Pradyumnaya namah

Maharishi Śuka continued,

“In this life, animals or living entities towards whom he has acted violently, appear before the person in hell, when he is being punished for his sinful deeds, in the form of animals called rurus. They torture him exactly the way he had tortured them on earth. Since he undergoes unimaginable suffering from these rurus, this hell is known as **Rourava. **

The animal ruru is far more venomous and ferocious than a snake. The person who strives throughout life only to fill his stomach is thrown into the terrible hell called Maha-rourava. Here ruru animals, which survive only on raw meat, torture him and eat his flesh.

In this world there are many cruel persons who, devoid of any trace of compassion, cook animals and birds even when they are alive. Such persons are condemned by even demons. The attendants of Yama forcibly throw such persons into the hell called Kumbhīpāka wherein they are fried in hot smoking oil.

The person who cheats or abuses his parents and Vedic-scholars falls into the hell called Kāla-sutra in which a large circular copper field with a circumference is 10,000 Yojanas (80,000 miles) exists. The scorching heat of the Sun burns from above while a burning fire burns from beneath this copper field into which the individual is thrown. To add to this misery, the sinner is tormented by unbearable hunger and thirst, which cause him to burn internally. He thus burns externally and internally. This human-animal lives on this copper field for as many thousands of years as the number of hair upon the body of the animal. At times he stands, at other times he sits, falls or runs through this field.

The person who strays from the path of Vedic-dharma during non-emergency situations and who abides by non-Vedic traditions is sent to the Asi-patravana hell where he is whipped frightfully by Yama’s attendants. Trying to escape from them he runs through the forests, however sharp sword-like palm leaves pierce through his body, cutting his limbs due to which he agonizes and swoons frequently. He suffers death-like agony. He thus undergoes punishment for having deviated from the path of vedic-dharma”.

In these hells, the question of death does not arise. They frequently swoon and again have to continue with the punishment. The body they obtain there is exclusively created for punishment. Neither does the body die, nor can it be reduced to ashes. Despite all suffering the body continues to exist and hence the conditioned soul has no escape from this torture.

“A king or any government official, who wrongfully punishes a non-offender for a crime or who has severely harassed a Vedic-scholar, will after death fall into the hell called Sūkara-mukha. Just as sugarcane is crushed to extract juice, in Sūkara-mukha Yama’s attendants crush his body. Lamenting and agonizing piteously he swoons frequently. Yama’s attendants mete out punishments similar to the ones he had inflicted upon the innocent in this world. They cause him limitless grief.

In this creation, due to their developed consciousness, human beings have the ability to understand the sufferings of others and hence guide them. On the other hand, animals, which do not have a developed consciousness, consider the Lord as the sole shelter and are unable to understand the agony of other living entities. This being the situation, a human being, who despite possessing developed consciousness tortures animals, falls into the hell called Andha-kūpa after death. All the wild and domestic animals, birds, insects, mosquitoes, worms, flies, reptiles, bugs, lice and other creatures torture him exactly similar to the manner in which he tortured them on earth. They do not allow him even to sleep peacefully. Just as the person suffers restlessly when inflicted by diseases, in this dark hell the person is unable to rest peacefully and he wanders constantly.

People who eat without sharing their food with other living entities, who never participate in homa or charitable activities, who do not use the process of homa to offer food to Devatas, who do not feed the hungry, nor offer food to birds or animals, nor engage in Brahma-yagna known as chanting and teaching Vedic knowledge to others, nor serve the elderly parents nor perform the obligatory death-rites after the death of the parents and who do not even try to atone for all these sinful deeds, fall into the hell called Krimi-bhojana after death. Having fallen here they transform into worms (krimi). They will be eating other worms while other worms eat them. In this way, they agonize for their self-created sins and suffer in this hell for 100,000 years.

O Parikshit, the person who steals gold, gems and other such precious metals or forcibly snatches them from Vedic scholars or from others will be thrown into hell called Sandaṃśa after death. Yama’s attendants beat him with huge burning iron rods. Using red-hot sharp iron tongs, they peel away his skin”.

Purushotamāya namah