Pradyumnaya namah

Maharishi Śuka continued,

“Even a degraded or distressed person who chants His name accidently or jokingly is instantaneously cleansed of all his sins and is purified. To a person who deeply desires liberation is there any refuge apart from Lord Ananta? There is none.

Lord Seśa, who possesses 1000 hoods, is eternal and infinite. He possesses unlimited prowess. On His hood, this entire earth consisting of mountains, rivers and hordes of living being rests like an infinitesimal atom. Even a thousand mouths are inadequate to describe the prowess and glory of Lord Ananta!

Evam-prabhāvo bhagavān ananto duranta-vīryoru-guṇānubhāvaḥ Mūle rasāyāḥ sthita ātma-tantro yo līlayā kṣmāṁ sthitaye bibharti

Lord Ananta, who is of unlimited glory, also possesses infinite prowess. He is a repository of many noble qualities beginning with compassion. Lord Ananta, who is powerful and independent, remains at the bottom of the universe playfully carrying and sustaining it.

Living beings who chase comforts are once again reborn in these worlds after their death. Based on their past fruitive activities they are awarded suitable worlds. I have narrated these details to you exactly as taught to me by my Guru and strictly as per the definitions given in the Scriptures.

O Emperor Parikshit, by adhering to fruitive activities, people are actually adhering to dharma. As a result of these activities they obtain different planes. Among these worlds that they obtain some are higher and some are lower. All these worlds are distinctly different from the other.

Parikshit, based on your question I have given all these details. What more do you seek to hear from me?” asked Maharishi Śuka.

With this the twenty-fifth chapter of the fifth canto comes to an end.

Fifth Canto Chapter Twenty-six

In this chapter, the sufferings of hell are elaborated.

Emperor Parikshit enquired, “O Maharishi Śuka, what could be the reason for such distinct differences to exist between the various planetary systems filled with living entities?”

In response Maharishi Śuka said, “O King, people performing actions can be classified into three types- those who predominantly possess traits of goodness (sattva), people predominantly with traits of passion (rajas) and those with traits of ignorance (tamas). As such, their dedication towards their actions can also be classified into three types. Due to these differences, different results accrue to different people for the action performed. These results could vary from highly supreme to very inferior.

Likewise based on the degree of dedication shown by the person towards prohibited/sinful activities, the punishment for his evil actions could vastly vary. They are unequal.
Spiritual ignorance, which exists since eternity, causes desires to sprout in the individual. Desires push the person towards unrighteous deeds. Multiple hells exist wherein the person pays for all his sinful unrighteous deeds. I will now narrate them to you just as I have heard from my Guru. Please listen.”

Hearing this, Emperor Parikshit enquired, “O venerable Guru, do these hells exist within this Earth? Do they exist within the universe or beyond the three worlds?”

Maharishi Śuka replied, “O King, these hells exist within the universe. They are located to the south of the three worlds, beneath earth and a little above the waters of the universe. Agniśāttva and other fore-fathers (pitr) reside in this southern direction. Eternally engaged in meditation, they fervently seek that the desires of all those who belong to their lineage are fulfilled.

In this Pitr-loka (abode of fore-fathers), Yama, the Lord of death, who is also the worshipful deity for the fore-fathers, resides together with his attendants. He ensures that the orders of the Supreme Lord are strictly abided by. His attendants bring to Pitr-loka all the people who have died in this world. Here Yama gives the judgment and sends them to different hells and thereby ensures that they suffer in accordance to their sins.

Learned scholars state that there are 28 kinds of hell. I shall now sequentially narrate their names, characteristics and forms.

Tāmiśra, Andha-tāmiśra, Rourava, Maha-rourava, Kumbīpāka, Kāla-sutra, Asipatravana, Sūkarā-mukha, Andhakūpa, Kṛmi-bhojana, Sandaṃśa, Taptasūrmi, Vajrakanṭaka-śālmali, Vaitariṇi, Pūyoda, Prāṇa-rodha, Viśāsana, Lālābhaksa, Sārameyādana, Avīci, Ayaḥ-pāna, Kṣārakardama, Rakṣogana-bhojana, Sulaprota, Dandaśūka, Avaṭa-nirodhana, Paryāvartana and Śūcīmukha. In each of these hells living entities under excruciating sufferings.

Using the noose called time, Yama’s attendants bind the person who has usurped another’s property, wife or child and forcibly throw him into the hell called Tāmiśra. In this hell that is eternally enveloped in darkness the person is totally deprived of food and water. Yama’s attendants mercilessly beat him with thick logs and frighten him. Unable to withstand this suffering the person swoons frequently.

The person who through cunning techniques cheats another and forcefully enjoys his wife and wealth is thrown into the hell called Andha-tāmiśra. Here like an uprooted tree he piteously suffers. Due to the unbearably severe suffering he loses his vision and intellect. For this reason, this hell is known as Andha-tāmiśra.

The person who, due to feelings of extreme egoism, considers himself to be the body; who strives solely for the welfare of himself and his family; who has feelings of ‘I and mine’ towards his possessions and his family and who, for ensuring his prosperity harms other living beings, will, after leaving his body and family on earth, automatically land into the Rourava hell”. He automatically lands in Rourava.

Puruśottamāya namah