Experience Of Pretas
Sage Vasishtha says in the Yoga-Vasishtha:
"The Pretas are of six kinds, namely, the slightly sinful, the ordinarily sinful, the greatly sinful, the slightly virtuous, the ordinarily virtuous, and the greatly virtuous. Some of the most sinful Pretas continue to be experiencing the insensibility of death like a stone for a period of a year. Regaining awareness they experience that they are doomed to suffer from the endless torments of hell which their Vasanas have brought them, for a long time. They then undergo the experience of hundreds of incarnations until they finally get rid of the experience of world-illusion, by finding peace within. There are others in this class, who, after their torpor of death is over, begin to experience the unutterable pain of insensibility in the form of immovable trees, etc. Then they undergo the torments of hell, after which they are again born on earth in accordance with their earthly desires. Those of ordinary sin experience the inertness of stone for some time after death. Being awakened to consciousness, they, then or after some time, undergo the experience of the lives of birds, reptiles or beasts, before they turn to their usual lives in the world. The slightly sinful souls, often immediately after the insensibility of death, come to assume some human form to continue their earthly existence in accordance with their previous desires. They come to the worldly consciousness soon after their death and their previous desires and imagination evolve new worlds in their experience in a dream-like manner. The greatly virtuous souls, soon after the insensibility of death is over, get an experience in the worlds of gods. Having enjoyed the fruits of their virtues in godly personality and in heavenly worlds, they are again born in this world in noble and rich families. The souls of ordinary virtuous experience, after the insensibility of death is over, that they are being carried away by winds and later on are turned into the lives of plants and herbs. Having undergone this experience for some time they feel that they are entering human bodies as food, and there they are turned into spermatozoa and thence enter the wombs of (expectant) mothers."
Pitri Loka
This is also known by the name of Chandraloka, wherein the forefathers, or Pitris, live. This is also a heaven. Those who perform sacrifices and charitable deeds with selfish motives (Ishtapurtam), such as digging wells, building rest-houses and laying out parks or gardens for the public, enter this Loka. The ruler of this world is Lord Yama, son of Surya. The Jivas come back to this world after the fruits of their actions have been exhausted. Lord Krishna says in the Gita: "Smoke, night time, the dark fortnight (also the six months of the southern path of the sun) attaining by these to the lunar light, the Yogi returns" (Chap. VIII-25). When they die, they first go through smoke, then to night, then to the dark fifteen days, then to the six months when the sun goes to the South, and from that they go to the world of their fathers. This path is called by the name Pitriyana, or the path of Pitris.
The Pitris are highly pleased when their descendants offer oblations and when they perform Sraaddha on the anniversary day, they bless them.
In Chandraloka, the Jivas acquire fine, brilliant bodies, the bodies of gods. They become gods and enjoy the happiness of heaven for a long period. They live with their forefathers. They come down through the spheres of air and clouds. They reach the world through rain-drops. They attach themselves to some cereal or grain, which is eaten by some man, who is fit to give them material to make a new body. Those whose deeds have been very good take birth in good families.
The heaven of the Fathers, or Pitri Loka, or Chandraloka is not the highest abode of eternal Truth. It is a phenomenal universe. The dwellers of that Loka or plane are bound by the law of Karma, by the rule of cause and effect, by the law of action and reaction. Their stay on that plane is temporary although it may last for thousands of years.
The Pitris have no knowledge of Brahman or the Imperishable Reality. They are bound by desires. They cannot teach Brahma-Vidya to others as they themselves are imperfect.
Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita:
"The knowers of the three Vedas, the Soma-drinkers, the purified from sin, worshipping Me with sacrifice, pray to Me the way to heaven; they, ascending to the holy world of the Ruler of the Shining Ones, eat in heaven the divine feasts of the Shining Ones."
"They, having enjoyed the spacious heaven-world, their holiness withered, come back to this world of death. Following the virtues enjoined by the three, desiring desires, they obtain the transitory."
"They who worship the Shining Ones go to the Shining Ones; to the ancestors go the ancestor-worshippers; to the Elements go those who sacrifice to Elements; but My worshippers come unto Me."
Even the dwellers of the highest heavens are subject to the laws of rebirth and reincarnation. He alone is free from birth and rebirth and transcends all phenomena who, after knowing the Absolute Truth, after realising the Supreme Soul, becomes one with Brahman, the Absolute.
Heaven Or Svarga
The conception of heaven of the Hindus is different from that of the Christians or of the Mohammedans. The heaven of the Hindus is a place where the departed souls go to reap the fruits of their virtuous deeds. They remain there for some time till the fruits of their virtuous actions are exhausted. Then they come back to this world. They eat in heaven the divine feasts of the Shining Ones or the Devas. They move in celestial cars. Indra is the Lord of heaven or Svarga. Various kinds of Devas (gods) dwell here. Celestial damsels like Urvasi, Rambha dance here. The Gandharvas sing. There is no disease here. There is no trouble of hunger and thirst. The inhabitants are endowed with a brilliant subtle body. They are adorned with shining garments. Heaven is a thought-world, a realm of intense ideations. Whatever one wishes, he gets it at once, by immediate materialisation. So it is a happier world than the earth-plane.
The Christians, Mohammedans and Zoroastrians believe in heaven of different kinds. In Mohammedanism, the departed souls pass through the bridge Al Sirat. The faithful ones who have done virtuous deeds reach the Paradise which is situated in heaven. The Mohammedan conception of Paradise is that of a beautiful garden, furnished with springs, fountains and rivers flowing with water, milk, honey and balsam. There are trees having trunks of gold and yielding the most delicious fruits. There are seventy effulgent, beautiful girls called Hur-ul-ayun with big black eyes. The Jews and the Zoroastrians also have a similar conception of heaven.
The Paradises of the Zoroastrians are known by the names Bihisht and Minu. The persons who have done good deeds in the earth-plane enjoy the company of Huran-i-bihisht or black-eyed damsels of Paradise, who are under the care of the angel Zamiyad. The name for heaven is Garo-de-mana (Garot–man in the Persian) or house of hymns. The angels sing hymns here, just as Gandharvas sing in the heaven of the Hindus.
The Jews and the Parsis believe in seven Heavens. The heaven of Eden is composed of precious stones. There is a resemblance between the garden of Eden and the Paradise of Zoroastrians. The two trees in Eden, the tree of knowledge and the tree of life, correspond to the painless tree and the Gao Karena bearing the white Roama.
The Parsis, the Christians and Mohammedans believe that heaven is eternal and permanent. All enjoyments come to them incessantly without any pain and difficulty.
Heaven is a place of mental and sensual enjoyment. The enjoyments in heaven are more intense, subtle and refined. But they cannot give everlasting peace and real eternal bliss. They wear out the senses. A wise man with discrimination and dispassion will never crave for the enjoyments of heaven. He will never dream to have an abode in heaven. There is jealousy; there is Raga-Dvesha (likes and dislikes) in heaven. Demons fight with gods. Real, thirsty aspirants should ruthlessly ignore heaven. They should yearn for the final emancipation, or Moksha.
Every man builds up his own heaven according to his own desires and imaginations. Every man has his own idea of pleasures. Pleasures are always changing. A drunkard dreams of a heaven where there are rivers of wine. This would be a very bad heaven for a sober, pious man. A young man dreams of a heaven where he will have celestial damsels, celestial cars, fine music and dance. When that man becomes old, he does not want a woman. It is your necessities and desires that make your heaven. Your heaven is the counterpart of your desires.
You have no idea of real eternal bliss of the Soul. Your mind whirls in sensual pleasures. That is the reason why you are carried away by thoughts of heaven or paradise. Have a clear understanding of the nature of the Soul. You will have no craving for the enjoyments of heaven. The Atman or the Soul is an ocean of bliss. The ocean of bliss or the fountain of joy is within you. Withdraw the senses. Look within. Fix the mind on the Soul. All sensual desires will melt. You will be immersed in the ocean of bliss.
The period for which you live in heaven depends upon the degree of your meritorious deeds. You can become an Indra or Lord of the heaven if you like. Indrahood is a position. The Indra who had lived before is not the Indra of the present day. Countless Indras have come and gone.
When man becomes disgusted with the world around him through miseries, sorrows, disappointments, failures, loss of property, diseases, and death of dearest relatives, he thinks that he would go to some place where there would be all happiness for ever without any misery or pain, where he would live with his forefathers with a perfect body. So he creates heaven or Svarga. How can there be eternal happiness in a finite plane conditioned in time and space? Eternal bliss and immortality can be found in your own Atman, the Self only.
A life in heaven is very much the same sort of life you lead here, only a little happier. You have comfortable living there, but it is not eternal life of everlasting bliss. Further, you will have to come down to earth-plane, when the fruits of good actions are exhausted. Heaven is not a permanent abode. Everything which has name and form must perish. Atman or Soul only is immortal and eternal. That is the reason why sages and thirsty aspirants after Truth do not long for the enjoyments of heaven.
The Vedanta does not attach any special value to heaven. It teaches that these heavens are phenomenal and transitory. Even if one dwells in heaven for millions of years, these millions of years are nothing before eternity.
Lord Jesus says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." Vedanta also tells the same thing. Real everlasting happiness can be attained by realising one's own Atman or the Immortal Soul. Eternal bliss is within. Perennial joy is in your own innermost Self. The little pleasure that you get from objects is only reflection of the bliss of the Soul. It is a particle of that real, eternal bliss of Soul.
Man sees God face to face. He lives in God. There is no intervening veil or limitation between him and the Lord. He lives in absolute and complete oneness with Him. He is ever blissful. This is Heaven.
From the transcendental viewpoint, there is neither heaven nor hell. They are creations of psycho-physical necessities. If your mind is filled with Sattva, you are in heaven. If Tamas and Rajas preponderate in your mind, you are in hell.
When a man who has done meritorious actions dies, he becomes a Deva or god and dwells in heaven. He enjoys various kinds of pleasures in heaven. During his period of stay in heaven he does not do any fresh Karma or action. Dwelling in heaven is simply a reward for his past good actions. In the Deva form he does not perform any Karma at all.
Abandon the idea of heaven. The idea of obtaining eternal happiness in heaven is a vain dream. It is a puerile idea. Seek the eternal bliss in your own Atman through meditation. You are the Immortal Soul, free, eternal; you are ever pure, ever blessed. Assert your birth-right. Proclaim your freedom and be what you really are, ever free, ever blessed. Everything in time, space and causation is bound. The soul is beyond all time, all space, all causation. 'Tat Tvam Asi', Thou art That, my child. Realise this and be ever happy.
Lord Buddha says: "Many thousand myriads of systems of worlds beyond this is a region of bliss called Sukhavati. This region is encircled within seven rows of railings, seven rows of vast curtains, seven rows of waving trees. This holy abode of the Arhats is governed by the Tathagatas and is occupied by the Bodhisattvas. It has seven precious lakes, in the midst of which flow crystalline waters having seven and yet one distinctive properties and qualities. This, O Sariputra, is the Devachan. Its divine Udambara flower casts a root in the shadow of every earth, and blossoms for all those who reach it. Those born in this blessed region–who have crossed the golden bridge and reached the seven golden mountains–they are truly felicitous; there is no more grief or sorrow in that cycle for them."
Only persons who have earned great merits on earth can go to heaven. The heaven is well provided with excellent paths. It is always frequented by celestial cars. Atheists and untruthful persons, those who have not lived a life of asceticism and those who have not performed great sacrifices, cannot go there.
Only virtuous souls and those of subdued minds, those who have controlled their senses, those who are free from malice, those intent on the practice of charity, and heroes and men bearing marks of battle and who have performed the most meritorious acts, attain to the celestial regions. The celestial regions can be attained only by virtuous acts. The celestial regions are inhabited by pious men. They bestow every object of desire. The Siddhas, the Visvas, the Gandharvas, the Apsaras, the Yamas and the Dharmas dwell there. There is that foremost of mountains, the golden Meru, extending to thirty thousand Yojanas. There are many celestial gardens. The Nandana garden is the most beautiful one. Here sport the persons of meritorious acts. Neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor cold, neither grief nor fatigue, neither labour nor repentance, neither fear nor anything that is disgusting and inauspicious is found here. There is no old age either.
Delightful fragrance is found everywhere. The breeze is gentle and pleasant. The inhabitants have resplendent bodies. Delightful sounds captivate both the ear and the mind. These worlds are obtained by meritorious acts, and not by birth or the merits of fathers and mothers.
There is neither sweat nor stench, nor excretion, nor urine. The dust does not soil one's clothes. There is no uncleanliness of any kind. Garlands do not fade. Excellent garments, full of celestial fragrance, never fade. There are countless celestial cars that move in the air. The dwellers are free from envy, grief, ignorance and malice. They live very happily.
Such is the bliss of heaven. But the disadvantages of heaven are great indeed. In the celestial region, a person, while enjoying the fruits of acts he had already performed, cannot perform any other new act. He must enjoy the fruits of the former life till they are completely exhausted. Further he is liable to fall after he has completely exhausted his merit. These are the disadvantages of heaven. The consciousness of those about to fall is stupefied. It is also agitated by emotions. As the garlands of those about to fall fade away, fear possesses their hearts.
But there is one world where there are no such disadvantages. It is the supreme seat of Vishnu, above the abode of Brahma, which is pure, eternal and effulgent. It is known by the name of Para Brahman. Persons who are addicted to sensual objects or those who are subject to arrogance, covetousness, ignorance, anger and envy cannot go to that place. Those men who are free from conflicting emotions and those who have restrained their senses and those who are given to meditation and Yoga can go there.
Men who enjoy heaven suffer great misery and extreme regret in this world. Therefore do not desire to go to heaven. Try to reach that supreme abode of eternal bliss from where there will be no fall. Seek that unfailing region, going to which people have not to lament, or to be pained, or to be agitated.
Practise Jnana Yoga. Engage yourself in constant meditation on Para Brahman or the Supreme Self. Attain knowledge of the Imperishable and obtain the supreme state of emancipation, which is eternal. Then censure and praise will become equal to you. A brick, a stone and a piece of gold–all will become the same to you.
Hell Or Naraka
It is common nowadays to hear it said that the Puranas are very unreliable scriptures and that they indulge in unlimited exaggeration about very many things. These critics say that the Puranas contain gross overstatements and preposterously puerile attempts to cajole or to cow down the reader with citations like the grandiose descriptions of heavenly regions and their joys as also the awful pictures of hell-fires and their torments. To criticise a subject requires a very little wit or wisdom. For simple and direct condemnation without caring to consider the pros and cons of a matter is the inborn nature of the human mind. But even to these biased ones a little thoughtful consideration will forthwith reveal that the sagely writers of the Puranas had a special purpose in writing certain things in the manner they did. They deliberately emphasised and laid particular stress upon some subjects with a definite end in view. Underneath these graphic and detailed descriptions of the Karmas and their consequences there is a shrewd psychology and insight being put to make a practical purpose.
Until and unless Self-realisation is attained, Knowledge-Absolute is gained, there is ever the ebb and flow, the constant see-saw between the animal and the man in every human being. The beast or the brute is never completely absent or overcome except through a final Divinisation of the individual. As long as there is the human, side by side there will be the animal also, now the one having the upper hand, now the other. It is only when the Jiva gets above and beyond both these and gets transformed and established in the third and hitherto dormant aspect of his nature, namely the Divine aspect, that he becomes 'Mriga-Nara-Atita', transcending both the sub-human and human limitations. Then onwards there is no more of this tug-of-war between the animal and man natures to gain precedence and dominate over the field of Jiva-consciousness. For now the Divine Kshetrajna Himself reigns supreme over the Kshetra.
Until this state is attained, therefore, we find that man is in turn animal and human according to the Vritti that possesses him. He shows himself alternately to be noble and petty. He swings between the sublime and the ridiculous. His two different aspects react to the external stimuli in their own distinctive manners. And equally likewise only particular modes of external approach succeed in evoking the desired response from these dual aspects in man's consciousness. Thus it is that we find in persons who have evolved themselves to some fair extent and acquired a good measure of Sattva, or refinement, culture and character, the purely gross and degenerate impulses and temptations fail to have effect. They succeed only in exceptional situations when the person unfortunately happens to be in some rare moment of weakness due to a revival of Samskaras. Whereas in gross natures such temptations readily and immediately work havoc, and vice versa, noble impulses immediately influence a fine nature but fail to evoke any response in a gross person of low animal mentality. This has given rise to the proverb in the Marathi language, "To the cobbler's deity worship is by shoes," or again the current Tamil saying, "Without the cane the monkey will not dance." The same is the case with noble sentiments too, as is simply exemplified by the over-careful psychology applied by the famous Dr. Arnold of Rugby in appealing to the worthier instincts in his boys. No less striking is the historic example of Mark Antony skilfully exercising his persuasive and provocatory eloquence to his Roman audience, first to evoke compassion by playing subtly upon their human side, and then rousing a frenzy of revengeful violence by inflaming their strong animal passion of anger.
It is this deep human insight and admirable penetrating psychology that is at the basis of the Hell and Retribution ideas in the Puranic Hindu Religion. They knew that sweet whistling will not make the buffalo move, whereas whipping will. We know how on the eve of building the great bridge to Lanka, when requests failed to make the Ocean-King behave suitably, Rama took out an arrow in anger. The very next instant had the Sagara-Raja pleading with folded hands before Rama. Likewise to goad man on to noble deeds, high aspiration and righteous conduct, the Puranic sages held out before him bright prospects and extolled the untold benefits and blessings of a good life. Here they tried to appeal to man's human side. But when he indulged in extreme sin and bestial acts of gross sensuality, they knew that it was not the occasion for mincing matters. The beast could only be chastened through a true and vivid description of the inevitable results of his actions. Here we must note that they did not exaggerate or utter any falsehood, but gave a special importance to emphasise the matter by dilating upon it in graphic detail and spared no pains in doing this. They therefore confronted the Jiva with a terrific array of dire consequences that would inevitably accrue to the evil actions of the sinner. They gave graphic descriptions of the various punishments awaiting the wanton transgressor of moral and spiritual laws. They vividly related past instances of transgressors and the retribution that overtook them to testify to this truth. The Puranas abound in fearful examples of life-long sufferings in lower wombs suffered by people like Nahusha, Jaya and Vijaya, the well-known Gajendra and many others.
They do not stop with that. As though it were not enough to give instances of the fruits of positive sinful actions and crimes, they cite certain cases when even the indulgence in a comparatively harmless, good emotion like affection, brings about grave suffering upon man. The warning implied in the story of the past lives of Sage Jadabharata is an instance in point. Also the accidental participation in a seeming falsehood was enough to send a soul to behold though but for a moment, the awful hell-fire. The incident of the great Yudhishthira's vision of Hell is referred to here.
Fortunately or unfortunately, out of the numerous Puranas very few are studied by the vast majority now-a-days. Those few devoted people that read the Puranas or listen to their recital rarely go beyond the four or five classical Saivite and Vaishnavite Puranas that are currently popular throughout the country. We may say that Purana perusal is generally confined to the Skanda, Markandeya, Vishnu or the Srimad Bhagavata. It is not the scholar or the orthodox Brahmin section that is meant here but the common man-in-the-street who goes to form a distinct and important part of the population. Thus this whip-crack of the Karma and Karma-phala citation does not sound nowadays to chasten the sensual beast in man. And as a result of this it is running amuck as never heretofore. But laws, be they mundane or divine, are inexorable. The ignorance of the Penal Code does not lay a premium on indulgence in crime nor does the offender go scot-free. He burgles and he gets jailed. He murders and is hanged. Likewise he also sins and suffers. If this truth of the inescapable order of the cosmic Law is placed before him in unvarnished and distinct outline it may serve just a little bit to persuade him to give up vice and follow virtue, to renounce Adharma and embrace Dharma. It has purposes confined mainly to the physical and mental forms that this heavenly retribution takes, and also to the forms it takes upon this earth-plane. For modern man is held by the motto "seeing is believing" and he hardly requires to give a second glance to show the terrible truth of the price man pays in hospitals and clinics for the crimes against Dharma.
The diseases we suffer from the births we get here on earth are all products of actions done by us in previous times. Every action has its reaction and no action goes unrewarded in suitable manner. Evil actions do not go without their bitter effects upon the doer.
Hells are not imaginary fiction as ordinarily conceived of by the modern rationalistic mind. The empiricist believes only in experience of sense-contact and feels himself unable to rise above the dictates of the intellect. But it does not mean that man has reason to overlook facts beyond his comprehension. We have no right to assert that this globe of earth is the most concrete reality and that others are mere apparitions. The stars do not become mere spots with a twinkling light in the sky merely for the reason that we perceive them to be so. If I have not seen America I have no right to deny the existence of such a country. There are evidences, both intuitional and rational, for us to accept the existence of worlds beyond, which are entirely different both in nature and size. The Yogavasishtha says that our earth is only an atom among many other larger worlds existing beyond our perception and is of one particular variety among many others which differ from it in every way. We have no authority to discard the account given by Vasishtha that there exist worlds which are made of different materials like, copper, iron, gold, etc., filled with water, milk and the like and inhabited by serpents, animals, devils, and so on. It is not necessary that human beings alone should inhabit all worlds and that the same earthly conditions should prevail in all planes of existence. The universe is a gradual revelation of the Infinite Absolute in various degrees of Consciousness, which is inclusive of every sort of life and experience. The Infinite is a great Wonder and we cannot say what things are thriving in Its womb! We and our world are but one among the many in It! There are many families in Infinity, and earth, hell, heaven, men, animals, gods, devils, are all Its children with varying temperaments. The Absolute ranges from lowest matter to Pure Bliss or Ananda, and between these exist the countless universes with their contents. They differ both in their individual nature and in the nature of their contents. It is said that beings take birth in one or the other of these worlds in accordance with their actions which bear fruits of a kind that can be reaped only in that particular world. Only fire can give heat and only food can appease hunger. Even so only a particular condition and environment enables us to reap the fruits of a specific action. Though punishments need not necessarily be due to the wrath of any personal Divine Being, it can be asserted that it is necessary, by the very law of nature, that the soul should manifest itself with a body suited for its experience determined by its past actions. As such, it is not unreasonable that variety in the nature of worlds should be real. We have to remember that the real is unseen.
Hells, therefore, are as much real worlds as the regions of Indra or this mortal earth of ours. They are regions with difference only in the subtlety of the plane of their manifestation. They differ in the degree of the state of Consciousness revealed through them. The sufferings inflicted on the sinners may be taken to mean either an actual birth in such regions, or a life on earth with such entanglements, where one will undergo such pains either directly or through the agency of others.
In the Vedas and Vedanta there is no mention of hell. The Puranas only speak of hell or place of torture. From the absolute viewpoint, there is neither heaven nor hell. From the relative viewpoint, hell is as much real as this world. For a man of discrimination, the world also is a hell. Hell and heaven, though not absolutely real, are not unreal as long as individuality persists, and are as much as any plane of existence.
Christians and Mohammedans speak of eternal hell. There cannot be eternal damnation or eternal punishment. The life of a wicked man here is nothing when compared with eternal life. If there is an eternal damnation into the fire, it means that there is an infinite effect produced by a finite cause. This cannot be.
The different torments of hell, the seven compartments into which it is said to be divided, and the partition called Al Airat separating heaven from hell according to Mohammedanism, all seem to be adapted from the Jews.
Hindu Puranas have been very clear on the question of heaven and hell. Writers of law-books or Smritis, like Yajnavalkya and Vishnu, have given serious description of the various hells and the various pleasures of heaven. Yogi Yajnavalkya mentions 21 hells in his law book, viz., Raurava, Kumbhipaka, Maharaurava, Tamisra, Andha Tamisra, etc. The author of Vishnu Smriti also has written the same thing. A hell is a region of sharp, severe, intense pain. The evil-doers suffer for a period. Bad action is worked out in that state and then the evil-doers come back to earth-plane. They get another chance.
The Ruler of Hell is Lord Yama. He is assisted by Chitragupta. Hell is a particular locality which is walled off from the surrounding regions of space by the messengers of Yama. Sinners get a thick body called 'Yatana-Deha' when they are punished. The punishment in hell is not remembered by the soul when it is reborn. The punishment in hell is reformatory and educative. The permanent educative effect remains in conscience. The innate fear which some souls feel at the sight of temptation of sin is due to the finer development of conscience in the furnace of hell-fire. This is the permanent gain acquired by the soul. The soul is reborn with keener conscience after being purified by hell-fire. He can make better use of his faculties in the next birth.
The Jewish belief in a future life in Heaven and Hell coincides in all its detail with what we find in the Zend Avesta and is borrowed from it. There is a similarity in the Parsi and Jewish accounts of hell and its sevenfold divisions. The doctrine of eternal reward and punishment of the Jews is also borrowed from Zend Avesta. Gatha Ushtavaiti says: "The soul of the righteous attains to immortality, but that of the wicked man has everlasting punishment. Such is the rule of Ahura Mazda whose the creatures are."
If the mind is filled with Rajas and Tamas, this state is hell only. Prison is physical hell only. To live in this cage of flesh without practising Japa and meditation is hell only.
Repentance for sin with a contrite heart is the highest Prayaschitta or expiation. The evil effects of sins are exhausted by repentance. Fasting, charity, penance, Japa, meditation, Kirtan destroy all sins. Thus a man may save himself from the pains of hell.
Lord Krishna says in the Gita: "Triple is the gate of this hell, destruction of the Self–lust, anger and greed; therefore let man renounce these three" (XVI-21). You do various wicked deeds when you are under the influence of anger, lust and greed. If you control these three evil Vrittis, you enjoy everlasting peace. Cultivate the opposite virtues: forgiveness, purity and generosity; these evil traits will die by themselves.
Karmas And Hells
There are varieties of hells that a Jiva has to experience in accordance with the Karmas which he does through sin and passion. Twenty-nine kinds of regions of sufferings are described in the Bhagavata, when Jivas are said to be born due to their Karmas.
There is a place of suffering called Tamisra (darkness). Those people who lay hands on another's wealth, children and wives, are born in this region. The Jiva experiences there extreme pain being bound with mortal cords and violently hurled into the dark regions. He has no food or drink. He is beaten with clubs, and by holding out threats and being brought to a state of weary affliction, the Jiva drops down in a swoon.
There is another region called Andhatamisra (blinding darkness). Here Jivas are born who deceive husbands and appropriate to themselves their wives and other property. Such Jivas are cast down into this hell to suffer torments where they lose all understanding and sense through excessive pain. The Jiva suffers like a tree whose roots are cut.
Those who grossly identify themselves with this physical body and regard the wealth of the world as their own, fall into a hell called Raurava. Those people who torment people here on earth become subject to the torment of poisonous worms called Rurus in this dangerous region.
Maharaurava is one of the same type. Those men who indulge in passions are eaten here by carnivorous (flesh-eating) animals.
In the hell called Kumbhipaka, dreadful fiends begin to boil in oil that cruel and merciless person who cooks and eats living animals, birds and the like.
He is thrown into a hell called Kalasutra who insults spiritual men, Brahmins and Pitris. He is placed on the surface of burning copper, forty thousand miles in extent and constantly heated by fire below and the sun above, and being tormented by hunger and thirst, undergoes untold misery.
There is a hell called Asipatravana. This is a forest full of leaves made out of sharp daggers. The Jiva is made to run through the forest and is hunted like a beast. He who goes against the Vedic Dharma, who embraces infidelistic religions are thrown here. Oh! pitiable sight indeed! He runs this way and that way and has every part of his body torn up in those dreadful woods of sword. The Jiva cries out, "Ah! I am undone" and falls down in agony.
Kings who inflict punishment on innocent men, or who inflict corporeal punishment to a Brahmin, fall into the hell called Sukara-Mukha. There every part of the body of the sinner is crushed like sugar canes. He shrieks in distress but none helps him.
Those men who having a good position in society inflict pain upon other poor people fall into a hell called Andhakupa. The Jiva is tormented on all sides in darkness by varieties of terrible beasts, serpents, etc., and learns such lessons that will not allow him to do such sinful actions again.
Brahmins who do not perform their daily Yajnas, who do not share with others what they possess, are fit to be called crows, and fall into a hell where their food is worms. They are cast down into a vast ocean of worms where they begin to tease the Jiva from all sides.
He who robs a Brahmin or a poor man and thus causes him to suffer without reason, falls into a hell where he is severely pinched by burning iron tongs and hit by red-hot iron balls.
Those men or women who abuse innocent poor servants and coolies who are rather to be pitied and helped for their miserable condition, fall into a hell where they are severely thrashed and forced to embrace a burning image of iron like unto a man or a woman. Those who abuse their marriage beds are given a similar punishment.
Whoever here approaches under the force of passion all kinds of beings, is placed in the Salmali hell with adamantine thorns and is dragged through the region of hell.
Kings who transgress the limits of righteousness, and administrative employees who discard the law of justice fall into the river Vaitarani after their death. The Jivas are bitten by aquatic monsters but are not separated from their body and are on the other hand supported by their vital breaths to be ever alive to the consequences of their Karma. This river is flooded with refuse, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and fat.
Those men, born of a higher caste, choose to be husbands of unchaste women belonging to a lower order of life and lead like brutes a life of shamelessness, fall after death into a pit of hell, a sea of pus, refuse, urine, phlegm and swallow the same most detestable things.
Those Brahmins and others who act like husbands of bitches and asses and find delight in chasing animals and killing them in violation of Sastra are after death made the target and pierced with the arrows of merciless beings.
Those men who mercilessly slaughter animals are born as animals in the hell of slaughterhouse, and are dealt with in a similar manner.
Those sinful twice-born men who deluded by passion cause their wives born of the same blood (Gotra) drink their semen, are thrown into a sea of semen and made to drink it.
Those who set fire to others' houses and administer poison to others or plunder villages and caravans–be they kings or kings' employees–they fall after death into a hell where they are voraciously munched by seven hundred and twenty hounds, with their dreadful teeth.
He who utters falsehood in giving evidence or in making gifts, falls into a hell called Avichimat where there is no support to stand upon. There the Jiva is hurled headlong from the summit of peaks of mountains four hundred miles in height. In this hell even hard stony surface appears like water and thus the Jiva is made to delude himself ever more. Though his body is shattered to pieces he does not die, and he is repeatedly lifted up to the top and hurled down again and again.
If a Brahmin drinks wine or eats objectionable food, he is made to drink molten iron in the region of hell. Those who go against the prescribed rules of Varnasrama Dharma are given suitable punishments here.
Those men who praise themselves as great personages, but do not respect those who are really great by birth, honour and learning, are truly living corpses and after death are thrown head foremost into a hell of brinish mire to undergo endless torments.
Those who worship gods by offering human victims, are thrown into a hell where they are cut to slices and eaten by devils, but even then they do not die but only experience pain.
Those wicked people who torment their refugees–because they are under their control–are made after death to suffer from extreme hunger and thirst and are on every side assailed by sharp instruments, and are made to recollect their sins.
Those who are here cruel like snakes by nature and terrify other beings, fall, when they die, into a hell called Dandasuka, where snakes of five or ten hoods attack them and worry them to death even though they do not die.
Those who here imprison people in dark holes and dungeons are in turn after their death imprisoned in dark atmosphere filled with fire and smoke.
The eyes of those householders who get angry with guests and look at them with cruel eyes, as if they would burn them, are plucked out after death by vultures possessing bills hard like adamantine rock.
He who having possessed much wealth, constantly suspects others as being thieves, and always watches over his treasure like a devil with a restless mind, becomes a devil in a waterless hell filled with darkness and filth. He falls into a hell called Suchimukha.
There are hundreds and thousands of such hells, which cannot be easily described here. They are only specimens of such hells for suffering sinners and transgressors of law.
Those who control their senses, and lead the path of Nivritti, who absorb themselves in Divine Meditation, who are good, kind and generous, who care a naught for this sensuous earth, who are intent on Supreme Moksha, are liberated beyond embodiment. Virtuous people get the joyous heaven for enjoyment. Others fall into one or the other of these hells, in case they are born again on this earth. (From the Srimad-Bhagavata)
Asurya Loka
Hell is a state of absolute and complete separation from the Lord, wherein man is not feeling the light of His Love, Holiness and Truth. There is no illumination. It is a Sunless world–Asurya Loka. All is chaos, darkness and torment due to the reaction and retribution of sin that has been wilfully, perversely and unrepentantly done.
There is no such thing as eternal damnation or eternal hell-fire for the sinners. It cannot be. It is a theory that has long been exploded. Eternal damnation is an ungodly doctrine, a terror and nightmare for ages. To make people desist from doing wicked actions a terrifying description of hell is given. If is Bhayanaka Sabda.
God has not created men to become everlasting fuel to feed the flame of hell. This is not certainly His purpose in His creation. If God be such, no one will pay homage to Him. Who then can be saved? How many spotless men are there in this world? Who is of such untainted character as to receive a direct passport to heaven? Even Pandits, Sastris, Acharyas, priests, religious preachers, Popes, Bishops and Archbishops, almost the whole population of this world will be roasted in hell-fire, if such relentless penalty is to become the common rule.