Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 14,484

Date uploaded in London –  7 May 2025

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.

this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com

xxxx  

 Is Hell Real or Not?  List of 21 Hells from Manu Smriti-2 (Post No.14,484)

SECOND PART

Ramana Maharishi on Hell

Talk 41

22nd September, 1936
Talk 41.

D.: Are there heaven (swarga) and hell (naraka) ?
Maharshi: There must be someone to go there. They are like dreams. We see time and space exist in dream also. Which is true, dream or wakefulness?
D.: So we must rid ourselves of lust (kama ^[?]), anger, (krodha ), etc.

Maharshi: Give up thoughts. You need not give up anything else. You must be there to see anything. It is the Self. Self is ever-conscious.

D.: Are pilgrimages, etc., good?
Maharshi: Yes.

***

Whatever you do, you can either do it willingly or unwillingly. If you do it willingly, it will be heaven. If you do it unwillingly, it will be hell. ~ Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

***

Tamil Saint Manikka vasagar also sang about Naraka/hell in many places. He mentioned 21 types of Hell as well.

***

Asvaghosa , author of Buddhacarita, described all the tortures in the Hell. Buddhist scriptures talk about Major hells and Minor hells. Their number exceeds Hindu’s 21 hells.

***

Is there a hell under the earth or up above in the sky?  No

Following is from Wisdom Library.com

यो राज्ञः प्रतिगृह्णाति लुब्धस्यौच्छास्त्रवर्तिनः ।
स पर्यायेण यातीमान्नरकानेकविंशतिम् ॥ ८७ ॥

yo rājñaḥ pratigṛhṇāti lubdhasyaucchāstravartinaḥ |
sa paryāyeṇa yātīmānnarakānekaviṃśatim || 87 ||

He who accepts gifts from a king who is avaricious and behaves contrary to the scriptures, goes, in succession, to these twenty-one hells:—(87)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This is an exaggerated deprecation of receiving gifts from Kings.

‘Avaricious’—who is in the habit of extracting riches from his subsidiary chiefs.

‘Who behaves contrary to the scriptures’—he who acts against the laws laid down under 11-2 2 et. seq., and inflicts undue punishments, confiscates the women, and so forth.

‘In succession’—i.e., he goes to another hell after having experienced the sufferings of one.

‘Hell.’—This term signifies extreme suffering; and, since extreme suffering is all that is meant to be expressed, the singular number would be the proper form; and the number ‘twenty-one’ is an exaggerated description.—(87)

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 4.87-91)

Viṣṇu Purana (43.1-22).—‘The Hells are as follows—

1.     Tāmisra,

2.     Andhatāmisra,

3.     Raurava,

4.     Mahāraurava,

5.     Kālasūtra,

6.     Mahāmaraka,

7.     Sañjīvana,

8.     Avīci,

9.     Tāpana,

10.Sampratāpana,

11.Saṅghātaka,

12.Kākola,

13.Kuḍmala,

14.Pūtimṛttika,

15.Lohaśaṅku,

16.Ṛcīṣa,

17.Viṣamapathin,

18.Kaṇṭakaśālmali,

19.Dīnapadī,

20.Asipatravana,

21.Lohacāraka.’

Skandapurāṇa (quoted in Parāśaramādhava, p. 199).—‘The man who has been brought up on gifts from the king becomes a Brahmarākṣasa in the water-less desert, and docs not obtain another birth. The man who, having renounced his Brāhmaṇahood, and deluded by greed for riches and for sensual objects, accepts gifts from the king, his fall into the Raurava hell is certain. Even trees burnt by forest-fíres grow again on the advent of rain; but those that have been burnt by gifts from the king never grow again.’

तामिस्रमन्धतामिस्रं महारौरवरौरवौ ।
नरकं कालसूत्रं च महानरकमेव च ॥ ८८ ॥
सञ्जीवनं महावीचिं तपनं सम्प्रतापनम् ।
संहातं च सकाकोलं कुड्मलं प्रतिमूर्तिकम् ॥ ८९ ॥
लोहशङ्कुं ऋजीषं च पन्थानं शाल्मलीं नदीम् ।
असिपत्रवनं चैव लोहदारकमेव च ॥ ९० ॥

tāmisramandhatāmisraṃ mahārauravarauravau |
narakaṃ kālasūtraṃ ca mahānarakameva ca || 88 ||
sañjīvanaṃ mahāvīciṃ tapanaṃ sampratāpanam |
saṃhātaṃ ca sakākolaṃ kuḍmalaṃ pratimūrtikam || 89 ||
lohaśaṅkuṃ ṛjīṣaṃ ca panthānaṃ śālmalīṃ nadīm |
asipatravanaṃ caiva lohadārakameva ca || 4-90 ||

(1)  Tāmisra, (2) Andhatāmisra, (3) Mahāraurava, (4) Raurava, (5) Kālasūtra-Naraka, (6) Mahānaraka, (7) Sañjīvana, (8) Mahāvīci, (9) Tāpana, (10) Sampatāpana, (11) Saṃhāta, (12) Sakākola, (13) Kuḍmala, (14) Pūtimṛttika, (15) Lohaśaṅku, (16) Ṛjīṣa, (17) Pathin, (18) Śālmalī, (19) Nadī, (20) Asipatravana and (21) Lohadāraka.—(88-90).

****

MEANINF OF HELLS

 1.‘Tāmisra,’ darkness,

1. ‘Andhatāmisra’, dense darkness,—
2. ‘Mahāraurava-Raurava’, abounding in hot sands,—
3. ‘Kālasūtra,’ resembling the potter’s cutting string,—
4. ‘Mahānaraka’, where all sorts of dire sufferings are gone through,—
5. ‘Sañjīvanam’, where one is repeatedly killed and brought to life,—
6. ‘Mahāvīci’, where large waves tumble about,—
7. ‘Tapana’, resembling flaming fire,—
8. ‘Sampratāpana’ is another name for the Kumbhīpāka,—
9. ‘Saṃhāta’ over-crowded,—
10. ‘Kākola’, where people are devoured by crows,—
11. ‘Kuḍmala,’ where there is whipping with cords,—
12. ‘Pūtimṛttikam’ where the earth smells like filth,—
13. ‘Lauhaśaṅku’, pricks like the needle,—
14. ‘Ṛjīṣa’, where rotten flour is thrown,—
15. ‘Panthā’, where one is constantly on the move,—
16. ‘Śālmala’, where people are pierced by thorns of the Śālmalī tree,—
17. ‘Nadī’, where one is washed away by such streams as the Vaitariṇī and the like—
18. ‘Lohacāraka,’ where there is chaining in irons.

एतद् विदन्तो विद्वांसो ब्राह्मणा ब्रह्मवादिनः ।
न राज्ञः प्रतिगृह्णन्ति प्रेत्य श्रेयोऽभिकाङ्क्षिणः ॥ ९१ ॥

etad vidanto vidvāṃso brāhmaṇā brahmavādinaḥ |
na rājñaḥ pratigṛhṇanti pretya śreyo’bhikāṅkṣiṇaḥ || 4-91 ||

Knowing this, the learned Brāhmaṇas reading the Vedas do not accept gifts from a king, if they desire to secure welfare after death.—(91)

 ******

To be continued………………………………………..

Tags- Hell, Real or not, Ramana, Sadguru, Buddhist scriptures