen parts. I described His gross form, consisting of His energy and qualities, as being directly the Gigantic Person [the virāth-rūpa]. He who with veneration hears, reads or explains that song of the Supreme Personality of the Supersoul shall, however difficult it is to understand, because of his faith and devotion find his intelligence purified and arrive at comprehension.

The path of liberation I described to you in the beginning [cantos two and three]; there I showed how the Supreme Lord Nārāyana in the purāna sure could be as much as the universe that is like an egg divided in fourteen parts; I described the gross form of Him, consisting of His own energy and qualities, as directly the Great Person [the virāth-rūpa]. That person who venerating hears and reads or explains about that song of the Supreme Personality of the Supersoul will, although it is difficult to understand, by faith and devotion have his intelligence purified so that he may comprehend. (Vedabase)

 

Text 39

Hearing about both the gross and the subtle form of the Supreme Lord, the devotee should lead his mind, which is captivated by the gross form, step by step in contemplation to the subtle, spiritual form.

Hearing about the gross as well as the subtle form of the Supreme Lord, should the adept of transcendence lead the mind which is captivated by the gross form, thus in contemplation step by step to the subtle, the spiritual form. (Vedabase)

 

Text 40

Of this planet earth I have described to you the different realms and regions, the rivers, the mountains, the sky, the oceans and the direction and positions of the lower worlds, the hellish worlds and the higher worlds above them, oh King. How wonderful is this gross body of the Supreme Controller wherein the aggregate of all living beings has its place!'

Of this planet earth, have the different realms and regions, the rivers, the mountains, the sky, the oceans and the direction and situations of the lower worlds, the hellish worlds and the higher worlds above by me been described to you, o King; how wonderful this gross body of the Supreme Controller is where the whole mass of living entities reposes!' (Vedabase)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The text and audio are offered under the conditions of the
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
The picture is titled: "Hell (Hölle)"Hortus Deliciarum
Artist: Herrad von Landsberg (about 1180).
Source.
Production: Filognostic Association of The Order of Time


  

 

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