Chapter VI. Consequences of Not Undergoing Penances

Volume IV pp. 153–179

Chapter VI. Consequences of Not Undergoing Penances

If a sinner did not undergo a prāyaścitta, the Smṛtis, Purāṇas, medieval digests declared that he had to suffer dire and far-reaching consequenceṣ Yāj. III. 221 declares that men addicted to sins, who feel no repentance and who (therefore) do not undergo the proper penances, fall into painful and horrible hellṣ Manu XII. 54 ff and Yāj. III. 206 ff provide that those guilty of grave (and other) sins after having passed numbers of years in hells and suffered the tortures of horrible hells are born again in this world because of (the remnants of their) evil actions in different forms such as lower animals, insects, trees and shrubs &c. Manu XI. 53 ordains that one should always perform penance in order to free oneself from sins, since those who have not destroyed their sins (by means of prāyaścittas) are born again endowed with disgraceful marks (such as having bad nails, black teeth &c.). Manu XI. 48 also emphasizes that wicked men suffer mal-formations owing to their wicked deeds committed in this very life or in a former life. The Viṣṇu-purāṇa¹ echoes the words of Yāj. III. 221. The Viṣṇudharmo-ttara declares² that those (sinners) who do not undergo penances nor are punished by the king fall into hell and are born also as lower animals and even after attaining human bodies they become marked (with bodily defects). Viṣṇu Dh. S. (44. 1-10) prescribes³ that evil-doers, having experienced the horrors of hell pass into animal bodies and that those guilty of atipātakas, mahāpātakas, anupātakas, upapātakas, jāti- bhrāmsa-kara actions, sankarīkaraṇa, apatrakaraṇa, malini- karana and miscellaneous sins, respectively enter the bodies of all plants, of worms (or insects), of birds, of aquatic animals, of animals roving in waters, of deer, of cattle, of untouchables among men, of miscellaneous and cruel carnivorous animals (like tigers). Viṣṇu Dh. S. 45.1 provides⁴ that sinners, after having undergone the horrors of hells and after having passed through the bodies of lower animals, are born as human beings with certain marks (indicative of their sins). So the teaching of these and other authorities comes to this that sins when not expiated by penances or by State punishment, lead to hell, that then, owing to some remnants of the evil deeds, to birth as lower animals and then as decrepit or diseased human beingṣ

It is now necessary at this stage to enter upon a historical though brief account of the idea of Hell and of its opposite Heaven⁵. There are in the Ṛgveda hardly any clear or express references to Hell In Rg II, 29.6 the sage prays to the Visva- Devas ‘save me from the pit, from falling down into it’ (trādhrvam kartād-avapādo yajatrāḥ). In Rg IV 5 5 it is said⁶ that those men who are bereft of rta and satya, being sinful, create a deep place for themselveṣ In Rg. VII. 104.3 the poet calls upon Indra and Soma to strike down⁷ into bottomless darkness evil-doers, and in VII. 104.11 the poet prays that whatever enemy desires to harm the poet by day or night may be deprived of his body and progeny and may be hurled below the three earths Indra is implored in Rg X. 152.4 by the sage to send down into darkness whoever attacks him and his people. In Rg. IX. 73.8 Soma is said to throw down in a pit those who do not observe Soma's ordinances and who are disliked by hiṃ From these passages what emerges is that the sages of the Ṛgveda had some faint glimmerings of (or belief in) the idea of a dark deep pit below the earth to which wicked persons were relegated by the godṣ But there is no mention in the Ṛgveda of the tortures of Hell. It is in the Atharvaveda that we find the clearest references to Hell (Naraka). Sorcerers and demons dwell in a house below (the earth), according to A. V. II, 14. 3. Atharva- veda V. 30. 11 asks a man to come out from death, from the deep and black darknesṣ In Atharvaveda ⁸ V. 19. 3 it is asserted that those who spat in the face of a brāhmaṇa or who imposed a levy of money on him remain biting hair in the midst of a river of blooḍ Atharvaveda XII, 4, 36 mentions 'Nāraka-loka'. In the Vāj. S. XXX, 5 the Vīrahan ⁹ (i. e. one who gives up or extinguishes the consecrated Vedic fires) is relegated to nārakāya vīrahanam). A vīrahan may also mean 'one who kills a valiant man' but that does not seem to be a proper sense in this passage of the Vāj S. In the Śat. Br. XI, 6. 1 4 we find a reference to torments of Hell, viz. men cutting up the limbs of others one by one for crimes committeḍ The Tai. Ā. I. 19 speaks of four narakas called Visarpin, Avisarpin, Visādin and Avisādin in the south-east, south-west, north west and north-east. From the Kathopanisad it appears that at that time there was a belief that those foolish men who do not know the Reality and who only believe in the existence of the mundane world alone have to be born again and again and fall into the hands of Yama ¹⁰ (II, 5-6). The same Upaniṣad (V. 7) states that after the death (of the body) some enter the womb in accordance with their actions and knowledge to have an embodied existence, while others go into fixed matter (the form of trees and the like). But that Upaniṣad says nothing about the torments of Hell. They were therefore probably not believed to exist in those days, at least, to the same degree as in the days of the Epics and Purāṇaṣ The very words at the beginning of the Katha Up. (I. 21 'devair-atrāpi vicikitsitam') indicate that there were even then various views about the fate of the departeḍ The Kausitaki Br (XI. 3) propounds the remarkable proposition that just as men in this world eat the (flesh of) beasts, so in the next world the beasts eat meṇ¹¹ As regards the opposite idea of svarga (Heaven) the matter is much clearer In certain Ṛk verses there are said to be three heavens (e g Ṛg I 35 6, VIII 5 8, VIII 41 9, IX. 113 9) The generous donor or worshipper is said to occupy heaven and to mix among gods; and gods like Mitra and Varuṇa are implored to give the worshipper immortality¹² (Rg I. 125, 5, V. 63. 2, X 107 2 ) Life in heaven is full of joys and de lights and the denizen of heaven has all his desires fulfilled (Rg. IX. 113 10-11).¹³ In Rg IX, 113 8 the poet prays 'make me immortal (in heaven) where dwells king Vaivasvata, where the sun is confined (i e. where it never sets) and where the divine waters flow' A person who neither offers sacrifices to gods, nor worships, and observes ordinances other than those of Indra is thrown down from Heaven ¹⁴ A sage exultingly addresses Soma 'we have drunk soma, we have become immor tal, we have reached Light (Heaven) and we have known the gods; what will an enemy or harmful person do to us who have been mortals so far?'¹⁵ The pious dead become united in Heaven with their Iṣṭāpūrta (merit due to sacrifices and chari table acts) and with their fore-fathers and become endowed with a refulgent body (Rg X 148). Those who practise tapas or those who perform sacrifices in which the fees run to thousands (of cows) reach Heaven (Rg X. 154, 1-3)¹⁶, and Soma, ghee and honey flow for them there. Heaven is said to be the abode of Yama and there resounds the sound of flutes and of songs ¹⁷ The Atharvaveda, being more popular in character, contains much more information about Heaveṇ In Atharvaveda III, 29,3 it is said that a donor goes to Heaven where a weak man has not to render to the strong any contributioṇ¹⁸ In Atharvaveda IV, 34,2, 5–6 it is stated that in the heavenly world there are bevies of women (for the denizens), that there the dwellers get many edible plants and flowers and that there are ponds of ghee, streams of milk and honey, wine flows like water and lotus lakes surround the denizenṣ In Heaven the meritorious enjoy delight, their bodies being free from disease.¹⁹ Atharvaveda VI. 120,3 and other verses ex-press a yearning to meet one’s parents, wife and sons (vide Atharva XII. 3,17).²⁰ The Tai. S. is full of references to Heaven and so no quotation is cited here except one where it is said that he who offers the Adābhya cup in Jyotiṣṭoma goes to heaven while still living in this worlḍ²¹ The Tai. Br. appears to hold that those who offer sacrifices become shining stars in the firmament (I, 5, 2, 5–6).²² The Śat. Br. (XI 1. 8. 6) states ‘that sacrificer who offers a sacrifice as this redemption is born in the next world (Heaven) with his body entire’.²³ Survival of the soul after death is emphatically asserted in the Tai. Br. III. 10. 11. These passages are enough to establish that the state of the pious after death and of heroes killed in battle was one of happiness in heaven, that there the food and material things (such as honey, ghee) that a person required in this world were also available in greater perfection and abundance. The remark of Macdonell ‘Heaven is a glorified world as pictured by the imagination not of warriors but of priests’ (Vedic Mythology p. 168) is not (in view of Rg. X. 154,3) quite accurate or justifieḍ There is nothing to show. that the warriors of Vedic times did not believe what the priests believeḍ In later times (as in the Bhagavadgītā II 37 ‘hato vā prāpsyasi svargam’ or in the Raghuvamśa VII 51) warriors killed in battle were supposed to go to heaven and were privileged to have the company of beautiful damselṣ Heaven as a place or state of eternal bliss to which the spi-rious or meritorious people or warriors go, is an idea common to most ancient peoples and was probably based on the idea that the Earth was flat and the sky was a dome carrying various celestial objectṣ In the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Up. (IV 3 33) and Taittirīya Up. (II. 8) it is²⁴ stated that the joys of the world of gods are hundreds of times more delightful than those of the mortal worlḍ²⁵ In the Kathopaniṣad (I 12) it is stated by Yama him-self that in Heaven there is no fear and no old age, that the denizen of Heaven is beyond hunger, thirst and sorrow and is in the midst of all delightṣ The Kauṣītaki Br. Up. as quoted by Śaṅkarācārya on Vedāntasūtra I. 1. 28 contains the statement that the abode of sinners is below this world or²⁶ the earth. The Chāndogya Up. in one place remarks²⁷ ‘those whose con-duct has been good will quickly attain some good birth, the birth of a brāhmaṇa or a kṣatriya or vaiśya. But those whose conduct has been evil will quickly attain an evil birth, the birth of a dog or a hog or a cāṇḍāla’.

We have here a complicated blending of two theorieṣ The original theory of early Vedic times was that of Heaven and Hell which is also that of most religionṣ Later on when the doctrines of karma and punarjanma came to be universally believed in India the theory of Heaven and Hell came to be modified by holding that the pleasures of Heaven and the torments of Hell both came to an end some time or other and the author of sins was born again as an animal or a tree or a human being suffer-ing from diseases and defectṣ The fate of the departed soul after the death of the body will be touched upon in the section on Antyesti and Śrāddha, but in connection with the doctrine of Hell it is necessary to say something about Yama. In Ṛg. X. 58. 1 Yama is called Vaivasvata (son of Vivasvat, the Sun). Yama is at least an Indo-Iranian deity. Yama is eulogised in Ṛg. X. 14. He is called a king and is credited with the task of gathering together people (X. 14, 1); he is said to have been the first to make a way (to Heaven) which was followed by former ancestors of mankind (X. 14. 2 ‘Yamo no gātum prathamo viveda. yatrā nah pūrve pitarah pareyuh ’). The soul when departing from this world is told that when he follows the paths of the ancient ancestors he would see the two kings Yama and Varuna. In Ṛg. X. 14. 13–15 the priests are asked to press Soma for Yama, to offer oblations to him and it is said that yajña reaches Yama, Agni being the messenger. In Ṛg. X. 135. 1 Yama is stated to drink in the company of gods, he is the lord of meṇ Yama owns two dogs each having four eyes who guard the way, who are the spies of Yama and who move among men and mark their doingṣ In Ṛg. X. 97. 16 the sage prays ‘May the plants release me from the (effects of the) violation of oaths, from the violation of the ordinances of Varuna, from the fetters which Yama claps on the feet of sinners and from all sins against the gods’²⁸ In Ṛg. X. 165. 4 Yama is identified with Mṛtyu (death) and the owl (an evil omen) or a kapota is said to be the dūta (harbinger) of Yama Ṛg I. 38 5 (addressed to the Maruts) appears to crave for something ‘which is opposed to what other references to Yama state ‘May not the singer of your praises go by the path of Yama’.²⁹ Thus, though in the Ṛgveda, Yama is a god and mostly a beneficent ruler of men, there is an element of fear associated with him as the two prying dogs that guard the way to heaven and his being called Mṛtyu would suggest. The Atharvaveda refers to Yama in several places in the same strain as in the Ṛg. In A. V 18 3 13 it is said ³⁰ ‘serve the king Yama with offering, who was the first to die among men, who was the first to depart from this world and who, the son of Vivasvat, is the gatherer of men’. In Tai S. V, I, 82 and V 2. 3. 1 it is stated that Yama is the lord of all mortals and of The whole extent of the earth. In Tai S III. 3 8 3-4 it is declared ³¹ ‘Yama is indeed Agni and this (earth and altar) is Yami. When a sacrificer strews Oṣadhīs on the Vedi it is indeed tantamount to taking up a debt from Yama If he (the sacrificer) were to go from this world without burning them they (Yama’s men) might take him to the next world with fetters round his neck In Rg X. 14. 10³² the pitṛs are said to enjoy delights in the company of Yama In the Ait Br ³³ (XII. 3) Mṛtyu is credited with having fetters (pāśas) and wooden maces (sthānu) for catching erring meṇ It has already been seen how Yama is said to have within his powers again and again foolish men who believe in the existence of this world alone and deny the existence of the next Thus, from being a beneficent ruler of the departed souls in the very early Vedic times, Yama came gradually to be looked upon as a dreadful punished of meṇ³⁴ The Purāṇas contain graphic descriptions of Yama’s abode and of his assistants, chief among whom is Citragupta For example, the Varāhapurāṇa ³⁵ chap 205 con- tains a dialogue between Yama and Citragupta, in which the latter recommends the fate that a dead person deserves for his actions The Agnipurāṇa chap. 371. 12 states that a sinner falls into horrible hells that are declared by Citragupta at the order of Yama. We must now turn to the ideas of Heaven and Hell contained in the post-Vedic Literature, sutras, smṛtis, purāṇas and digestṣ The Nir. (I 11) quotes³⁶ a quarter of a Vedic verse which means 'for fear that if we (women) acted crookedly (towards our husbands) we might fall into Hell'. The word Naraka is derived by it in two ways (m+ araka), viz. its meaning 'going below' (the earth) or (na+ ra+ka) 'where there is not the slightest place for joy'. In another place, while deriving the word 'putra' (son) the Nir. (II 11) declares that the son is called putra because he saves (the father) from the hell called put. The same derivation of the word putra is offered by Manu IX 138 (=Ādiparva 229.14= Visnudharmasūtra 15.44). Gautama (13.7) promises³⁷ heaven to the witnesses in a cause if they speak the truth, but Hell (naraka) if they tell the opposite (of truth). After defining patana as loss of the capacity to perform the privileged acts of twice-born classes (such as Veda study &c ) and stating that by being guilty of sins a man does not in the next world reap the fruits of his good actions, Gautama states the striking view of other sages that naraka is nothing more than this loss of capacity and of the fruits of good acts, his own view how- ever being that naraka is a particular place where a man has to dwell solely in distress and sorrow. It was the emphatic view of Gautama that men of the several varnas and āśramas that are devoted to the actions prescribed as peculiar to each, enjoy after departing from this body, the fruits of their actions and then owing to some remainder of their total actions are born in appropriate circumstances as to the country, caste, family, appearance, length of life, learning, conduct, wealth, happiness and intelligence, while those who act contrariwise pass into all sorts of births and are ruined³⁸. Āp. Dh. S. holds that a man becomes fit for Naraka if he follows activities solely dictated by sensual pleasureṣ³⁹ In another place Āp. Dh S. affirms that Naraka is indeed one's lot when one transgresses one's dharma. It also states that rewards without end are denominated svargyā. The Vedāntasūtra III. 1.13 makes it⁴⁰ clear that after enjoying the fruits of one's actions in the abode of Yama (Samyamana) evil-doers ascend to this mortal worlḍ In Vedāntasūtra III. 1.15 the narakas⁴¹ are said to be seveṇ Pāṇini VI. 2.38 teaches the accent of mahārāurava. In the Kāśikā com on Pāṇini III. 2.88 a Vedic verse is cited according to which one who kills his mother enters the 7th naraka. The Viṣṇupurāṇa I. 6.41 names seven hells, Tāmisra, Andhatāmisra, Mahāraurava, Raurava, Asipatravana, Kālasūtra and Avīci and (in II. 6 2–5) names 26 narakas. Śankha-Likhita as quoted by the Madanapārijāta pp 694–695 mentions in detail the torments that evil-doers undergo in the hells called Kumbhīpāka, Raurava, Mahāraurava &c. Manu IV. 88–90, Yāj. III. 222–224, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 43. 2–22, Agnipurāṇa 371. 20–22, Nārada (prakirnaka 44) enumerate 21 narakas. The names are almost the same in all these works, the variations being due mostly to the scribes having read certain letters differently. The 21 names are generally significant and may be set out from Manu as follows: Tāmisra (darkness), Andhatāmisra (blinding darkness), Mahāraurava, Raurava (abounding in paths with heated surfaces, according to Pr. V. p. 15), Kālasūtra (like the thread on the wheel with which the potter cuts off a raw earthen pot in two), Mahanaraka, Sañjīvana (where one is made to revive and is again killed), Mahāvīci (where one is submerged in surging waves), Tapana (as burning hot as fire), Sampratāpana (same as Kumbhīpāka, according to Pr. V. p. 15), Sanghāta (making many stay in a small place like the legendary Black- IV] hole of Calcutta), Kākoļa (where one is preyed on by crows), Kṛmīmala (where one is bound with ropes into a bundle, which looks like a closed bud), Pūtimṛttika (where the clay has a putrid smell), Lohāśaṅku (piercing one with iron nails), Ṛjīsa (where boiled flour is thrown about), Panthāh (where one is constantly to and fro), Śālmali (where one is struck with thorns like those of the silk-cotton tree), Nadī (i. e. where one is carried away by a river such as the Vaitaraṇī), Asipatravana (where one is cut up by a forest of sword blades), Lohadāraka (which cuts up limbs with iron). Manu (XII 75–76) again mentions the Tāmisra, Asipatravana and Kumbhīpāka narakas and Manu III 249 Kalasūtra. Kullūka (on Manu. IV. 88–90). Pr. V. (p. 16), the Dīpakalikā (on Yaj. III. 222–224) and other commentaries say that the conditions in the hells may be read in the Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa and other workṣ Vide Agnipurāṇa 203 and 371 (where Hells are said to be 144), Brahmapurāṇa, chap. 22 (which names 25 narakas and states what sinners fall into which of them), chap. 214 (verses 14–17 of 22 narakas and verses 51–103 contain harrowing descriptions of the horrible torments of hell), chap. 215. 83. ff. (for names and descriptions of several narakas)⁴² Brahma-vaivarta (prakṛtikhaṇḍa chap. 29 which names 86 narakakuṇḍas⁴³ and chap. 33), Nāradapurāṇa, pūrvārdha 15.1–20 (for narakas and torments), Padmapurāṇa (Uttara, chap. 227 for 140 narakas and Pātālakhaṇḍa chap. 48 for several narakas), Bhaviṣyapurāṇa (Brahmaparva, chap. 192.11–27 for torments of Hell and Uttaraparva Chap. 5–6 for sins and narakas). The Bhāgavatapurāṇa V 26.6 states that there are 28 narakas, though according to some there are 21. Vide also Viṣṇupurāṇa V. 6.2-5, Skandapurāṇa I, chap. 39 and VI. 226-227. In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa (chap 12) we have a description of several narakaș like the Raurava, Mahāraurava, Asipatravana &c. and chap 14 (verses 39–94) mentions the punishments meted out to perpetrators of various sins In the Mahābhārata also narakaș and the torments thereof are frequently referred to For example, Śāntiparva 321 32 speaks of Vaitaraṇī and Asipatravana, Anuśāsana (23 60–82 ) speaks of the actions that lead to hell*(each verse having the refrain te vai niraya-gāminaḥ) Anuśāsana 145.10–13. Svargarohaṇika-parva (2 16-26) describes the several horrible sights and torments of such hells as 'Asipatravana' (named in verse 23) and Kūṭaśālmali (named in Svargarohaṇika 3 4 ). The Vṛddha-Hārīta-smṛti (IX. 167–171) mentions almost the same 21 narakaș as the Manusmṛti doeṣ The craze for multiplying narakaș went so far that the Brahmapurāṇa, the Viṣṇudharmottara⁴⁴, the Garuda-purāṇa and others declared that there were thousands, lakhs and crores of narakaș.

The Viṣṇu Dh. S. (46. 23–29) provides that those guilty of atipātakas, anupātakas, sankarikaraṇa, who have not under gone prāyaścittas suffer respectively for one Kalpa,⁴⁵ for one Manvantara, for four Yugas, for a thousand years in the 21 narakaș in rotation and the other sinners for many yearṣ Yama quoted by the Madanapārijāta p. 696 says that those guilty of Mahāpātakas stay in Hell with face downwards for a yuga and Yama has numerous other verses stating what sinners undergo which horrors of Hell.

Buddhists appear to have borrowed the doctrine about hells from Brahmanical writers Vide Dr B C. Law's mono graph on ‘Heaven and Hell inBuddhist perspective’ (1925), pages 111–113, which refer to eight Mahānirayas and there are other lesser Hellṣ The eight Mahānirayas are Sañjīva, Kalasutta, Saṅghāṭa, Roruva, Mahāroruva, Tapa, Mahātapa and Avīci. It will be noticed how those names agree closely with Manu's list of hellṣ For the gruesome details of Hell and torments therein in ancient Jain works, vide Uttarādhyayana-sūtra (S. B. E. vol. 45 pp. 93–97) and Sūtrakṛtāṅga I. 5 (S B. E. vol. 45 pp. 279–286). Similarly, for the ideas of Heaven and Hell in Zoroastrianism, vide Mr. S. N. Kaṅga's ‘Heaven and Hell and their location in Zoroastrianism and in the Vedas’ (1933).

The Buddhists held their penitential meetings (Pātimokkha), for which see S. B. E vol. XIII. pp 1–69 and for the 92 pācittiya (Prāyaścittiya) rules, vide pp. 32–55 of the same volume.

There are very glowing descriptions of Heaven (svarga) in the Mahābhārata, the Purāṇas and other workṣ We have already seen how Heaven was supposed to be a place of delights in the Ṛgveda and even in the Upaniṣads like Katha (I, 12–13 and 18 ‘śokatigo modate svargaloke’). Rg. X, 107.2 affirms that those who give (large) dakṣiṇā stand high in the Heavens (as stars), those that donate horses go in the company of the Sun and those that donate gold become immortal. An⁴⁶ echo of this is found in Vanaparva 186.9. The Kaus Up 13 speaks of several worlds (lokas) of the gods such as those of Agni, Vāyu, Varuṇa, Āditya, Indra, Prajāpati, Brahmā and a similar gradation of higher worlds is described in Br. Up. III.6 (such as Devaloka, Indraloka, Prajāpatiloka, Brahmaloka) The Br. Up. I.5. 16 speaks of manusyaloka, pitṛloka and devaloka and holds that devaloka is the best of all worlds⁴⁷ Kauṣ Up. I. 4 implies that in the heavenly world divine nymphs, garlands, collyrium, fragrant powder, garments wait upon the fortunate denizenṣ Śaṅkara on Vedānta-sūtra (IV. 3.4) says that the word ‘loka’ means ‘a place for enjoying the fruits of one’s actions’ (bhogāyatana) and that Hiraṇyagarbha is the adhyakṣa of Brahmaloka (on Vedānta-sūtra IV. 3.10) In the Vanaparva (54. 17–19) it is stated that svarga is the place for those who die in battle. How svarga is like and what the pleasures of heaven are is described in Vanaparva, chap. 186.6–7, viz. that there are extensive lakes full of golden lotus flowers and fish and devoid of mud, that on the banks of those lakes dwell the meritorious honoured by Apsarases who apply fragrant cosmetics to their bodies, wear ornaments and have brilliant golden complexionṣ Similar pleasures enjoyed in the Nandana park are promised in Brahmapurāṇa, 225. 5–6. Vanaparva (chap. 261 verses 28–29) says that there is one great draw-back in going to heaven, viz. that there one simply enjoys the rewards of one’s good actions, no new merit is accumulated there, one simply subsists on the accumulated principal or store of merit and that when that store is exhausted one has to fall down, the only good point about this being that one is born a man and that too in such a way that he enjoys³⁹⁸ happinesṣ Anuśāsana (23. 84–102) sets out numerous actions whereby a man attains heaven (each verse having the refrain ‘te narāḥ svarga-gāminaḥ’) Similarly, in Brahmapurāṇa 224, 9–14, 18–25 and 30–37 we have the same refraiṇ Vide also Anuśāsana chapters 144 (verses 5–15, 19–26, 31–39) and 145 Śānti (99. 4–5) states that svarga is full of those fallen in battle, there are Gandharva damsels there for the brave (and there is hell for the coward) and that svarga yields all desires that one may entertaiṇ The Śāntiparva (192. 8 and 21) states that svarga was in the North, that (Śānti 191 13, 193 27) there was neither hunger nor thirst nor weariness nor old age nor sin (in Heaven), that good men (Śānti 271. 24) are seen as stars (or become stars). In the Matsyapurāṇa (276 17) it is³⁹⁹ stated that he who performs Brahmāṇḍadāna (one of the 16 mahādānas) reaches the world of Viṣṇu and delights in the company of Apsaraseṣ The Brahmapurāṇa (225. 6–7) assures us that a generous donor goes to heaven where he enjoys the best pleasures in the company of Apsarases and in the heavenly garden called Nandana and when he falls down from heaven he is born as a mortal in a rich and noble family. Vide also Garuḍapurāṇa II. 3.86–89. It is not necessary to multiply passageṣ There are two matters to be noted in connection with Heaven and its pleasureṣ One is the calculating or bargaining spirit which the smṛtis and purāṇas display viz. make this or that gift and then there is so much delight to be enjoyed in heaven, a sort of profit and loss account; and the second is that the highest pleasures of Heaven have a time limit, i. e. they are to come to an end one day and the meritorious have to be born again in mortal bodieṣ The doctrine was gradually evolved that there is no final release from the cycle of births and deaths by the performance of meritorious deeds alone

It is not necessary to set out at length the gruesome torments of Hell described in great detail in several smṛtis and purāṇaṣ By way of a sample, the following description taken from a Dharmaśāstra work (viz. Viṣṇu Dh. S. 43.32–45) will be quite enough. “Sinners guilty of having committed (one or more of the nine kinds of) sins have to endure terrible sufferings when they have left this life and reached the path of Yama. Being dragged hither and thither by the fierce servants of Yama they are led (to hell) by them with frightening gestureṣ (In Hell) they are devoured by dogs, jackals, crows, herons, cranes and other birds eating raw flesh, by snakes and scorpions that have fire in their mouths (i. e. that emit stinging poison). They are scorched by fire, pierced by thorns, divided into parts by saws and oppressed by thirst. They are afflicted with hunger and by terrible hordes of tigers and they faint away at every step on account of the stinking smell of pus and blooḍ Desiring to secure the food and drink of others they are beaten by the servants (of Yama) whose faces are similar to those of such horrible animals as crows, herons and craneṣ In some places they are boiled in oil, in others they are pounded with pestles or ground down in iron or stone vesselṣ In some places they (have to) eat what is vomited or pus or blood or excrements, and hideous meat smelling like puṣ In one place they have to stay in terrible darkness, and are devoured by horrible worms having flames in their mouthṣ In some places they are over- whelmed by cold or have to pass through the midst of unclean things and in other places the departed devour each other, thus becoming most horrible. In some places they are beaten on account of their former deeds and are suspended in other places (from trees &c.) or are struck with heaps of arrows or are cut into pieceṣ In other places they have to tread upon thorns and they are encircled by the hoods of serpents, they are tor- mented with machines and are dragged by their kneeṣ Their backs, heads and necks are fractured, they become terrible (to look at), their throats being reduced to the size fit for a cave shelter and they become unable to bear tormentṣ Sinners are being tormented in this way and having suffered intense pain undergo various further sufferings in their passage through animal bodies ( in which they are thereafter born )"

That naraka is a place below the earth is frequently stated in the Purāṇas For example, in the Garuda and Brahmāṇḍa purāṇas all Hells such as Raurava are stated to be situated below the earth Vide Viṣṇupurāṇa II 6. 1 also. The Bhāga- vatapurāṇa states that Hells are below the earth and above water to the south of the three worlds and hang without support, in which dwell the groups of pitṛs called Agniṣvātta and otherṣ⁴⁰⁰ The Agnipurāṇa (371 13-14) avers that the 28 groups of narakas are below the earth and even below the 7th Pātāla.

We come across Vedic passages such as these 'This sacri- ficer who is possessed of the utensils of yajña directly reaches Heaven' (Śat. Br. XII 5 2 8 )⁴⁰¹, 'one who desires Heaven should offer the Darśapūrṇamāsa sacrifice', 'one desirous of attaining heaven should perform the Jyotiṣṭoma sacrifice'. What is meant by svarga or naraka has given rise to hot discus- sions from very ancient times The popular view as reflected even in the Vedas, the smṛtis and purāṇas was that svarga was a place above the earth and naraka was a place of actual torments below the earth Even ancient astronomical works located svarga thousands of yojanas above the earth. Parāśara,⁴⁰² an astronomer and a predecessor of Varāha-mihira quoted by Utpala on Br. Saṁ I 11, stated 'Bhū (the earth) is 67080 crores of yojanas and it is the expanse of the earth; beyond it there is impenetrable darkness, in the midst of which there is the golden V] mountain Meru, 84000 yojanas high and sixteen below and rice as much in length and width, which is called svarga. But it would be far from the truth to say that all eminent writers were agreed on the actual existence of svarga and naraka as placeṣ It has already been shown how several centuries before Christ Gautama refers to the view of some predecessors of his that naraka is not a place, but simply means the loss of the capacity to perform the peculiar actions of one's va na There were others who argued in the same straiṇ Śabara (on Jai IV. 3. 27-28) quotes a Vedic passage where the view of the sage appears to be that sacrifices yield the reward promised by śruti in the next life and where Kumārila ⁵⁰ in his brief comment propounds the view that the injunctive passage (vidhi) of the Veda only promises a reward but does not state that it follows immediately in this life, that svarga which means unsurpassed joy, can happen only in another life. On Jaimini VI. 1. 1. Śabara first puts forward the prima facie view that svarga ⁵¹ imports in popular language such things (dravya) as fine silken clothes, sandalwood paste, young damsels only 16 years old and that the word svarga is also popularly applied to a particular place where there is neither heat nor cold, neither hunger nor thirst, neither distress nor fatigue and where only those that have done meritorious deeds can reach and not otherṣ Śabara refutes this view and holds that the primary meaning of the word svarga is joy ⁵² or delight and not a thing (dravya) which brings joy.

There is a well-known and oft quoted verse which defines svarga as follows: ⁵³ that happiness which is not mixed up with pain, which is not immediately afterwards overwhelmed (by pain) and which is present whenever desired, is denoted by the word svah ( or svarga ). The Prakaraṇa-pañcikā of Śālika- nātha,⁵³ one of the early works of the Prabhākara Mīmāṁsā school, affirms that in such sentences as 'one desirous of heaven should perform the Jyotistoma' the rite is simply commended by Vedic passages, which are no more than arthavādas, as a means of securing long-enduring happiness which is free from the taint of all kinds of sorrow and which is present at the mere desire of the enjoyer. The Śāntiparva expressly states 'The wise do not regard the other world as directly seen by anyone; one has to entertain faith (in the existence of the other world) because otherwise one may run counter to the Vedaṣ'⁵⁴ The Brahmapurāṇa and the Viṣṇupurāṇa speak in the same strain as Śabara that svarga is what causes happiness to the mind, that naraka is the opposite of it and that meritorious deeds and wicked deeds are designated as svarga and naraka respectively and that svarga and naraka are really states of the mind characterised by happiness and pain respectively.⁵⁵

One need not wonder at the crude ideas of naraka and svarga entertained by most ancient Indian writers and workṣ The same ideas were prevalent among peoples of all religions all the world over. For example, The Egyptians whose dynastic history covers a period of about 5000 years had very remarkable beliefs about Heaven and Hell which were illustrated with pictorial representations copiously (as no other nation had ever done), although the oldest Books of the Dead are without illustrations of any sort (vide E. A. W. Budge's 'Egyptian Heaven and Hell', 1905 p. XI and 2). Sheol was the name the Hebrews gave to the gloomy abode of the dead in the lowest parts of the earth and it was a land of darkness, which was appointed as the house for all living (Job 10. 21–22 and 30. 23) The Greek Hades closely resembles the Hebrew Sheol in its chief characteristicṣ In the New Testament also Hell is a land of everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels and it is a place where the wicked go into everlasting torment and punishment, while the righteous attain life eternal (Matthew 25. 41 and 46, Luke 16.23). The words of the New Testament are plain enough that Heaven was supposed to be a place above the earth and the clouds and that Hell was a place below the earth full of darkness and tormentṣ Vide Luke 23. 43, Ephesians I. 3 and 20, II. Cor. 12. 4, Rev. 2. 7; and Luke 12.5 and 16.23; II. Peter 2.4 and Rev. 6 8, 20. 13-14. Bloomfield in his ‘Religion of the Veda’ p. 252 remarks ‘In later Hindu times Hell is filled out with the usual gruesome stage-setting in the style of Dante’s Inferno or the wall paint-ing in the campo santo at Pisa’. Even men of genius like Shakespeare and most Christian theologians ⁵⁶ down even to modern times believed in a literal interpretation of passages from the Bible which speak of Heaven and Hell as placeṣ It is only recently that many Christians have begun to hold that the language of the Bible about Heaven and Hell is purely symbolical in character ⁵⁷. The Smṛtis had evolved the doctrine, as stated above, that if a sinner did not undergo prāyaścitta, he had to suffer torments in hell, thereafter he became born as some insect or lower animal or a tree on account of some remnants of his sins and that he was born as a human being afflicted with certain diseases or with defectṣ⁵⁸ These last two consequences are described under the title karmavipāka (the fruition of evil deeds). Śātātapa (I, 1-5) asserts that men guilty of grave

(Continued from last page) self suppression at an earlier time, it is fellowship with God who is love ... This is infinite bliss to the soul which is purged of self-interest. Heaven is also a fellowship of finite spirits " It will be patent how modern European minds have begun to think of Heaven and Hell in terms analogous to those in which some of the best minds of India thought of them centuries before and after the Christian era In spite of the glowing pictures of Heaven and terrifying descriptions of the torments of Hell detailed in many people have gone on committing all sorts of sinṣ The ancient machinery of Heavens and Hells must be deemed to have largely failed of its purpose in these dayṣ Large masses of men appear to be slipping into an abyss of despair, misery, hardness of heart, wanton brutality and lawlessness The lurid accounts of bombings and night raids on big cities, the reports of the bloody battles for six years in the World War No 2, the harrowing tales of tortures in such prisoners' camps as at Belsen, the shelter), frequent strikes and struggles between the employed and the industrialists, growing indiscipline, arson, plunder and bestial treatment of human beings on the ground of race or religion have produced hardness of heart and debased large masses of Indian people. It is a very difficult question for our leaders how to revive among the common people of India, (whom Westerners dubbed mild Hindus) the old characteristics of tolerance, peacefulness, goodwill and respect for human life and property, how to build up a new fabric of society, a new civilization and culture on the ancient Upaniṣadic foundations of the pursuit of Reality, brotherhood of man, the unity of all life, and love of mankind even without pressing into service the ancient and medieval literal conceptions of Heaven and Hell. sins that have not undergone prāyaścitta are, after undergoing the torments of Hell, born with bodies marked with certain condemned signṣ One guilty of grave sins bears such signs for seven births, one guilty of upapātaka for five births and one guilty of pāpa for three birthṣ These marks indicative of their having committed a particular sin are observed in each life and only disappear after they repent and perform prāya- citta. Similarly, the diseases arising from sinful deeds sub- side by adopting the remedies of the recitation of Vedic texts, worship of gods, homas and giftṣ' Verses 6–10 specify the diseases that arise in consequence of sins such as leprosy, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, dysentery, kidney trouble, stone in the bladder, cough, fistula &c. A man may commit sins of three kinds viz. by the body, in words and mentally (Manu XII 3). Really speaking, it is the mind that is the spring of all actions (Manu XII 4), but for the sake of convenience, this threefold division is made. Coveting another's wealth by unfair means, desiring that evil should befall another and persistence in false ideas (such as the one that there is no soul, but that the body is the soul)-these three are mental sins (Manu XII 5). Harshness of speech, falsehood, backbiting and irrelevant prattling-these four are vocal sins (ibid XII 6). Appropriating to oneself another's wealth without his consent, injury to sentient beings against the injunctions of śāstra, sexual intercourse with another's wife-these three are bodily sins (ibid XII. 7). Manu provides that bodily sins reduce a man to the state of a fixed object (tree &c.), vocal sins reduce him to the state of birds and beasts and mental sins to the lowest castes (Caṇḍāla and the like). Hārita (q. by Par. M)⁵⁹ speaks of 18 evil actions that lead to hell, of which six are mental, four vocal and the rest are bodily sinṣ Manu XII. 54–59 and 62–68, Yāj. III 131, 135– 136, 207–208 and 213–215, Viṣṇu Dh. S. Chap. 44, Atri Chap. 4–5 14, 17–44 (in prose) state into what animals, trees and creep- ers sinners are born after undergoing hell tormentṣ The state- ments of Yāj being concise are set out here. ‘This soul enters into hundreds of bodies in this saṁsāra, viz. as one of the lowest castes, bird or fixed object (tree &c.) on account of his lapses spring- ing from the mind, speech and body (Yāj. III 131); a man who tells lies, who is a back-biter, whose speech is harsh and who babbles what is irrelevant is reduced to being a bird or a beast (ibid III, 135); one who is addicted to misappropriating another’s wealth and to sexual intercourse with another’s wife, who injures śāstric rules is born as a fixed object; the murderer of a brāhmaṇa becomes born in the body of a beast (deer &c ), a dog, a pig or a camel; the drinker of surā is born as an ass, a pulkasa (one born from śūdra woman of a niṣāda), or a vena (one born of an Ambastha woman from a vaidehaka); the thief of gold reaches the state of a worm, an insect (an ant &c ) or a moth and one guilty of incest becomes grass, a bush or a creeper (Yāj. III. 207–208). On stealing leafy vegetables one is born as a peacock, on stealing perfumes one is born a chuchundari (musk-rat), the thief of corn, of a vehicle, fruits, water, milk, domestic utensils (like pestle), honey, flesh, a cow, fire, cloth, juice (of sugarcane or the like) and salt is born respectively as a mouse, a camel, a monkey, a plava (duck), a crow, a sparrow, bee, vulture, godhā (iguana), crane, a man suffering from white leprosy, a dog, ciṭi (cricket bird). The Brahmapurāṇa (chap 217 verses 37–110) contains a long disquisition on the different kinds of animal births that sinners of various kinds have to undergo Vide also Garuḍapurāṇa (Pretakhanda) 2 60–88, Agni 371 30–32 (which latter states that the murderer of a brāhmaṇa is born as a beast or deer or a dog, hog, or camel, the drinker of wine as an ass or pukkasa or mleccha, the thief of gold as a worm or pest or moth, one guilty of incest as grass or a bush).

It was believed in very ancient times that diseases were the consequences of sins⁶⁰. In the Atharvaveda VIII, 7.3 plants are said to have destroyed from each limb the disease due to sin⁶¹. Manu XI, 49–52, Vaṣ 20 44, Yāj III. 209–211, Viṣṇu Dh. S Chap 45, Śatātapa I. 3–11 and II. 1, 30, 32, 47, Gautama smṛti in verse chap 20 and Gautama (in prose g by the Mit on Vṛddha-Gautama (according to Smṛtimuktāphala IV] p. 861 ), Yama (q by Pr. M. p 9), Sańkha (q. by the mitākṣarā on Yaj. III. 216 ), Smṛtyarthasāra pp. 99-100 state the diseases and bodily defects from which sinners suffer after they are born as meṇ As a sample Yaj. III. 209-211 may be cited here; the murderer of a brāhmaṇa suffers from Tuberculosis, a drinker of surā has black teeth, the thief of brāhmaṇa's gold has diseased nails, one guilty of incest suffers from leprosy; the thief of food suffers from dyspepsia, one who stealthily learns without permission (or one guilty of plagiarism) is born dumb, one who mixes up inferior corn with superior corn is born with excessive limbs (with six fingers &c.), a backbiter is born with pus in the nose; a thief of oil is born as tilapāyī and one who falsely reports faults in others has a foetid breath. Yaj. III. 217 states that after reaping the consequences of their (evil) deeds (by falling into Hell and) by reaching the state of lower animals, sinners are born as human beings of a low order, poor and with condemned marks on the body; even medical works like the Carakasamhitā held the belief that diseases were the consequences of actions done in past lives (vide Sūtrasthāna, Chap. I 116 ),

The smṛtis are not in complete agreement about the diseases or bodily defects that sinners of various grades suffer. For example, though Vas 20 44 and Sańkha (q by Mit. on Yaj. III. 216 ) state that the murderer of a brāhmaṇa suffers from leprosy, Manu XI. 49, Yaj III. 209, Viṣṇu Dh. S 45. 3, Agni. 371. 32 aver that he suffers from phthisiṣ For want of space the long lists of the births as lower animals and the diseases and deformities from which sinners suffer contained in Sańkha, Hārita, Gautama, Yama and the purāṇas quoted by the Mit. on Yaj III. 216, the Par M. II, part 2 pp. 230-240, 242-272, Madanapārijāta pp 701-702, the Mahārņava-karmavipāka are passed over here.

Ap. Dh. S (II. 1. 2. 6-7) states that a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya sinner guilty of brāhmaṇa murder, after undergoing the torments of Hell is born again respectively as a Caņḍāla, Paulkasa and Vaina and that other sinners who have become outcasts by their sins are born on account of these as certain animals (like pigs) Similarly, Manu XII. 61 provides that one who from greed steals precious stones, pearls, corals and jewels of various kinds is born as a goldsmith, . Although the word Karman is ordinarily employed to denote good as well as evil actions still in the section on penances the word ‘Karman’ prominently presents to the mind the idea of evil deedṣ Hence Karmavipāka means the ripening (or fruition) of evil actions or sinṣ This fruition takes three forms, as stated in the Yogaśūtras⁶² II 13, viz. jāti (birth as a worm or animal &c), āyuh (life i. e. living for a short period such as five or ten years) and bhoga (experiencing the torments of Hell &c). The word Karmavipāka appears to have been known to Yāj. III 131 (vipākaḥ karmaṇām pretya keśām cid-iha jāyate) and it occurs frequently in the Purāṇas (e. g. in Brahma-purāṇa 224 41, 225 43 and 59, Matsya 115 14 &c). The Pr. Sāra pp. 219–231 contains probably the longest treatment of Karma-vipāka. The doctrine of Karmavipāka was well known to the Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna, who in his Ratnāvalī refers to it⁶³. The Buddhist Avadānaśatakas also refer to the doctrine of Karmavipāka. Vide also Suttanipāta (S. B. E. vol 10 part 2) p. 38 and S. B. E. vol 21 p. 130 (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka). In some medical works also such as the Hāritasaṁhitā it is said that the murderer of a brāhmaṇa suffers from white leprosy and the killer of a cow from black leprosy; a regicide suffers from phthisis, and the destroyer of a park from dysentery &c,⁶⁴. In the Vivāgasuyam (Vīpākaśrutam), which is the 11th aṅga of the Jaina-āgama and an edition of which was brought out by Dr. P. L. Vaidya (in 1933) we have stories of persons who suffered from evil diseases owing to their committing evil deeds in former lives and other stories of the fruits of good deedṣ

The doctrine based upon the implications of Manu XII⁶⁵, 3, 9 and 54 and Yāj. III, 206 was that it is human beings alone (and not lower animals like tigers &c.) that have to experi- ence in Heaven and Hell the consequences of their deedṣ The Viṣṇudharmottara explicitly states so⁶⁶.

The Mit. ('on Yāj. III. 216), the Smṛtyarthasāra, Par. M., Pr. Sāra and other works state that the disquisition on Karmavipāka⁶⁷ is merely an arthavāda, that it is not to be taken literally, but is meant to induce sinners to undergo such prāyaścittas as Prājāpatya which entail great worry and trouble and which no one might willingly undertake. The Mit. points out that the description of the diseases (like phthisis) is not intended for requiring those who suffer from them to undergo the penances for twelve years or the like nor for induc- ing people to avoid contact with such persons, that śistas do not avoid contact with those who have bad nails, that in the case of such persons the disease or defect is the last result of what little sin remained attached to them and that by the very fact of their having the disease or defect mentioned in the texts they become free from the last remnants of their sins and therefore they do not stand in need of any further penance and as their sin is finally removed by suffering the disease or defect their fitness for being allowed to mix among people is establisheḍ

The teaching of the works on Karmavipāka, though dismal and terrifying, comes to this that no soul need be without hope provided it is prepared to wait and undergo torments for its mis- deeds, that it need not be appalled by the numerous existences foreshadowed in those works and that the soul may in its long passage and evolution be ultimately able to discover its true greatness and realize eternal peace and perfectioṇ

Manu XII. 69 (almost the same as Viṣṇu Dh. S. 44.45 and Garuḍapurāṇa II. 2. 89) states that women guilty of the sin of theft become the wives of men who are guilty of the same offenceṣ

VĀMANAPURĀŅA, chap. 12 is called Karmavipāka and Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa chap. 15 treats of the same subject. The Varāhapurāņa (chap. 203 21 ff ) expatiates at length upon the topic how sinners endure torments in Hell for innumerable years, how after their evil deeds have been almost wiped out they become human beings suffering from various diseases or deformitieṣ

In the Mahārṇava-karmavipāka of Māndhatr it is stated that there are two means of destroying the consequences of (evil). actions, viz kṛcchra (penances) and the reversal (or remedies) against diseases⁶⁸. The latter consists in making golden images of the sun (as the superintending deity of good health) and of the deity of a disease and offering worship to both these in a maṇḍapa on a raised vedikā (plat-form). The work expatiates at length on the Vedic verses employed according to Āśvalāyana and the Taittirīya Śākhā for ghoṣa-śānti (propitiatory ceremonies with loud recitation of Vedic mantras); the worship of the sun with Vedic mantras and of the planets, the offerings of āhutis, the Rudraikādaśinī, Mahārudra (11 times as many as the preceding) and Ati-rudra, repeating the thousand names of Viṣṇu, Vināyaka-śānti (as laid down by Yāj. I. 271-294), Navagraha-yajña in which it assigns each planet to some country and some gotra⁶⁹. It also prescribes how for the removal of particular diseases particular dānas may be given (such as Kadalīdāna i e. manufacturing a kadalī plant from one pala of gold and donat-ing it). It deals with the gifts of the images of all diseases supposed to be incurable and quotes Śatātapa II. 47-48 in connection with the removal of rājayakṣmā (phthisis). It deals at length with fevers and other diseases and bodily defects such as greenish or cat-like eyes, deafness &c. But the detailed treatment of all these matters is passed over here from considerations of space, and also for the reason that these prescriptions are now either hardly believed in by people or hardly ever performeḍ ANTYEṢṬI (rites after death), ŚUDDHI (purification