Introduction:
The path to Yamaloka is said to be 86,000
yojanas.
The different paths to hell with their
particular punishment are in accordance with the gravity of the sins.
The two different paths to hell:
There are basically two paths to Yamaraja;
the path of sin and the path of piety. Generally, everyone leaving the human
form has to meet with Yamaraja. After being judged some go to the planets of
hell. Some go to the material heavenly planets, situated above the earth
planet, far above the ecliptic. Some go to the spiritual world, outside the 35
million Universal Eggs. These material heavenly planets should not be confused
with the Kingdom of God, or the eternal, spiritual world.
The hellish planets are situated below the
earth’s ecliptic. Up and Down in the universe is in reference to the orbit of
the sun around the earth or the ecliptic; the 14 planetary systems are parallel
to this plane.
Also
below the Earth level, but just above the region of Naraka are the subterranean
heavenly planets (or bila-svarga); these planets are inhabited by subtle
beings, i.e. beings that most mortals can not see, due to seeing only with the
gross, undeveloped senses. These subterranean heavenly planets should not be
confused with the genuine heavenly planets, like the higher dimensional parts
of the sun and the moon.
The path of sin is described as follows:
Four Yamadutas, terrible in form, take the
sinner, on the papa marga - the path of sin. Beating the subtle body–
yAtanA-deha, with hammers, whips, fists etc. they bind the sinner with leather
straps, strong ropes and iron chains. Sometimes the Yamadutas personally kill
the material body, e.g. one time one Yamaduta took the form of a serpent and
bit the sinner, who then died and was then taken to hell.
At death, the sinner sees the messengers of
the lord of death come before him, their eyes full of wrath, and in great fear
he passes stool and urine. As a criminal is arrested for punishment by the
constables of the state, a person engaged in criminal sense gratification is
similarly arrested by the Yamadütas. While carried by the constables of
Yamaräja, he is overwhelmed and trembles in their hands. While passing on the
road he is bitten by dogs, and he can remember the sinful activities of his
life. He is thus terribly distressed. Under the scorching sun, the criminal has
to pass through roads of hot sand with forest fires on both sides. He is
whipped on the back by the constables because of his inability to walk, and he
is afflicted by hunger and thirst, but unfortunately there is no drinking
water, no shelter and no place for rest on the road. While passing on that road
to the abode of Yamaräja, he falls down in fatigue, and sometimes he becomes
unconscious, but he is forced to rise again
The path of piety is described as follows:
Four Yamadutas with gentle form take the
pious soul on dharma marga - the path of religion. This path has pleasant
lakes, pleasant breezes, heavenly gardens, nectarine foods and drinks and
comfortable vimanas or celestial airplanes or chariots. People who are taken on
this path will meet a different looking Yamaraja, one of the twelve mahajanas
(=great souls), dressed as a Vaisnava King who glorifies them and sends them to
the planets that they deserve; this can even be the spiritual planets.
Sometimes the living entity is not taken by
the Yamadhutas on either path. E.g. Padma Purana 5.109 describes that once
hundred Yamadutas came to get a sinner but because the person had worshiped and
embraced the Siva murti at the time of death, the Sivadutas also came… The
Yamadutas had failed to respect the fact that the person, at the most important
time of his life, the time of death, embraced the murti of Lord Siva. The
Sivadutas in accordance with religious principles, stopped all of the Yamadutas
by force; after which they took the devotee of Siva to Sivaloka where he
continued to be a servant of his worshipable Master.
Sometimes, Yamaraja himself will take away a
soul who has accumulated great merit.
1a. The road to Hell: further description
The sinner passes that path to Yamaloka
within ten muhurtas or 8 hours. (1 muhurta is 48 minutes) (10x48: 480: 8 hours)
These
differences in distances to hell in the various scriptures is because each
Purana describes a different day of Brahma.
Every day and night of Brahma– both lasting a
period of 4.320.000.000 years, together 8.640.000.000- the content of the lower
part of the universe, within the shells of the universe, is destroyed and
recreated. The creation is for 4,32 billion years. Brahma’s night of darkness
and silence in the universe is also for 4,32 billion years.
The Garuda and some other Puranas state even
different towns– some for reward for piety in life, some for pain as reaction
to sin– on the way to Yamaraja :
10. On this path, from earth, whatever is given
by his sons every month, rice-balls, etc., due to affection or kindness, he
eats the subtle form of that and then he goes to Sauripura.
11. King Jańgama rules in that city. He can
assume any shape at will. He is frightened by his looks. The soul takes rest in
this town.
12-13. Whatever is
offered to him together with the oblations of water he eats and drinks. He
leaves that city and reaches the beautiful town Nagendra by name. He has to
travel day and night for two months for reaching that city. He passes over
dreadful forests on the way and cries aloud.
14-15. He is beaten by the cruel and
merciless messengers of Yama and weeps over and over again. All the while only
eating the rice-balls and drinking the libations of water offered by the
relatives, he moves further. He is tied with nooses and dragged by the
messengers of Yama.
16. He reaches Gandharva nagara (or
Gandha-mâdana) in the third month. Then he moves further.
17. He reaches the city Sailāgama in the fourth
month. On the way, stones rain upon him continuously.
18. There he eats the fourth monthly oblation and
feels satisfied.
19. In the fifth month, he goes to Krūrapura.
Again he eats the rice balls and water offered by his relatives. In the sixth
month he reaches the Krauñcapura.
20. There he feeds upon the rice-ball offered by
his relatives in the sixth month. He takes rest for a while but all the time he
remains frightened and distressed.
21. He leaves that town being struck and dragged
by the messengers of Yama. He reaches Citranagara, where rules King Vicitra.
22-23. He
is the younger brother of Yama. There he eats some sixth monthly rice-ball but
not much and is not satiated fully. But he is driven on so then he moves
further; he suffers again and again for want of food.
24. "Do my sons, brothers, parents or
relatives still exist or remember me. Why they offer so little. May they take
me out of the ocean of distress wherein I have fallen."
25-28. He laments on the way and is scolded
by the messengers of Yama. He then, reaches the Vaitaranī river, that flows over hundreds of Yojanas. It
is full of pus and blood, abounds in fishes and vultures. Here the fishermen
approach him saying, "O traveller, by a liberal fee we shall row you
across the river."
If he has gifted eg the Vaitaranī cow on earth,
he is rowed across the river. The gift of a cow at the time of death is called
Vaitaranī which gives relief to the departed soul.
29. The gift of Vaitaranī cow destroys sins and
will later take him even for some time to the region of Visnu. If the Vaitaranī
cow is not gifted, the departed soul is pushed in that stream.
30. When a person is in good health he should
gift a cow to a learned person.
31-32. While drowning he
reproaches himself: 'I gave no food to a brahmana traveller, nor poured
oblations in the fire nor performed Japa nor
undertook sacred bath nor prayed to the gods. Now, let me suffer for the acts I
did in my life.”
The messengers of Yama strike him again. He
repeats those words but in silence this time. Vaitarani or Vaitarni/Vaitarna
(= to be crossed)
The river Vaitarani is 100 Yojanas wide, full
of excreta, urine, pus, blood, flesh, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and
fat. Worms, crocodiles, snakes, big scorpions, fishes, vultures, fierce aquatic
beings eat the person's flesh sharp weapons. The sinner is bitten by snakes,
big scorpions, fishes and vultures while 12 suns are blazing on his head (this
is not the sun of our solar system). According to other puranas it forms the
boundary of Naraka.
The sinner tries to swim over but sinks and
has to vomit the bitter water. Somehow he reaches the bank of scorching,
burning sand.
For a person who was pious, the river assumes
a pleasant sight, and the soul is plied over in a pleasure boat.
33. He eats some more of the sixth monthly
offering made by the relatives and proceeds further. The gift of food to the
pious brahmins gives some relief to the donor in distress.
34.
The
departed soul covers two hundred and forty seven Yojanas every day. Thereafter
he is completely exhausted.
35.
In the
seventh month he reaches the city Bahvāpada. He eats the rice-balls etc offered
by his relatives.
36.
In the
eighth month he reaches Nānākrandapura. There he sees people crying bitterly
aloud.
37.
Himself
in utter distress, he also cries in pain. He eats the eighth-monthly rice-ball
and feels somewhat comfortable.
38.
He,
then, leaves for Taptapura. Having reached Taptapura in the ninth month he eats
the rice-balls and the other Śrāddha which
his son or relatives have gifted in his favour.
39.
In the
tenth month he reaches Raudrapura. He eats whatever his son or relatives give
in his favour.
40.
After
eating the tenth monthly rice-balls etc. in Raudra-pura he goes to Payovarsana
where the clouds usually rain heavily and cause distress to the departed.
41. Then suffering from heat and thirst he
partakes of the eleventh-monthly meal gifted by his relatives.
42. A little before a year has passed or at the
end of eleven and a half months, he reaches a Śîtapura—city of extreme cold and distress.
43. Tormented by cold and hunger he looks in all
directions and speaks : "I wish I had a relative who would have removed my
distress."
44. The attendants of Yama thunder to him thus :
"Where is thy holy merit that it may give relief to thee." On hearing
their words he cries : 'O my fate.'
45. Fate is nothing but a result of accumulated
merit or sin. 'I did no good acts, hence this trouble'—pondering over the
matter thus, he acquiesced in his fate and takes up courage for the time being.
46. At the distance of forty four Yojanas from Śîtapura,
there is a beautiful city of Dharmarâja (Yama) where live celestial musicians
and heavenly nymphs.
47. There live eightyfour lacs of people in human
and divine forms. The guards are put at the thirteen gates of the city.
49-52.
There abide the honourable Sravanas, the sons of Brahma who know every action
and report to Citragupta whatever good or bad actions are performed by the
mortals.
The Sravanas are eight in number. They move about in heaven, hell and
on earth. They can see and hear from afar. Their women are known as Śravanîs
who are identifiable by their individual names. They are the presiding deities
of the mortals and have full knowledge of their activities.
53. A mortal should worship them with vows,
gifts and prayers. Thus they become cordial to him and cause death in an easy
manner.
A day in hell is equal to 100 years of the
manusya (mankind). In other words, when souls are in hell, 1 day, is
experienced as 100 years.
The path of darkness (to hell) is called the
pitr-yana, or path of the Pitrs (the ancestral spirits). According to the Visnu
Purana, on the north of the star Agastya, and south of Ajavithi (the three
nakshatras Mula, Purvashadha, and Uttarashadha), outside of the Vaishvanara
path, lies the road of the Pitrs– to hell.(Visnu purana – Wilson, 1980, p 327)
The nakshatras Mula, Purvashadha, and
Uttarashadha correspond to parts of the constellations Scorpio and Sagittarius,
and it is thought that Agastya corresponds to the southern hemisphere star
called Canopus. According to Sridhara Swami's commententary on the Bhagavatam,
the path of Vaishvanara corresponds to the nine nakshatras from Mula to Revati
(The last three are specifically called Vaishvanara ) (Wilson, 1865, p 268)
This puts Pitrloka, or the path to it, south
of the ecliptic, starting with the region of Scorpio and Sagittarius. From the
latitude of India in the northern hemisphere, the stars on the path of the
Pitrs tend to rise only briefly above the horizon, and thus they were also
associated with darkness and the underworld.
The entrance to hell – Narakaloka, is
surrounded by goblins and ghosts, evil spirits named Yaksas. There are sounds
of hundreds of vixens, and pitiable cries are everywhere.
===============================================================
1b. The road to the Hell:
More details
- First the sinner is devoid of garments.
- In some places there is deep mud.
- At some places there is forest fire.
- In some places there are rocky mountains,
very difficult to climb.
- There are great hedges of thorny bushes
covering the road.
-In many places, the sinner has to climb to
the top of steep bunds (dikes) and mounds (masses of piled up earth) before
entering rivers of stinking dirt.
– sometimes enter long, deep,dark caves and
tunnels with snakes, bears, lions, mosquitos, bats, birds of prey and more.
- In some places there are sources of
outbursts of disease and attacks of fever.
- Some sinners are dragged with goads and
hooks.
- Some are dragged with nooses at the tip of
their noses.
- Some bear weighty iron balls at the tip of
their genitals or bear 2 weighty iron balls at the tips of their noses or on
their ears.
- Some falter at every step, some slip down
being struck.
- At places there is a shower of fire or
thorns and thorny arrows.
- At places there is a shower of stones.
- At places there is a shower of weapons.
- At places there is a shower of burning
charcoals.
- At places there are breezes, hot like fire.
- At places there are deep places of darkness
with their openings covered with sharp grass.
- At places there are rows of rocks difficult
to climb, along with serpents.
- The sinners are wet with streams of blood
and smeared with mud. Yama's servants are angrily piercing the sinners with
needles, pikes and daggers, and drag them with nooses around the sinner's
necks.
- The sinners carry from the cavities of
their ears, heavy stones and carry iron-loads on the tops of their heads.
Some are deformed or are forced to walk with
head down and feet up, on their hands.
Some walk on one foot.
Yama's
servants shout; thundering like clouds: "Break them, kill them, destroy
them, cut them, and pierce them.” Yama's emissaries sometimes cry ghostly.
Sometimes the sinner is attacked and eaten by
100's of she-jackals.
On the path, the Yamadhutas are driving/
riding on birds, bears, tigers, donkeys, camels, monkeys, scorpions, wolves,
owls, serpents, cats, vultures, kites, jackals, bees and herons.
The Yamadhutas are foul smelling, like
buffalo.
To cause even more suffering on this path
there are also vampires, serpents, bulls, cranes, crows, herons, cats, owls,
jackals, vultures, hawks, donkeys, elephants, horses, camels, lions, mices, all
biting, beating, picking, kicking, tearing.
The Yamadhutas have various forms with
sometimes big heads, long crooked noses, 3 eyes, huge jaw-bones, red hair and
long nails. Their limbs are smeared and drip with blood and flesh, they have
curved fangs, blazing tongues and protruding eyes. They are bedecked with
garlands of skulls, and black serpents around their necks are making hissing
sounds. Some have 2, 4, 10, 16, 20 or 1000 arms with various weapons.
Sometimes on the path are rows of trees with
sword edged leaves.
Sometimes the Yamadutas draw out the tongue,
take out eyes, cut off hands and ears.
On the papa-marga there are obstacles of
anthills, pikes or lances, blazing fires fiercer than 100’s of thunderbolts,
scorching rays of sunshine, a heated sand path with dogs, tigers, wolves and
herons. Buffalos, oxens scrape the body of the sinner with their horns and
boars with their tusks. Insects, scorpions, serpents prick and pierce. There
are wolves, foxes and dogs with flame-filled mouths. The path is filled with
sharp thorns, pebbles with edges like razors and needles. There is mud, moats,
burning coals, slippery clay lumps, ditches and pits, forest fires, snow and
sand so loose, the sinner sinks till the neck. Dakini witches, showers of dust,
pebbles or arrows, thunderbolts, meteors. Chill winds freezes the sinner, who
is then burnt by the fire of hunger, while seeing foods and drinks the
Yamadutas taunt the sinner: “This is for the pious. Where are your assets? You
didn’t do any yajna (offering) or religious deed”. The sinner is beaten by
clubs, axes, darts and whips, driven along the path. The sinner cries
painfully, remembering the misdeeds done in the sinner’s previous live.
There are echoes of the howling sounds of
jackals.
The sinner is led to the city of Yamaraja for
him awful, terrible in appearance and made of iron.
