SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM: CANTO 5

(1) The king said: 'O great saint, from where rose the variegated forms of living in the different worlds?

(2) 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. (3) 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.'

(4) 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?'

(5) 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 Agnishvâttâ, who, in the directing of their own families, with great absorption in the truth are longing for the blessings. (6) It is there that their ruler, the son of the Sungod [Yamarâja] 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. (7) 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: Tâmisra, Andhatâmisra, Raurava, Mahâraurava, Kumbhîpâka, Kâlasûtra, Asipatrâvana, Sûkaramukha, Andhakûpa, Krimibhojana, Sandams'a, Taptasûrmi, Vajrakanthaka-s'âlmalî, Vaitaranî, Pûyoda, Prânarodha, Vis'asana, Lâlâbhaksha, Sârameyâdana, Avîci, Ayahpâna, and some more like Kshârakardama, Rakshogana-bhojana, S'ûlaprota, Dandas'ûka, Avatha-nirodhana, Paryâvartana and Sûcîmukha. These twenty-eight hells are the different places of requital.

(8) 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 Tâmisra ['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. (9) Sure so too is there Andhatâmisra 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 Andhatâmisra [the 'blind of darkness']. (10) 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. (11) 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]. (12) So is there the certainty of Mahâraurava [ 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 kravyâda. (13) 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 Kumbhîpâka ['the hell of the cooking pot'] to be cooked in boiling oil himself. (14) But anyone out here who kills a brahmin, such a person will be forced into a hell named Kâlasûtra ['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. (15) 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!' (16) 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 Sûkaramukha ['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. (17) 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 Andhakûpa ['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. (18) 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. (19) 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 Yamarâja with red-hot iron balls and tongs have his skin torn to pieces [because of the tongs is that hell called Sandams'a]. (20) 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 [: Taptasûrmi, the hell of 'the red hot iron statue']. (21) Anyone who in this life indiscriminately has sexual intercourse, will in his afterlife be in the hell of Vajrakanthaka-s'âlmalî ['thunderbolt-thorn cotton tree'] where hung [on the thorns] he will be pulled down. (22) 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 Vaitaranî ['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. (23) 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 Pûyoda hell of 'fetid waters']. (24) 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 Yamarâja's men who will pierce them with arrows [the hell of Prânarodha, 'the suppression of breath']. (25) 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 Yamarâja will make them suffer and will kill them. (26) 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 Lâlâbhaksha, 'to have semen for food']. (27) 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 Yamadûtas [: the hell of Sârameyâdana 'the dogs meal']. (28) 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 Avîcimat ['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. (29) Or if a brahmin or his wife, or anyone under a vow, out 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 Ayahpâna, 'iron-drink'].

(30) 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 Kshârakardama [the 'pool of acrid mud'] to suffer there the most painful conditions. (31) And persons who in this life as men and women sacrificed other people in worship [of Kâlî] to eat them afterwards, those killers will like animals be slain in the abode of Yamarâja by punishing râkshasas 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']. (32) 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'ûlaprota, 'pierced on the lance']. (33) 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'ûka ['the cudgel in return'] where, o King, five- and seven hooded serpents raise to eat them just like mice. (34) 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']. (35) 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 Paryâvartana, 'the eyes plucked']. (36) 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 Sûcîmukha ['the pin-first'], where indeed the commanders of Yamarâja like expert weavers with thread and needle stitch the limbs of the body of the money grabbing ghost and great sinner.

(37) 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 Yamarâja, 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]. (38) The path of liberation I described to you in the beginning [cantos two and three]; there I showed how the Supreme Lord Nârâyana in the purâna 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 virâth-rûpa]. 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. (39) 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. (40) 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!'

Thus ends the fifth Canto of the S'rîmad Bhâgavatam named 'The Creative Impetus'.

The King said: 'O great saint, from where rose the variegated forms of living in the different worlds?'

King Parîkshit inquired from S'ukadeva Gosvâmî: My dear sir, why are the living entities put into different material situations? Kindly explain this to me. (Vedabase)

Text 2

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.

The great sage S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said: My dear King, in this material world there are three kinds of activities--those in the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. Because all people are influenced by the three modes of material nature, the results of their activities are also divided into three. One who acts in the mode of goodness is religious and happy, one who acts in passion achieves mixed misery and happiness, and one who acts under the influence of ignorance is always unhappy and lives like an animal. Because of the varying degrees to which the living entities are influenced by the different modes of nature, their destinations are also of different varieties. (Vedabase)

Text 3

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.'

Just as by executing various pious activities one achieves different positions in heavenly life, by acting impiously one achieves different positions in hellish life. Those who are activated by the material mode of ignorance engage in impious activities, and according to the extent of their ignorance, they are placed in different grades of hellish life. If one acts in the mode of ignorance because of madness, his resulting misery is the least severe. One who acts impiously but knows the distinction between pious and impious activities is placed in a hell of intermediate severity. And for one who acts impiously and ignorantly because of atheism, the resultant hellish life is the worst. Because of ignorance, every living entity has been carried by various desires into thousands of different hellish planets since time immemorial. I shall try to describe them as far as possible. (Vedabase)

Text 4

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?'

King Parîkshit inquired from S'ukadeva Gosvâmî: My dear lord, are the hellish regions outside the universe, within the covering of the universe, or in different places on this planet?. (Vedabase)

Text 5

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 Agnishvâttâ, who, in the directing of their own families, with great absorption in the truth are longing for the blessings.

The great sage S'ukadeva Gosvâmî answered: All the hellish planets are situated in the intermediate space between the three worlds and the Garbhodaka Ocean. They lie on the southern side of the universe, beneath Bhû-mandala, and slightly above the water of the Garbhodaka Ocean. Pitriloka is also located in this region between the Garbhodaka Ocean and the lower planetary systems. All the residents of Pitriloka, headed by Agnishvâttâ, meditate in great samâdhi on the Supreme Personality of Godhead and always wish their families well. (Vedabase)

Text 6

It is there that their ruler, the son of the Sungod [Yamarâja] 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.

The King of the pitâs is Yamarâja, the very powerful son of the sun-god. He resides in Pitriloka with his personal assistants and, while abiding by the rules and regulations set down by the Supreme Lord, has his agents, the Yamadûtas, bring all the sinful men to him immediately upon their death. After bringing them within his jurisdiction, he properly judges them according to their specific sinful activities and sends them to one of the many hellish planets for suitable punishments. (Vedabase)

Text 7

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: Tâmisra, Andhatâmisra, Raurava, Mahâraurava, Kumbhîpâka, Kâlasûtra, Asipatrâvana, Sûkaramukha, Andhakûpa, Krimibhojana, Sandams'a, Taptasûrmi, Vajrakanthaka-s'âlmalî, Vaitaranî, Pûyoda, Prânarodha, Vis'asana, Lâlâbhaksha, Sârameyâdana, Avîci, Ayahpâna, and some more like Kshârakardama, Rakshogana-bhojana, S'ûlaprota, Dandas'ûka, Avatha-nirodhana, Paryâvartana and Sûcîmukha. These twenty-eight hells are the different places of requital.

Some authorities say that there is a total of twenty-one hellish planets, and some say twenty-eight. My dear King, I shall outline all of them according to their names, forms and symptoms. The names of the different hells are as follows: Tâmisra, Andhatâmisra, Raurava, Mahâraurava, Kumbhîpakâ, Kâlasûtra, Asi-patravana, Sûkaramukha, Andhakûpa, Krimibhojana, Sandams'a, Taptasûrmi, Vajrakanthaka-s'âlmalî, Vaitaranî, Pûyoda, Prânarodha, Vis'asana, Lâlâbhaksha, Sârameyâdana, Avîci, Ayahpâna, Kshârakardama, Rakshogana-bhojana, S'ûlaprota, Dandas'ûka, Avatha-nirodhana, Paryâvartana and Sûcîmukha. All these planets are meant for punishing the living entities. (Vedabase)

Text 8

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 Tâmisra ['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.

My dear King, a person who appropriates another's legitimate wife, children or money is arrested at the time of death by the fierce Yamadûtas, who bind him with the rope of time and forcibly throw him into the hellish planet known as Tâmisra. On this very dark planet, the sinful man is chastised by the Yamadûtas, who beat and rebuke him. He is starved, and he is given no water to drink. Thus the wrathful assistants of Yamarâja cause him severe suffering, and sometimes he faints from their chastisement. (Vedabase)

Text 9

Sure so too is there Andhatâmisra 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 Andhatâmisra [the 'blind of darkness'].

The destination of a person who slyly cheats another man and enjoys his wife and children is the hell known as Andhatâmisra. There his condition is exactly like that of a tree being chopped at its roots. Even before reaching Andhatâmisra, the sinful living being is subjected to various extreme miseries. These afflictions are so severe that he loses his intelligence and sight. It is for this reason that learned sages call this hell Andhatâmisra. (Vedabase)

Text 10

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.

A person who accepts his body as his self works very hard day and night for money to maintain his own body and the bodies of his wife and children. While working to maintain himself and his family, he may commit violence against other living entities. Such a person is forced to give up his body and his family at the time of death, when he suffers the reaction for his envy of other creatures by being thrown into the hell called Raurava. (Vedabase)

Text 11

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].

In this life, an envious person commits violent acts against many living entities. Therefore after his death, when he is taken to hell by Yamarâja, those living entities who were hurt by him appear as animals called rurus to inflict very severe pain upon him. Learned scholars call this hell Raurava. Not generally seen in this world, the ruru is more envious than a snake. (Vedabase)

Text 12

So is there the certainty of Mahâraurava [ 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 kravyâda.

Punishment in the hell called Mahâraurava is compulsory for a person who maintains his own body by hurting others. In this hell, ruru animals known as kravyâda torment him and eat his flesh. (Vedabase)

Text 13

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 Kumbhîpâka ['the hell of the cooking pot'] to be cooked in boiling oil himself .

For the maintenance of their bodies and the satisfaction of their tongues, cruel persons cook poor animals and birds alive. Such persons are condemned even by man-eaters. In their next lives they are carried by the Yamadûtas to the hell known as Kumbhîpakâ, where they are cooked in boiling oil. (Vedabase)

Text 14

But anyone out here who kills a brahmin, such a person will be forced into a hell named Kâlasûtra ['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.

The killer of a brâhmana is put into the hell known as Kâlasûtra, which has a circumference of eighty thousand miles and which is made entirely of copper. Heated from below by fire and from above by the scorching sun, the copper surface of this planet is extremely hot. Thus the murderer of a brâhmana suffers from being burned both internally and externally. Internally he is burning with hunger and thirst, and externally he is burning from the scorching heat of the sun and the fire beneath the copper surface. Therefore he sometimes lies down, sometimes sits, sometimes stands up and sometimes runs here and there. He must suffer in this way for as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the body of an animal. (Vedabase)

Text 15

And anyone who in his life for no reason deviates from the path laid out for him in the Vedas by 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!'

If a person deviates from the path of the Vedas in the absence of an emergency, the servants of Yamarâja put him into the hell called Asi-patravana, where they beat him with whips. When he runs hither and thither, fleeing from the extreme pain, on all sides he runs into palm trees with leaves like sharpened swords. Thus injured all over his body and fainting at every step, he cries out, "Oh, what shall I do now! How shall I be saved!" This is how one suffers who deviates from the accepted religious principles. (Vedabase)

Text 16

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 Sûkaramukha ['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.

In his next life, a sinful king or governmental representative who punishes an innocent person, or who inflicts corporal punishment upon a brâhmana, is taken by the Yamadûtas to the hell named Sûkaramukha, where the most powerful assistants of Yamarâja crush him exactly as one crushes sugarcane to squeeze out the juice. The sinful living entity cries very pitiably and faints, just like an innocent man undergoing punishments. This is the result of punishing a faultless person. (Vedabase)

Text 17

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 Andhakûpa ['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.

By the arrangement of the Supreme Lord, low-grade living beings like bugs and mosquitoes suck the blood of human beings and other animals. Such insignificant creatures are unaware that their bites are painful to the human being. However, first-class human beings--brâhmanas, kshatriyas and vais'yas--are developed in consciousness, and therefore they know how painful it is to be killed. A human being endowed with knowledge certainly commits sin if he kills or torments insignificant creatures, who have no discrimination. The Supreme Lord punishes such a man by putting him into the hell known as Andhakûpa, where he is attacked by all the birds and beasts, reptiles, mosquitoes, lice, worms, flies, and any other creatures he tormented during his life. They attack him from all sides, robbing him of the pleasure of sleep. Unable to rest, he constantly wanders about in the darkness. Thus in Andhakûpa his suffering is just like that of a creature in the lower species. (Vedabase)

Text 18:

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.

A person is considered no better than a crow if after receiving some food, he does not divide it among guests, old men and children, but simply eats it himself, or if he eats it without performing the five kinds of sacrifice. After death he is put into the most abominable hell, known as Krimibhojana. In that hell is a lake becomes a worm in that lake and feeds on the other worms there, who also feed on him. Unless he atones for his actions before his death, such a sinful man remains in the hellish lake of Krimibhojana for as many years as there are yojanas in the width of the lake. (Vedabase)

Text 19:

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 Yamarâja with red-hot iron balls and tongs have his skin torn to pieces [because of the tongs is that hell called Sandams'a].

My dear King, a person who in the absence of an emergency robs a brâhmana--or, indeed, anyone else--of his gems and gold is put into a hell known as Sandams'a. There his skin is torn and separated by red-hot iron balls and tongs. In this way, his entire body is cut to pieces. (Vedabase)

Text 20:

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 [: Taptasûrmi, the hell of 'the red hot iron statue'].

A man or woman who indulges in sexual intercourse with an unworthy member of the opposite sex is punished after death by the assistants of Yamarâja in the hell known as Taptasûrmi. There such men and women are beaten with whips. The man is forced to embrace a red-hot iron form of a woman, and the woman is forced to embrace a similar form of a man. Such is the punishment for illicit sex. (Vedabase)

Text 21:

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

A person who indulges in sex indiscriminately--even with animals--is taken after death to the hell known as Vajrakanthaka-s'âlmalî. In this hell there is a silk-cotton tree full of thorns as strong as thunderbolts. The agents of Yamarâja hang the sinful man on that tree and pull him down forcibly so that the thorns very severely tear his body. (Vedabase)

Text 22:

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 Vaitaranî ['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.

A person who is born into a responsible family--such as a ksatriya, a member of royalty or a government servant--but who neglects to execute his prescribed duties according to religious principles, and who thus becomes degraded, falls down at the time of death into the river of hell known as Vaitaranî. This river, which is a moat surrounding hell, is full of ferocious aquatic animals. When a sinful man is thrown into the River Vaitaranî, the aquatic animals there immediately begin to eat him, but because of his extremely sinful life, he does not leave his body. He constantly remembers his sinful activities and suffers terribly in that river, which is full of stool, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and fat. (Vedabase)

Text 23:

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 Pûyoda hell of 'fetid waters'] .

The shameless husbands of lowborn sudra women live exactly like animals, and therefore they have no good behavior, cleanliness or regulated life. After death, such persons are thrown into the hell called Pûyoda, where they are put into an ocean filled with pus, stool, urine, mucus, saliva and similar things. S'ûdras who could not improve themselves fall into that ocean and are forced to eat those disgusting things. (Vedabase)

Text 24:

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 Yamarâja's men who will pierce them with arrows [the hell of Prânarodha, 'the suppression of breath'].

If in this life a man of the higher classes [brâhmana, kshatriya and vais'ya] is very fond of taking his pet dogs, mules or asses into the forest to hunt and kill animals unnecessarily, he is placed after death into the hell known as Prânarodha. There the assistants of Yamarâja make him their targets and pierce him with arrows. (Vedabase)

Text 25:

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 Yamarâja will make them suffer and will kill them.

A person who in this life is proud of his eminent position, and who heedlessly sacrifices animals simply for material prestige, is put into the hell called Vis'asana after death. There the assistants of Yamarâja kill him after giving him unlimited pain. (Vedabase)

Text 26:

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 Lâlâbhaksha, 'to have semen for food'].

If a foolish member of the twice-born classes [brâhmana, kshatriya and vais'ya] forces his wife to drink his semen out of a lusty desire to keep her under control, he is put after death into the hell known as Lâlâbhaksha. There he is thrown into a flowing river of semen, which he is forced to drink. (Vedabase)

Text 27:

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 Yamadûtas [: the hell of Sârameyâdana 'the dogs meal'].

In this world, some persons are professional plunderers who set fire to others' houses or administer poison to them. Also, members of the royalty or government officials sometimes plunder mercantile men by forcing them to pay income tax and by other methods. After death such demons are put into the hell known as Sârameyâdana. On that planet there are 720 dogs with teeth as strong as thunderbolts. Under the orders of the agents of Yamarâja, these dogs voraciously devour such sinful people. (Vedabase)

Text 28:

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 Avîcimat ['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.

A person who in this life bears false witness or lies while transacting business or giving charity is severely punished after death by the agents of Yamarâja. Such a sinful man is taken to the top of a mountain eight hundred miles high and thrown headfirst into the hell known as Avîcimat. This hell has no shelter and is made of strong stone resembling the waves of water. There is no water there, however, and thus it is called Avîcimat [waterless]. Although the sinful man is repeatedly thrown from the mountain and his body broken to tiny pieces, he still does not die but continuously suffers chastisement. (Vedabase)

Text 29:

Or if a brahmin or his wife, or anyone under a vow, out 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 Ayahpâna, 'iron-drink'].

Any brâhmana or brâhmana's wife who drinks liquor is taken by the agents of Yamarâja to the hell known as Ayahpâna. This hell also awaits any kshatriya, vais'ya, or person under a vow who in illusion drinks soma-rasa. In Ayahpâna the agents of Yamarâja stand on their chests and pour hot melted iron into their mouths. (Vedabase)

Text 30:

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 Kshârakardama [the 'pool of acrid mud'] to suffer there the most painful conditions.

A lowborn and abominable person who in this life becomes falsely proud, thinking "I am great," and who thus fails to show proper respect to one more elevated than he by birth, austerity, education, behavior, caste or spiritual order, is like a dead man even in this lifetime, and after death he is thrown headfirst into the hell known as Kshârakardama. There he must great suffer great tribulation at the hands of the agents of Yamarâja. (Vedabase)

Text 31:

And persons who in this life as men and women sacrificed other people in worship [of Kâlî] to eat them afterwards, those killers will like animals be slain in the abode of Yamarâja by punishing râkshasas 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'].

There are men and women in this world who sacrifice human beings to Bhairava or Bhadra Kâlî and then eat their victims' flesh. Those who perform such sacrifices are taken after death to the abode of Yamarâja, where their victims, having taken the form of Râkshasas, cut them to pieces with sharpened swords. Just as in this world the man-eaters drank their victims' blood, dancing and singing in jubilation, their victims now enjoy drinking the blood of the sacrificers and celebrating in the same way. (Vedabase)

Text 32:

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'ûlaprota, 'pierced on the peak'].

In this life some people give shelter to animals and birds that come to them for protection in the village or forest, and after making them believe that they will be protected, such people pierce them with lances or threads and play with them like toys, giving them great pain. After death such people are brought by the assistants of Yamarâja to the hell known as S'ûlaprota, where their bodies are pierced with sharp, needlelike lances. They suffer from hunger and thirst, and sharp-beaked birds such as vultures and herons come at them from all sides to tear at their bodies. Tortured and suffering, they can then remember the sinful activities they committed in the past. (Vedabase)

Text 33:

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'ûka ['the cudgel in return'] where, o King, five- and seven hooded serpents raise to eat them just like mice.

Those who in this life are like envious serpents, always angry and giving pain to other living entities, fall after death into the hell known as Dandas'uka. My dear King, in this hell there are serpents with five or seven hoods. These serpents eat such sinful persons just as snakes eat mice. (Vedabase)

Text 34:

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'].

Those who in this life confine other living entities in dark wells, granaries or mountain caves are put after death into the hell known as Avatha-nirodhana. There they themselves are pushed into dark wells, where poisonous fumes and smoke suffocate them and they suffer very severely. (Vedabase)

Text 35:

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 Paryâvartana, 'the eyes plucked'].

A householder who receives guests or visitors with cruel glances, as if to burn them to ashes, is put into the hell called Paryâvartana, where he is gazed at by hard-eyed vultures, herons, crows and similar birds, which suddenly swoop down and pluck out his eyes with great force. (Vedabase)

Text 36:

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 Sûcîmukha ['the pin-first'], where indeed the commanders of Yamarâja like expert weavers with thread and needle stitch the limbs of the body of the money grabbing ghost and great sinner.

One who in this world or this life is very proud of his wealth always thinks, "I am so rich. Who can equal me?" His vision is twisted, and he is always afraid that someone will take his wealth. Indeed, he even suspects his superiors. His face and heart dry up at the thought of losing his wealth, and therefore he always looks like a wretched fiend. He is not in any way able to obtain actual happiness, and he does not know what it is to be free from anxiety. Because of the sinful things he does to earn money, augment his wealth and protect it, he is put into the hell called Sûcîmukha, where the officials of Yamarâja punish him by stitching thread through his entire body like weavers manufacturing cloth. (Vedabase)

Text 37:

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 Yamarâja, 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].

My dear King Parîkshit, in the province of Yamarâja there are hundreds and thousands of hellish planets. The impious people I have mentioned--and also those I have not mentioned--must all enter these various planets according to the degree of their impiety. Those who are pious, however, enter other planetary systems, namely the planets of the demigods. Nevertheless, both the pious and impious are again brought to earth after the results of their pious or impious acts are exhausted. (Vedabase)

Text 38:

The path of liberation I described to you in the beginning [cantos two and three]; there I showed how the Supreme Lord Nârâyana in the purâna 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 virâth-rûpa]. 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.

In the beginning [the Second and Third Cantos of S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam] I have already described how one can progress on the path of liberation. In the Purânas the vast universal existence, which is like an egg divided into fourteen parts, is described. This vast form is considered the external body of the Lord, created by His energy and qualities. It is generally called the virâth-rûpa . If one reads the description of this external form of the Lord with great faith, or if one hears about it or explains it to others to propagate bhâgavata-dharma, or Krishna consciousness, his faith and devotion in spiritual consciousness, Krishna consciousness, will gradually increase. Although developing this consciousness is very difficult, by this process one can purify himself and gradually come to an awareness of the Supreme Absolute Truth. (Vedabase)

Text 39:

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.

One who is interested in liberation, who accepts the path of liberation and is not attracted to the path of conditional life, is called yati, or a devotee. Such a person should first control his mind by thinking of the virâth-rûpa , the gigantic universal form of the Lord, and then gradually think of the spiritual form of Krishna [sac-cid-ânanda-vigraha] after hearing of both forms. Thus one's mind is fixed in samâdhi. By devotional service one can then realize the spiritual form of the Lord, which is the destination of devotees. Thus his life becomes successful. (Vedabase)

Text 40:

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!

My dear King, I have now described for you this planet earth, other planetary systems, and their lands [varshas], rivers and mountains. I have also described the sky, the oceans, the lower planetary systems, the directions, the hellish planetary systems and the stars. These constitute the virâth-rûpa , the gigantic material form of the Lord, on which all living entities repose. Thus I have explained the wonderful expanse of the external body of the Lord. (Vedabase)