Maharishi Śuka continued, “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.

Any man or woman who, in this world, indulges in adultery or prostitution in this world falls into the hell called Taptasūrmi after death. Here Yama’s attendants mercilessly whip them. They force the man to embrace the figure of woman made from burning-smoking hot iron. Likewise, the woman is forced to embrace the burning hot iron image of man.

The degraded person who illicitly enjoys forbidden/sinful activities in this world undoubtedly reaches hell called Vajrakaṇṭa-śāmali. Yama’s attendants force him to climb a silk-cotton tree filled with diamond-sharp thorns which pierce his body. They drag him down forcibly such that these thorns tear into his body.

Rulers who slip from the path of righteousness (duty) or cause damage to the social order of life fall into the hellish- river **Vaitarini **after their death. This river is composed of urine, stools, pus, hair, blood, nails, flesh, bones, bone-marrow and fat. It flows like a trench near hell. Carnivorous marine animals constantly bite and chew him, who has fallen into this river.

Despite enormous, limitless suffering there is no escape from that body which has been awarded only for exhausting punishments in hell. Even when other animals pierce and chew the body, it doesn’t perish. The intense death-like pain that arises when the body is thus being eaten will persistently be experienced. The agony is unbearable. In these hells, bodies are designed such that they ensure life-force cannot depart from them even when tortured. Beings who are undergoing this unexplainable torture constantly recollect their earlier sins and lament profusely.

Those who co-habit wicked women and who sustain them, who behave as they please without any external or internal cleanliness and who, discarding good character and disciplines, shamelessly behave like animals, will after death fall into the hell called Pūyoda. Here they fall into the ocean which is filled with pus, urine, fecal-matter and other impure substances. They have to eat these repulsive items.

In this world, Brahmins and other persons belonging to the higher castes, who take their pet dogs and mules to the forests to unnecessarily hunt prohibited animals, reach the hell called Prāṇā-rodha after death. Here Yama’s attendants retain them as the targets and constantly shoot them with sharp arrows ensuring they are constantly tormented.

In this world those who engage in Yagnas and other ceremonies for false prestige, pomp and show, and who offer animal sacrifices in this process fall into the hell called** Viśaṣana** where Yama’s attendants heartlessly torture them.

Dacoits who loot villages, shops and other establishments; rulers, soldiers and other royal office-bearers who set fire to other’s properties or poison others after death fall into the hell called Sārameyadana. Here 720 attendants of Yama exist as ferocious dogs with diamond-sharp teeth. They pounce upon these living beings and chew them all the time.

In this world, the person who gives wrong witness in money dealings, who utters lies in matters pertaining to receiving and lending money or in matters of charity reaches the hell called Avīchi. Here he is flung downwards from atop a mountain which is 100 Yojanas (800 miles) high. Although there is hard surface on the ground it appears like water, hence this water-less hell is called Avīci. He is repeatedly thrown from this height. Although his body is shred to pieces due to the fall, he does not die. As long as he lives here he is only repeatedly flung from the mountain. There is no escape.

Vedic scholars, Brahmins, warriors (kshatriyas), traders (vaishyas), people who have performed Soma-yāga and who have undertaken religious rituals (vratas) should never drink liquor. Neither should their spouses consume liquor. Those who, without abiding by this injunction, drink liquor in this world are dragged into a hell by Yama’s attendants where Yama’s attendants forcibly stand on their chest and pour hot molten iron into their mouths.

The wretched person who in this world fails to respect others who are superior to him due to penance, knowledge, character, caste and stage of life is actually a living corpse. After death, he reaches the hell called** Kṣārakardama **which is filled with salt, chili powder and mire. He is flung headlong here and suffers inexplicably.

In the name of worship, in this world, there are men and women who torment others and consume meat. In the process of worship they torment others and consume meat. Such people fall into the hell called Rakṣoghana-bhojana after death. Those whom they had tormented here on earth appear before them as demons and torture them heinously. Like a butcher these demons cut them with sharp swords. Eating their flesh and drinking their blood, these man-eating demons dance merrily.

Nārasimhāya namah