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Canto 5: The Creative ImpetusChapter 26: A Description of the Hellish Planets
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam

SB 5.26 Summary

SB 5.26.1: King Pariksit inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami: My dear sir, why are
the living entities put into different material situations? Kindly explain this
to me.

SB 5.26.2: The great sage Sukadeva Gosvami 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.

SB 5.26.3: 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.

SB 5.26.4: King Pariksit inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami: My dear lord, are the
hellish regions outside the universe, within the covering of the universe, or in
different places on this planet?

SB 5.26.5: The great sage Sukadeva Gosvami 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 Bhu-mandala, and
slightly above the water of the Garbhodaka Ocean. Pitrloka is also located in
this region between the Garbhodaka Ocean and the lower planetary systems. All
the residents of Pitrloka, headed by Agnisvatta, meditate in great samadhi on
the Supreme Personality of Godhead and always wish their families well.

SB 5.26.6: The King of the pitas is Yamaraja, the very powerful son of the
sun-god. He resides in Pitrloka with his personal assistants and, while abiding
by the rules and regulations set down by the Supreme Lord, has his agents, the
Yamadutas, 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.

SB 5.26.7: 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: Tamisra, Andhatamisra, Raurava, Maharaurava, Kumbhipaka,
Kalasutra, Asi-patravana, Sukaramukha, Andhakupa, Krmibhojana, Sandamsa,
Taptasurmi, Vajrakantaka-salmali, Vaitarani, Puyoda, Pranarodha, Visasana,
Lalabhaksa, Sarameyadana, Avici, Ayahpana, Ksarakardama, Raksogana-bhojana,
Sulaprota, Dandasuka, Avata-nirodhana, Paryavartana and Sucimukha. All these
planets are meant for punishing the living entities.

SB 5.26.8: My dear King, a person who appropriates another's legitimate wife,
children or money is arrested at the time of death by the fierce Yamadutas, who
bind him with the rope of time and forcibly throw him into the hellish planet
known as Tamisra. On this very dark planet, the sinful man is chastised by the
Yamadutas, who beat and rebuke him. He is starved, and he is given no water to
drink. Thus the wrathful assistants of Yamaraja cause him severe suffering, and
sometimes he faints from their chastisement.

SB 5.26.9: The destination of a person who slyly cheats another man and enjoys
his wife and children is the hell known as Andhatamisra. There his condition is
exactly like that of a tree being chopped at its roots. Even before reaching
Andhatamisra, 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 Andhatamisra.

SB 5.26.10: 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.

SB 5.26.11: In this life, an envious person commits violent acts against many
living entities. Therefore after his death, when he is taken to hell by
Yamaraja, 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.

SB 5.26.12: Punishment in the hell called Maharaurava is compulsory for a person
who maintains his own body by hurting others. In this hell, ruru animals known
as kravyada torment him and eat his flesh.

SB 5.26.13: 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
Yamadutas to the hell known as Kumbhipaka, where they are cooked in boiling oil.

SB 5.26.14: The killer of a brahmana is put into the hell known as Kalasutra,
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 brahmana
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.

SB 5.26.15: If a person deviates from the path of the Vedas in the absence of an
emergency, the servants of Yamaraja 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.

SB 5.26.16: In his next life, a sinful king or governmental representative who
punishes an innocent person, or who inflicts corporal punishment upon a
brahmana, is taken by the Yamadutas to the hell named Sukaramukha, where the
most powerful assistants of Yamaraja 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.

SB 5.26.17: 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 -- brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas --
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 Andhakupa, 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 Andhakupa his suffering is
just like that of a creature in the lower species.

SB 5.26.18: 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 Krmibhojana. In
that hell is a lake 100,000 yojanas [800,000 miles] wide and filled with worms.
He 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 Krmibhojana for as many years as there are
yojanas in the width of the lake.

SB 5.26.19: My dear King, a person who in the absence of an emergency robs a
brahmana -- or, indeed, anyone else -- of his gems and gold is put into a hell
known as Sandamsa. There his skin is torn and separated by red-hot iron balls
and tongs. In this way, his entire body is cut to pieces.

SB 5.26.20: 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 Yamaraja
in the hell known as Taptasurmi. 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.

SB 5.26.21: A person who indulges in sex indiscriminately -- even with animals
-- is taken after death to the hell known as Vajrakantaka-salmali. In this hell
there is a silk-cotton tree full of thorns as strong as thunderbolts. The agents
of Yamaraja hang the sinful man on that tree and pull him down forcibly so that
the thorns very severely tear his body.

SB 5.26.22: 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 Vaitarani. This river, which is a moat surrounding hell, is full of ferocious
aquatic animals. When a sinful man is thrown into the River Vaitarani, 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.

SB 5.26.23: 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 Puyoda, where
they are put into an ocean filled with pus, stool, urine, mucus, saliva and
similar things. Sudras who could not improve themselves fall into that ocean and
are forced to eat those disgusting things.

SB 5.26.24: If in this life a man of the higher classes [brahmana, ksatriya and
vaisya] 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 Pranarodha. There the assistants of Yamaraja make him their targets and
pierce him with arrows.

SB 5.26.25: 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 Visasana after death. There the assistants of Yamaraja kill him after
giving him unlimited pain.

SB 5.26.26: If a foolish member of the twice-born classes [brahmana, ksatriya
and vaisya] 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 Lalabhaksa. There he
is thrown into a flowing river of semen, which he is forced to drink.

SB 5.26.27: 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 Sarameyadana. On that planet there are 720 dogs with teeth as strong as
thunderbolts. Under the orders of the agents of Yamaraja, these dogs voraciously
devour such sinful people.

SB 5.26.28: 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 Yamaraja. Such a sinful man is taken to the top of a mountain eight
hundred miles high and thrown headfirst into the hell known as Avicimat. 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 Avicimat [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.

SB 5.26.29: Any brahmana or brahmana's wife who drinks liquor is taken by the
agents of Yamaraja to the hell known as Ayahpana. This hell also awaits any
ksatriya, vaisya, or person under a vow who in illusion drinks soma-rasa. In
Ayahpana the agents of Yamaraja stand on their chests and pour hot melted iron
into their mouths.

SB 5.26.30: 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 Ksarakardama. There he must great suffer
great tribulation at the hands of the agents of Yamaraja.

SB 5.26.31: There are men and women in this world who sacrifice human beings to
Bhairava or Bhadra Kali and then eat their victims' flesh. Those who perform
such sacrifices are taken after death to the abode of Yamaraja, where their
victims, having taken the form of Raksasas, 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.

SB 5.26.32: 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 Yamaraja to the hell known as Sulaprota, 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.

SB 5.26.33: 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
Dandasuka. 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.

SB 5.26.34: 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
Avata-nirodhana. There they themselves are pushed into dark wells, where
poisonous fumes and smoke suffocate them and they suffer very severely.

SB 5.26.35: A householder who receives guests or visitors with cruel glances, as
if to burn them to ashes, is put into the hell called Paryavartana, 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.

SB 5.26.36: 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 Sucimukha, where the officials of
Yamaraja punish him by stitching thread through his entire body like weavers
manufacturing cloth.

SB 5.26.37: My dear King Pariksit, in the province of Yamaraja 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.

SB 5.26.38: In the beginning [the Second and Third Cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam]
I have already described how one can progress on the path of liberation. In the
Puranas 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 virat-rupa. 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 bhagavata-dharma, or
Krsna consciousness, his faith and devotion in spiritual consciousness, Krsna
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.

SB 5.26.39: 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
virat-rupa, the gigantic universal form of the Lord, and then gradually think of
the spiritual form of Krsna [sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]] after hearing of
both forms. Thus one's mind is fixed in samadhi. By devotional service one can
then realize the spiritual form of the Lord, which is the destination of
devotees. Thus his life becomes successful.

SB 5.26.40: My dear King, I have now described for you this planet earth, other
planetary systems, and their lands [varsas], 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 virat-rupa, 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.

Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness

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