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Devi Bhagavatam (Devi
Puranam)
Chapter XXXI
On the Yama's giving S’akti Mantra to Sâvitrî
1-2. Nârâyana said :-- O Nârada! Hearing thus the supreme nature of Mûla
Prakriti from Dharmarâja Yama, the two eyes of Sâvitrî were filled with
tears of joy and her whole body was filled with a thrill of rapture, joy and
ecstacy. She again addressed Yama :-- “O Dharmarâja! To sing the glories of
Mûla Prakriti is the only means of saving all. This takes away the old age
and death of both the speaker and the hearer.
3-12. This is the Supreme Place of the Dânavas, the Siddhas, the ascetics.
This is the Yoga of the Yogins and this is studying the Vedas of the Vaidiks.
Nothing can compare even to one sixteenth of the sixteenth parts of the
(full) merits of those who are in S’akti’s Service; call it Mukti,
immortality, or attaining endless Siddhis, nothing can come to it. O Thou,
the foremost of the Knowers of the Vedas! I have heard by and by everything
from Thee. Now describe to me how to worship Mûla Prakriti and what are the
ends of karmas, auspicious and inauspicious.” Thus saying, the chaste
Sâvitrî bowed down her head and began to praise Yama in stotras according to
the Vedas. She said :-- “O Dharmarâjan! The Sun practised of yore very hard
austerities at Puskara and worshipped Dharma. On this, Dharma Himself became
born of Sûrya as his son. And Thou art that son of Sûrya, the incarnation of
Dharma. So I bow down to Thee. Thou art the Witness of all the Jîvas; Thou
seest them equally; hence Thy name is Samana. I bow down to Thee. Sometimes
Thou by Thy own will takest away the lives of beings. Hence Thy name is
Kritânta. Obeisance to Thee! Thou holdest the rod to distribute justice and
pronounce sentence on them and to destroy the sins of the Jîvas; hence Thy
name is Dandadhara; so I bow down to Thee. (Note :-- Any Jîva, in course of
his travelling towards Mukti, can expect to pass through the stage Yamaship;
and if he pleases, he can become a Yama.) At all times Thou destroyest the
universe. None can resist Thee. Hence Thou art named Kâla; so obeisance to
Thee! Thou art an ascetic, devoted to Brahmâ, self-controlled, and the
distributor of the fruits of Karmas to the Jîvas; Thou restrainest Thy
senses. Hence Thou art called Yama. Therefore I bow down to Thee.
13-17. Thou art delighted with Thy Own Self; Thou art omniscient; Thou art
the Tormentor of the sinners and the Friend of the Virtuous. Hence Thy name
is Punya Mitra; so I bow down to Thee. Thou art born as a part of Brahmâ;
the fire of Brahmâ is shining through Thy body. Thou dost meditate on Para
Brahmâ, Thou art the Lord. Obeisance to Thee!” O Muni! Thus praising Yama,
She bowed down at the feet of Him. Yama gave her the mantra of Mûla Prakriti.
How to worship Her and He began to recite the fruition of good Karmas. O
Nârada! He who recites these eight hymns to Yama early in the morning,
getting up from his bed, is freed of the fear of death. Rather he becomes
freed of all his sins. So much so, that even if he be a veritable awful
sinner and if he recites daily with devotion this Yamâstakam, Yama purifies
him thoroughly.
Here ends the Thirty-first Chapter of the Ninth Book on the Yama’s giving
S’akti Mantra to Sâvitrî in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of
18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Next: Chapter 32
Chapter XXXII
On the enumeration of various hells for sinners
1-28. Nârâyana said :-- Then, initiating her with the Great Seed, the Âdi
Radical Mantra of the Mahâ S’akti, S’rî Bhuvanes’varî in accordance with due
rules, the son of Sûrya began to recite the various effects of various
Karmas, auspicious and inauspicious. Never do the persons go to hell when
they perform good Karmas; it is only the bad works that lead men to hells.
The different Purânas narrate various heavens. The Jîvas go to those places
as the effects of their various good Karmas. The good Karmas do not lead men
to hells; but the bad Karmas do lead them veritably to various hideous
hells. In different S’âstras, different hell-pits are ascertained. Different
works lead men to different hells. O Child! Those hell-pits are very wide,
deep, painful and tormenting, very horrible and ugly. Of these, eighty six
pits or Kundas are prominent. Many other Kundas exist. Now listen to the
names of the Kundas mentioned in the Vedas. Their names are :-- Vahni Kunda,
Tapta Kunda, Ksâra Kunda, Bhayânaka Kunda, Vit Kunda, Mûtra Kunda, S’lesma
Kunda, Gara Kunda, Dûsikâ Kunda, Vasâ Kunda, S’ukra Kunda, S’onita Kunda,
As’rû Kunda, Gâtramala Kunda, Karnamala Kunda, Majjâ Kunda, Mâmsa Kunda,
impassable Nakra Kunda, Loma Kunda, Kes’a Kunda, impassable Asthi Kunda,
Tâmra Kunda, the exceedingly hot and painful Lauha Kunda (the pit of molten
iron), Charma Kunda, the hot Surâ Kunda, sharp Thorny Kunda, Visa Kunda, the
hot Taila Kunda, very heavy Astra Kunda, Krimi Kunda, Pûya Kunda, terrible
Sarpa Kunda, Mas’aka Kunda, Dams’a Kunda, dreadful Garala Kunda, Vajra
Damstra Vris’chika Kunda, S’ara Kunda, Sûla Kunda, awful Khadga Kunda, Gola
Kunda, Nakra Kunda, sorrowful Kâka Kunda, Manthâna Kunda, Vîja Kunda,
painful Vajra Kunda, hot Pâts’âna Kunda, sharp Pâs’âna Kunda, Lâlâ Kunda,
Masî Kunda, Chakra Kunda, Vakra Kunda, very terrible Kurma Kunda, Jvâlâ
Kunda, Bhasma Kunda, Dagdha Kunda, and others. Besides these, there are the
Taptasûchî, Asipatra, Ksuradhâra, Sûchîmukha, Gokhâmûkha, Kûmbhîpâka,
Kâlasûtra, Matsyoda, Krimi, Kantuka, Pâms’ubhojya, Pâs’avesta, Sûlaprota,
Prakampana, Ulkâmakha, Andhakûpa, Vedhana, Tâdana, Jâlarandhra, Dehachûrna,
Dalana, S’osana, Kasa, S’ûrpa, Jvâlâmûkha, Dhûmândha, Nâgavestana and
various others. O Savitri! The Kundas give much pain and torment greatly the
sinners; they are under the constant watch of innumerable servants. They
hold rods in their hands; some of them have nooses; others hold clubs,
S’aktis, awful scimitars; they are fierce fanatics, maddened with vanity.
All are filled with Tamogunas, merciless, irresistible, energetic, fearless
and tawny-eyed (like copper). Some of them are Yogis; some are Siddhas, they
assume various forms. When the sinners are about to die, they see these
servants of Yama. But those who do their own duties, who are S’âktas, Sauras,
or Gânapatyas or those who are virtuous Siddha Yogis, they never see the
servants of Yama. Those who are engaged in their own Dharmas, who are
possessed of wisdom, who are endowed with knowledge, who are mentally
strong, who are untouched by fear, who are endowed with the feelings of the
Devas, and those who are real Vaisnavas, they never see these servants of
Yama. O Chaste One! Thus I have enumerated to you the Kundas. Now hear who
live in the Kundas.
Here ends the Thirty-second Chapter of the Ninth Book on the enumeration of
various hells for sinners in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of
18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Chapter XXXIII
On the description of the destinies of different sinners in different hells
1-19. Dharmarâjan said :-- Those that are in Hari’s service, pure, the
Siddhas in Yoga (those that have attained success in Yoga), the performers
of Vratas (vows), the chaste, the ascetics, the Brahmachâris never go to
hells. There is no doubt in this. Those persons that are proud of their
strong positions and who use very harsh burning words to their friends, they
go to Vahni Kunda and live there for as many years as there are hairs on his
body; next they attain animal births for three births and get themselves
scorched under the strong heat of the Sun. He goes to the Tapta Kunda hell
who does not entertain any Brâhman guest with any eatables who comes to his
house hungry and thirsty. He lives there for as many years as there are
hairs on his body and he has to sleep on a bed of fire, very tormenting.
Then he will have to be born for seven births as birds. If anybody washes
any clothing with any salt on Sunday, or on the day of Samkrânti (when the
Sun enters another sign), or on any new-moon day or on any S’râddha day
(when funeral ceremonies are performed), he will have to go to the Ksâra
Kunda hell where he remains for as many years as there are threads in that
clothing and finally he becomes born for seven births as a veritable
washerman. The wretch that abuses Mûla Prakriti, the Vedas, the S’âstras,
Purânas, Brahmâ, Visnu, S’iva and the other Devas, Gaurî, Laksmî, Sarasvatî
and the other Devîs, goes to the hell named Bhayânaka Narakakunda. There is
no other hell more tormenting than this. The sinners live here for many
Kalpas and ultimately become serpents. There is no sin greater than the
abuse of the Devî. There is no expiation for it. So one ought never to abuse
the Devî. If one discontinues the allowances given by oneself or other
persons to the Devas or Brâhmanas, one goes to Visthâ Kunda and has to eat
the faeces there for sixty thousand years and finally to be born in Bhârata
as worms in faeces the same number of years. If any person without the
owner’s permission digs another’s tank dried of water, or makes water in the
water of any tank, he goes to Mûtra Kunda and drinks urine for as many years
as there are the particles in that tank. Then he becomes born in this
Bhârata its an ox for one hundred years. If any person eats good things
himself without giving any portion thereof to the member of his family, he
goes to S’lesma Kunda where he eats phlegm, for full one hundred years. Then
he becomes born as Preta (disembodied spirits) in this Bhârata for hundred
years and drinks phlegm, urine and pus; then he becomes pure. He who does
not support his father, mother, spiritual teacher, wife, sons, daughters and
the helpless persons, goes to Gara Kunda where he eats poison for full one
hundred years. Finally he becomes born and wanders as Bhûtas (disembodied
spirits). Then he becomes pure.
20-50. He who becomes angry and shrinks his eyes at the sight of a guest who
has come to his house offends the Devas or Pitris, who do not accept the
water offered to them by that villain. On the contrary, he earns all the
sins of Brahmahatyâ (murder of a Brâhmin and so forth) and finally goes to
Dûsikâkunda where he remains for one hundred years and eats polluted things.
Then wandering as Bhûtas for one hundred years he becomes purified. If
anybody makes a gift of any article to a Brâhmin and then again gives that
article to a different man, he goes to Vasâ Kunda where he eats marrows for
one hundred years. Then he has to roam about in India for seven births as a
Krikalâsa (lizard) and finally he becomes born as a very poor man with a
very short life. If any woman or any man makes another of a different sex
eat semen, out of passion, he goes to S’ukra Kunda where he drinks semen for
one hundred years. Then he crawls about as worms for one hundred years. And
then he gets purified. If anybody beats a Brâhmana who is a family preceptor
and causes his blood to come out, he will have to go to Rakta Kunda where he
has to drink blood for one hundred years. Finally he has to roam about for
seven births in India as tigers; then he becomes pure by degrees. If anybody
mocks and laughs at any devotee of Krisna who sings with rapt consciousness
and sheds tears of joy, he will have to go to As’ru Kunda where he drinks
tears for one hundred years. Then he has to roam as Chândâla for three
births and then he becomes pure. He who always cheats his friends, lives for
one hundred years in Gâtramala Kunda. Then roaming about for three births as
an ass and for three births as a fox concurrently, he becomes purified. Out
of vanity, if anybody jests at a deaf person, he goes to Karnamalakunda
where he eats for one hundred years the wax of the ear. Next he comes to the
earth as a deaf and very poor man for seven births, when at last he gets
purified. If anybody commits murder out of greed to support his family, he
goes to the hell Majjâkunda where he eats marrow for one lakh years. Next he
becomes a fish for seven births, for seven births he becomes a mosquito, for
three births he becomes a boar, for seven births he becomes a cock, deer and
other animals concurrently; at last he gets purified. If any stupid person
sells the daughter whom he has supported, out of greed for money, he goes to
Mânsakunda and lives there for as many years as there are hairs on her body.
The Yama’s servants beat him with their clubs. His head becomes overloaded
with the burden of the flesh; and, out of hunger, he licks the blood coming
out of his head. Next that sinner comes to Bhârata and for sixty years
becomes a worm in any daughter’s faeces, for seven births he becomes a
hunter; for three births, a boar; for seven births, cock; for seven births,
frog; for seven births, leech; and for seven births, crow; when he gets
purified. One who shaves on the day of observing vows, fasting and funeral
ceremony day, becomes impure and unfit to do any action, and, in the end, he
goes to the Nakha Kunda where he receives blows of clubs and eats nails for
one hundred Deva years. If anybody worships, out of carelessness, the
earthen S’iva phallic symbol with any hairs on it, he goes to the hell Kes’a
Kunda where he remains for as many years as there are particles in that
hair; then he gets to the yoni (womb) a Yâvanânî (a Mlechcha woman) out of
Hara’s wrath. After one hundred years he becomes freed from that and then he
becomes a Râksasa; there is no doubt in this. He who does not offer Pindas
to the Visnupâda in honour of his Pitris at Gayâ goes to the hell Asthikunda
where he remains for as many years as there are dirts on his body. Then he
becomes a man; but for seven births he becomes lame and poor. Then he gets
purified. The stupid man who commits outrage and violence on his pregnant
wife, resides for one hundred years in the hot Tâmra Kunda (where coppers
are in a molten condition). He who takes the food of a childless widow and
the same of any woman that has just bathed after menstruation goes for one
hundred years to the hot Lauha Kunda (where iron is in a molten condition).
For seven births he becomes then a crow and for seven births he becomes born
of a washerwoman, full of sores and boils, and poor. Then he gets purified.
51-61. If one touches the things of the Devas after touching skins or impure
hides, one remains in the Charma Kunda for full one hundred years. If any
Brâhmin eats a S’ûdra’s food, requested by him, he lives for one hundred
years in the hot Surâ Kunda. Then for seven births he performs, the funeral
rites for a S’ûdra; at last he becomes pure. If any foul-mouthed person uses
always harsh and filthy language to his master, he will have to go to Tîksna
Kantaka Kunda where he eats thorns. Besides, the Yama’s servants give severe
beatings to him with their clubs. For seven births he will have to become
horses when he gets purified. If any man ministers poison to another and so
takes away his life, he will have to remain for endless years in Visakunda,
where he will have to eat poison. Then he will have to pass for one hundred
years as a murderer Bhilla, full of sores and boils, and for seven births he
will have to be a leper when at last he gets purified. Being born in this
holy land Bhâratavarsa, if any man strikes a cow with a rod or any driver
does so whether by himself or by his servant, he will have to dwell
certainly in the hot Lauha Kunda for four yugas. He will have to pass as
many years as a cow as there are hairs on that cow when ultimately he gets
purified. If anybody strikes any other body with a red-hot iron dart (Kunta
weapon), he will have to dwell in the Kunta Kunda for ayuta years. Then he
will have to remain for one birth in a good womb, with a diseased
constitution, when ultimately he will be purified.
62-85. If any Brâhmin villain eats, out of greed, any flesh (not sacrificed
before the goddess) or anything not offered to Hari, he will have to remain
in the Krimi Kunda where he eats those things for as many years as there are
hairs on his body. Then he will have to pass for three births as Mlechchas
when ultimately he becomes born in a Brâhmin family. If any Brâhmin performs
the S’râdh of a S’ûdra, eats the food pertaining to a S’râdh of a S’ûdra or
burns the dead body of a S’ûdra, he will have to dwell certainly in Pûya
Kunda, where, being beaten by the rod of Yama, he eats the pus, etc., for as
many years as there are hairs on his body. Then he becomes reborn in this
Bhârata as one greatly diseased, poor, deaf and dumb and ultimately he will
have to roam for seven births as a S’ûdra. He who kills a black serpent on
whose hood there is the lotus mark, lives in Sarpa Kunda for as many years
as there are hairs on his body and he is bitten by serpents there and beaten
by the servants of Yama and eats the excrescences of snakes and finally
becomes born as a serpent. Then he becomes a man shortlived and having the
cuticaneous disease and ringworm. And his death also comes out of
snake-bite. He who kills mosquitoes and other small fanged-animals, that
earn their substance rightly and pass so their lives, goes to Dams’a mas’a
Kunda where he is eaten by mosquitoes and other fanged-creatures and lives
there without food and crying, weeping, for as many years as the numbers of
lives destroyed. Besides the Yama’s servants tie his hands and feet and beat
him. Then he becomes born as flies when ultimately he becomes purified. He
who beats and chastises any man not fit to be chastised and beaten and as
well as a Brâhmana, goes to Vajra Damstra Kunda, full of worms, and lives
there day and night for as many years as there are the number of hairs on
the chastised person. When he is bitten by the worms and beaten by Yama’s
servants, he cries sometimes, weeps sometimes, and becomes very miserable.
Next he is reborn as a crow for seven births when ultimately he gets
purified. If any foolish king punishes and gives trouble to his subjects out
of greed of money, he goes to Vrischika Kunda where he lives for as many
years as there are hairs on the bodies of his subjects. There is no doubt in
this. Finally he becomes born in this Bhârata as a scorpion; then a man
diseased and defective in limbs, when ultimately he becomes freed of his
sins. If any Brâhmin carries or raises weapons, washes the clothes of others
who do not perform Sandhyâs and abandons his devotion to Hari, he lives in
Sarâdi Kunda for as many years as there are hairs on his body; he is, then,
pierced by arrows. Finally he becomes purified. If any king maddened by his
own folly and fault, shuts his subjects in a dark cell and kills them, then
he will have to go to a dreadful dark hell filled with worms having fanged
teeth and covered with dirt. This hell is named Gola Kunda. He lives there
bitten by insects for as many years as there are hairs on the bodies of his
subjects. Finally he becomes a slave of those subjects, when he gets
purified.
86-103. If anybody kills the sharks and crocodiles, etc., that rise out of
the water spontaneously, he will have to remain, then, in Nakra Kunda for as
many years as there are thorns or edged points on those animals. Then he
will have to be born as crocodiles, etc., for some time, when he will be
purified. If any man, overpowered with lust, sees another’s wife’s uncovered
breast, loins, and face, he will have to remain in Kâka Kunda for as many
years as there are hairs in his own body. Here the crows take out his eyes.
Finally for three births he gets himself burned by Fire when he becomes
pure. He who steals in India the gold of the Devas and the Brâhmanas, dwells
certainly in Manthâna Kunda for as many years as there are hairs on his
body. My servants give him good beatings, and cudgellings; his eyes are
covered by Manthâna Danda insects (or animals) and he eats their dirty
faeces. Then he is reborn as a man but for three births he becomes blind and
for seven births he becomes very poor, cruel, and a sinful goldsmith and
then he is born a Svarnavanik (Sonâr bene). O Fair One! He who steals in
India copper or iron, silver or gold, dwells in Vîja Kunda for as many years
as there are hairs on his body. There the Vîjas (a kind of insect) cover his
eyes and he eats the excrescences of those insects. My messengers torment
him. Finally he gets purified. If anybody steals in India any Devatâ or the
articles of a Devatâ, he dwells in Vajra Kunda for as many years as there
are hairs on his body. There his body gets burnt up. My messengers torment
him and he a cries and weeps and remains without any food. Then he gets
purified. If anybody steals the metal gold or silver, cows, or garments of
any Deva or a Brâhmana, certainly he dwells in hot Pâsâna Kunda for as many
years as there are hairs on his body. Next for three births he becomes a
tortoise and all sorts of white birds. Finally for three births he becomes a
leper and for one birth be becomes a man with white marks on his body. Next
for seven births he becomes diseased with a severe colic pain and bad blood
and lives short. Then he gets purified. If anybody steals brass or Kâmsya
properties of any Deva or a Brâhmana, he will have to remain in the sharp
Pâsâna Kunda for as many years as there are hairs on his body. Next he
becomes born in Bhârata for seven births as horses; and ultimately his both
the testicles get enlarged and he gets diseases in his legs when he gets
purified. If anybody verily eats the food of an adulterate woman or lives on
her alms, he will have to go to the Lâlâ Kunda for as many years as there
are hairs on his body. My messengers torment him there and he eats the
saliva and thus lives miserably. Then he gets eye diseases and colic; when
ultimately he gets purified.
104-126. If any Brâhmana lives on writing only or on the service of
Mlechchas, he lives in Masi Kunda very painfully, eating ink, tormented by
My messengers for as many years as there are hairs on his body. Then he
becomes a black animal for three births and for another three births he
becomes a black goat. Then he becomes a Tâl tree when he gets purified. If
anybody steals a Deva’s or a Brâhmana’s grains, or any other good materials,
betel, Âsan (seat) or bedding, he lives in Chûrna Kunda for one hundred
years, tormented by My Dûtas (messengers). Next for three births he gets
himself born as a goat, cock, and monkey. Finally he becomes born as a man
with the heart disease, without any issue, poor, and short lived. When, at
last, he gets purified. If anybody steals any Brâhmin’s property and thereby
does chakra pûjâ (the famous chakra circle worship in Tantra), or prepares a
potter’s wheel or any other wheels, he will have to go to Chakra Kunda and
remain there for one hundred years, tormented by My messengers. Then he will
be born for three births as an oilman suffering from very severe diseases
when he will ultimately be poor, without any issue and diseased. Finally he
gets purified. If anybody casts a sinful eye on any Brâhmana or on cows, he
will have to remain in Vakra Kunda for one hundred Yugas. Next for three
births he becomes a cat, for three births he becomes a vulture; for three
births he becomes a boar; for three births he becomes a peacock; for seven
births he becomes a man deformed and defective in limbs, his wife being
dead, without any issue. Finally he becomes purified. If any person born in
a Brâhmin family eats the flesh of a tortoise that is prohibited, he lives
in Kûrma Kunda, for one hundred years, eaten by tortoises. Then he becomes
for three births a tortoise; for three births, a boar; for three births a
cat; for three births, a peacock; till at last he gets purified. If anybody
steals clarified butter or oil of any Devas or a Brâhmana he will have to go
to Jvâlâ Kunda or Bhasma Kunda. That sinner remains in oil for one hundred
years and gets soaked through and through. Then for seven births he becomes
a fish and a mouse when he gets purified. If anybody, born here in this holy
land Bhârata steals sweet scented oil of a Deva or of a Brâhmana, the
powdered myrobalan or any other scent, he goes to Dagdha Kunda where he
lives, burnt day and night for as many years as there are hairs on his body.
For seven births he becomes born emitting a nasty smell, for three births he
becomes musk (mriga-nâbhi); for seven births, as a Manthâna insect. Then he
becomes born as a man. If, out of envy, a powerful man appropriates to his
purpose another’s ancestral property by cheating, by using force, he goes to
the hot Sûchî Kunda, being tormented there like a Jîva dropped in the midst
of a very hot oil tank, full of boiling oil. His body is, then, being burnt
up severely as the result of his own Karma; the wonder being that his body
never gets completely destroyed nor reduced to ashes. For seven manvantaras
he lives there without any food. My messengers give him good beatings and
cudgellings and chastise him; he cries aloud. Next he gets himself born as
worms of faeces for sixty thousand years. When he becomes born as a pauper
without owning any land. Thus that villain, getting a fresh lease of human
birth, begins again to do fresh good acts.
Here ends the Thirty-third Chapter of the Ninth Book on the description of
the destinies of different sinners in different hells in S’rî Mad Devî
Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Chapter XXXIV
On the description of the various hells
1-28. Dharma Râja Yama said :-- O Fair One! If, in this Bhârata, any
murderer, merciless and fierce, kills any man, out of greed for money, he
goes and miserably dwells in the Asipattra hell for fourteen Indra’s life
periods. And if that murderer kills a Brâhmana, he lives in that hell for
one hundred manvantaras. While in hell, his body becomes fiercely cut and
wounded by the swords. There My messengers chastise him and beat him and he
cries aloud and passes his time without any food. Then he becomes born for
one hundred years as a Manthâna insect, for hundred births as a boar, for
seven births as a cock; for seven births as a fox, for seven births as a
tiger; for three births, as a wolf; for seven births, as a frog; then as a
buffalo when he becomes freed of his sins of murders. If anybody sets fire
to a city or a village, he will have to live in Ksuradhâra Kunda for three
yugas with his body severed. Then he becomes a Preta (disembodied spirit)
and travels over the whole earth, being burnt up with fire. For seven births
he eats unclean and unholy food and spends his time as a pigeon. Then for
seven births he becomes diseased with a severe colic pain, for seven births
as a leper; when ultimately he gets a pure human body. If anybody whispers
in one’s ear another’s calumny and thus glorifies himself and abuses and
vilifies the Devas and Brâhmanas, he goes and remains in Sûchî Kunda for
three Yugas, and he is pierced there by needles. Then he becomes a scorpion
for seven births, a serpent for seven births, and an insect (Bhasma Kîta)
for seven births; then he gets a diseased human body when, at last, he
becomes purified. If anybody breaks into another’s house and steals away all
the household articles, cows, goats or buffaloes, he goes to Gokâ Mukha
Kunda where faeces are like cow’s hoofs, there, beaten by My servants, for
three Yugas. (Gokâ is Goksura, hoof of a cow). Then, for seven births, he
becomes a diseased cow; for three births, a sheep; for three births, a goat;
and finally he becomes a man. But in this man-birth he is born first as
diseased, poor, deprived of wife and friends, and a repenting person; when
ultimately he is freed of his sin. If anybody steals any ordinary thing, he
goes to Nakra Mukha Kunda and lives there for three years, greatly tormented
by My messengers. Next for seven births, he becomes a diseased ox. Then he
attains a very diseased man-birth, and ultimately he is freed of his sins.
Such are the horrible results. If anybody kills a cow, elephant, horse, or
cuts a tree, he goes to Gaja Dams’a Kunda for three yugas. There he is
punished by My messengers freely by the teeth of elephants. Then he attains
three elephants’ births, three horse-births; then he becomes born as a cow
and ultimately he is born a Mlechcha when he becomes pure. If anybody
obstructs any thirsty cow from drinking water, he goes to Krimi Kunda and
Gomukha Kunda filled with hot water and lives there for one manvantara. Next
when he attains a human birth he owns not any cattle nor any wealth; rather
he is born as a man, very much diseased, in low castes, for seven births
when he becomes freed. If anybody, being born in Bhârata, kills cows,
Brâhmins, women, beggars, causes abortions or goes to those not fit to be
gone into, he lives in the Kumbhîpâka hell for fourteen Indra’s life
periods. There be is pulverised always by My messengers. He is made to fall
sometimes in fire, sometimes over thorns, sometimes in hot oil, sometimes in
hot water, sometimes in molten iron or copper. That great sinner gets
thousand vulture births, hundred boar births, seven crow births and seven
serpent births. He then becomes worms of faeces for sixty thousand years.
Thus travelling frequently in ox births he at last becomes born as a very
poor leper.
29-31. Sâvitrî said :-- “O Bhagavân! What is, according to the S’âstras,
Brahmahattyâ (murdering a Brâhmin) and Gohatyâ (killing a cow)? Who are
called Agamyâs (women unfit to be approached)? Who are designated as void of
Sandhyâ (daily worship of the twice born castes)? Who can be called
uninitiated? Who are said to take Pratigrahas (gifts) in a Tîrath? What are
the characteristics of a real Grâmayâjî (village priests), Devala, (Brâhmana
of an inferior order who subsists upon the offerings made to the images
which he attends), the cook of a S’ûdra, of one who is infatuated (Pramatta)
and the Vrisalîpati (one who has married an unmarried girl twelve years old
in whom menstruation has commenced; a barren woman). Kindly describe all
these to me.”
32-91. Dharmarâjan said :-- O Fair Sâvitrî! If anybody makes a distinction
between Krisna and His Image or between any Deva and his image, between
S’iva and His phallic emblem, between the Sun and the stone Sûrya Kânta (a
precious stone of a bright and glittering colour) between Ganes’a and Durgâ,
he is said to be guilty of the sin Brahmahattyâ. If anybody makes any
difference (superiority or inferiority) between his own Ista Deva (his
Deity), his Spiritual Teacher, his natural father, and mother, is certainly
involved in the sin of Brahmahattyâ. He who shews any difference
(superiority or inferiority) between the devotees of Visnu and those of
other Devas, is said to commit Brahmahattyâ. He who makes any difference in
matters of respect between the waters of the feet of any Brâhmana and those
of S’âlagrâma stone, is said to commit Brahmahattyâ. The difference between
the offerings to Hari and Hara leads to Brahmahattyâ. He who shews any
difference between Krisna, Who is verily the God of gods, the Cause of all
causes, the Origin of all, Who is worshipped by all the Devas, Who is the
Self of all, Who is attributeless and without a second yet Who by His Magic
powers assumes many forms and who is Is’âna, is said to commit, indeed, the
Brahmahattyâ. If any Vaisnava (a devotee of Visnu) abuses and envies a
S’akta (a devotee of S’akti), he commits Brahmahattyâ. He who does not
worship, according to the Vedas, the Pitris and the Devas or prohibits
others in doing so, commits Brahmahattyâ. He who abuses Hrisikes’a, Who is
the Highest of the Holy things, Who is Knowledge and Bliss and Who is
Eternal, Who is the only God to be served by the Devas and Vaisnavas, and
those Who are worshippers of His Mantra, and those who do not worship
themselves are said to commit Brahmahattyâ. He who abuses and vilifies
Mûlaprakriti Mahâ Devî, Who is of the nature of Causal Brahmâ (Kârana Brahmâ),
Who is All Power and the Mother of all, Who is worshipped by all and who is
of the nature of all the Devas and the Cause of all Causes, Who is Âdyâ
S’akti Bhagavatî, is said to commit Brahmahattyâ. He who does not observe
the Holy S’rî Krisna Janmâstami, S’rî Râma Navamî, S’ivarâtri, the Ekâdas’î
happening on Sunday, and five other holy Pârvanas (festivals), commits
Brahmahattyâ; is considered more sinful than a Chândâla. He who in this land
of Bhârata, digs earth on the day of Ambuvâchî or makes water, etc., in the
waters of the tanks, is involved in the sin of Brahmahattyâ. He who does not
support his spiritual teacher, mother, father, chaste wife, son and
daughter, though they are faultless, commits Brahmahattyâ. He whose marriage
does not take place during his whole life-time, who does not see the face of
his son, who does not cherish devotion to Hari, who eats things unoffered to
S’rî Hari, who never worshipped throughout his life Visnu or an earthen
symbol of S’iva, verily commits Brahmahattyâ. O Fair One! Now I will recite
the characteristics, according to the S’âstras, of Gohattyâ (killing a cow).
Listen. If anybody does not prohibit one, seeing one to beat a cow, or if he
goes between a cow and a Brâhmin, he is involved in the sin of Gohattyâ. If
any illiterate Brâhman, carrying an ox, daily beats with a stick, the cows,
certainly he commits the Gohattyâ. If anybody gives the remains of another’s
meal to a cow to eat, or feeds a Brâhmin who carries, rather moves or
drives, cows and oxen; or eats himself the food of such a Brâhmin driver, he
commits Gohattyâ. Those who do sacrifices of the husband of a barren woman (Vrisalî)
or eat his food, commit sin equal to one hundred Gohattyâs; there is no
doubt in this. Those who touch fire with their feet, beat the cows or enter
the temple bathing but not washing their feet, commit Gohattyâ. Those who
eat without washing their feet or those who sleep with their feet wetted
with water and those who eat just after the Sun has risen, commit Gohattyâ.
Those who eat the food of women without husbands or sons or the food of
pimps and pampers or those who do not perform their Sandhyâs thrice, commit
Gohattyâ. If any woman makes any difference between her husband and the
Devatâ, or chastises and uses harsh words to her husband, she commits
Gohattyâ. If anybody destroys cow’s pasture land, tanks, or land for forts
and cultivates there grains, he commits Gohattyâ. He who does not do
Prâyas’chitta (expiation, atonement) for the expiation of the sin of
Gohattyâ done by his son (for fear of his son’s life), commits the sin
himself. If any trouble arises in the state or from the Devas, and if any
master does not protect then his own cows, rather torments them, he is said
to commit Gohattyâ. If any Jîva oversteps the image of a Deva, fire, water,
offerings to a god, flowers, or food, he commits the great sin Brahmahattyâ.
When a guest comes, if the master of the house always says, “there is
nothing, nothing with me; no, no,” and if he be a liar, cheat and an abuser
of the Devas, he commits the above sin. O fair One! Whoever seeing his
spiritual teacher, and a Brâhman, does not bow down and make respectful
obeisance to them, commits Gohattyâ. If any Brâhmin, out of sheer anger,
does not utter blessings to a man who bows down or does not impart knowledge
to a student, he commits Gohattyâ. O Fair One! Thus I have described to you
the characteristics, approved by S’âstras, of cow-killing (Gohattyâ) and
murdering a Brâhmin (Brahmahattyâ). Now hear which women are (Agamyâs) not
fit to be approached and those which are fit to be approached (Gamyâs).
One’s own wife is fit to be approached (Gamyâ) and all other women are
Agamyâs, so the Pundits, versed in the Vedas, declare. This is a general
remark; now hear everything in particular. O Chaste One! The Brâhmin wives
of S’ûdras or the S’ûdra wives of Brâhmanas are Atyâgamyâs (very unfit to be
approached) and blameable both in the Vedas and in the society. A S’ûdra
going to a Brâhmanî woman commits one hundred Brahmahattyâs; so a Brâhmana
woman going to a S’ûdra goes to the Kumbhîpâka hell. As a S’ûdra should
avoid a Brahmâni, so a Brâhmana should avoid a S’ûdra woman. A Brâhmana
going to a S’ûdra woman is recognised a Brisalipati (one who has married an
unmarried girl twelve years old in whom menstruation has commenced). So much
so that that Brâhmana is considered an outcast and the vilest of the
Chândâlas. The offerings of Pindas by him are considered as faeces and water
offered by him is considered as urine. Nowhere whether in the Devaloka or in
the Pitriloka, his offered Pindas and water are accepted. Whatever religious
merits he has acquired by worshipping the Devas, and practising austerities
for Koti births, he loses all at once by the greed of enjoying the S’ûdra
woman. There is no doubt in this. A Brâhmin, if he drinks wine, is
considered as the husband of a Vrisalî, eating faeces. And if he be a
Vaisnava, a devotee of Visnu, his body must be branded with the marks of a
Taptamudrâ (hot seal); and if he be a S’aiva, his body is to be branded with
the Tapta S’ûla (hot trident). The wife of a spiritual teacher, the wife of
a king, step-mother, daughter, son’s wife, mother-in-law, sister of the same
father and mother, the wife of one’s brother (of the same father and
mother), the wife of a maternal uncle, the father’s mother, mother’s mother,
the mother’s sister, sisters, the brother’s daughter, the female disciple,
the disciple’s wife, the wife of the sister’s son, the wife of the brother’s
son, these all are mentioned by Brahmâ as Atyâgamyâs (very unfit to be
approached). The people are hereby warned. If anybody, overpowered by
passion, goes to these Atyâgamyâ women, he becomes the vilest of men. The
Vedas consider him as if going to his mother and he commits one hundred
Brahmahattyâ sins. These have no right to do any actions. They are not to be
touched by any. They are blamed in the Vedas, in the society everywhere.
Ultimately they go to the dreadful Kumbhîpâka hells. O Fair One! He who
performs Sandhyâs wrongly or reads it wrongly or does not perform at all the
three Sandhyâs daily, is called as void of Sandhyâ. He is said to remain
uninitiated who does not, out of sheer vanity, receive any Mantra, whether
he be a Vaisnavite, S’aivite, or a Sun worshipper or the Ganes’a worshipper.
Where there is the running stream of the Ganges, lands on either side, four
hands in width, are said to be the womb of the Ganges (Gangâ Garbha)
Bhagavân Nârâyana incessantly dwells there. This is called the Nârâyana (Ksetra).
One goes to Visnupada who dies in such a place. Vârânasî (Benares), Vadarî,
the Confluence of the Ganges with the ocean (Ganga-Sâgara), Puskara, Hari
Hara Ksettra (in Behar near Châprâ), Prabhâsa, Kâmarûpa, Hardwar, Kedâra,
Mâtripura, the banks of the river Sarasvatî, the holy land Bindrâban,
Godâvarî, Kaus’ikî, Trivenî (Allahabad), and the Himâlayâs are all famous
places of pilgrimages. Those who willingly accept gifts in these sacred
places are said to be Tîrthapratigrâhîs (the acceptors of the gifts in the
Tîrtha). These Tîrthaprathigrâhîs go in the end to Kumbhîpâka hell. The
Brâhmana who acts as priest to the S’ûdras is called S’ûdrayâjî; the village
priests are called Grâmayâjîs. Those who subsist on the offerings made to
the gods are called Devalas. The cooks of the S’ûdras are called Sûpakâras.
Those who are void of Sandhyâ Bandanams are called Pramattas (mad). O Bhadre!
These are the marks of the Vrisalîpatis that I have (now) enumerated. These
are the Great Sinners (Mahâ Pâtakas). They go ultimately to the Kumbhîpâka
hell. O Fair One! I now state by and by the other Kundas (hells) when other
people go. Listen.
Here ends the Thirty fourth Chapter of the Ninth Book on the description of
the various hells in the Mahâ Purânam S’rîmad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000
verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Chapter XXXV
On the description of the various hells for the various sinners
1-44. Dharmarâjan said :-- O Chaste One! Without serving the Gods, the Karma
ties can never be severed. The pure acts are the seeds of purities and the
impure acts lead to impure seeds. If any Brâhmana goes to any unchaste woman
and eats her food, he will have to go ultimately to the Kâlasûtra hell.
There he lives for one hundred years when ultimately he gets a human birth
when he passes his times as a diseased man and ultimately he gets purified.
Those women who are addicted to their (one) husbands only are called
Pativratâs. Those addicted to two persons are named Kulatâs; to three, are
called Dharsinîs; to four, called Pums’chalîs; to five, six persons, called
Ves’yâs; to seven, eight, nine persons are called Pungîs; and to more than
these, are called Mahâves’yâs. The Mahâves’yâs are unfit to be touched by
all the classes. If any Brâhmana goes to Kulatâ, Dharsinî, Pums’chalî, Pungî,
Ves’yâ and Mahâves’yâs, he will have to go to the Matsyoda Kunda. Those who
go to Kulatâs remain there for one hundred years; those who go to Dharsinîs,
remain for four hundred years, those who go to Pums’chalîs for six hundred
years; those who go to Ves’yâs, for eight hundred years; those who go to
Pungîs, remain for one thousand years and those who go to Mahâves’yâs remain
in the Matsyoda Kunda for ten thousand years. My messengers chastise and
beat and torment them very severely. And when their terms expire, the Kulatâ-goers
become Tittiris (a bird), the Dharsinî-goers become crows, the Pums’chalî-mongers
become cuckoos, the Ves’yâ haunters become wolves; the Pungî-goers become
for seven births boars. If any ignorant person eats food during the lunar
and solar eclipses, he goes to Aruntuda Kunda for as many years as there are
particles in that food. He then becomes born diseased with Gulma (a chronic
enlargement of spleen) having no ears nor teeth, and after passing his time
so, he becomes freed of his previous sin. If anybody makes a promise to give
his daughter to one but he gives actually to a different person, he goes to
Pâms’u Kunda where he eats ashes for one hundred years. Again if anybody
sells his daughter, he sleeps on a bed of arrows in Pams’uvesta Kunda for
one hundred years, chastised and beaten by My messengers. If any Brâhmana
does not worship with devotion the phallic emblem of S’iva, he goes to the
dreadful S’ûlaprota Kunda for that heinous sin. He remains there for one
hundred years; then he becomes a quadruped animal for seven births and again
he becomes born a Devala Brâhmin for seven births when he becomes freed. If
any Brâhmana defeats another Brâhmana in a bad useless argument and trifles
him and makes him tremble, he goes to the Prakampana Kunda for as many years
as there are hairs on his body. If any woman, being very furious with anger,
chastises and uses harsh words to her husband, she goes to Ulkâmukha Kunda
for as many years as there are hairs on his body. My servants put fiery
meteors or torches in her mouth and beat on her head. At the end of the
term, she becomes a human being but she has to bear the torments of
widowhood for seven births. Then she is again born as diseased; when at last
she gets herself freed. The Brâhmana woman, enjoyed by a S’ûdra, goes to the
terrible dark Andhakûpa hell, where she remains, day and night, immersed in
the impure water and eats that for fourteen Indra’s life periods. Her pains
are unbounded and My messengers beat her severely and incessantly.
At the expiry of the term in that hell, she becomes a female crow for
thousand births, a female boar for one hundred births, a female fox for one
hundred births, a hen for one hundred years, a female pigeon for seven
births, and a female monkey for seven births. Then she becomes a Chândâlî in
this Bhârata, enjoyed by all. Then she becomes an unchaste woman with the
pthisis disease, a washerwoman, and then an oilwoman with leprosy when she
becomes freed. O Fair One! The Ves’yâs live in the Vedhana, and Jalarandhra
hells; the Pungîs live in the Dandatâdana hell; the Kulatâs live in the
Dehachûrna hells; the Svairinîs live in the Dalana hells; the Dharsinîs live
in S’osana hells. Their pains know no bounds at all those places. My
messengers always beat and chastise them and they eat always the urine and
faeces for one Manvantara. Then, at the expiry of their hell period, they
become worms of faeces for one lakh years when they become freed. If a
Brâhmana goes to another Brâhmana’s wife, if a Ksattriya, Vais’ya and S’ûdra
do so, they go to the Kasâya hell. There they drink the hot Kasâya water for
twelve years when they become purified. The lotus-born Brahmâ has said that
the wives of Brâhmins, Ksattriyas, etc., live in hells like Brâhmins,
Ksattriyas, etc., and they then get freed. If a Ksattriya or a Vais’ya goes
to a Brâhmin’s wife, he is involved in the sin of his going to his mother
and goes and lives in the S’ûrpa hell. There the worms of the size of a
S’ûrpa bite that Ksattriya, that Vais’ya and that Brâhmana’s wife. My
messengers chastise them and they have to eat the hot urine. Thus they
suffer pains for fourteen Indra’s life periods. When they become boars for
seven births and goats for seven births, when at last they are freed. Now if
anybody makes a false promise or swears falsely, taking the Tûlasî leaf in
his hands, if anybody makes a false promise, taking the Ganges water,
S’âlagrâma stone, or any other images of God in his hand; if anybody swears
falsely, placing his right palm on the palm of another; if anybody swears
falsely, being in a temple or touching a Brâhmana or a cow; if anybody acts
against his friends or others, if he be treacherous or if he gives a false
evidence; then all these persons go to Jvâlâ Mukha hell, and remain there
for fourteen Indra’s life periods, chastised and beaten by My messengers and
feeling pain as if one’s body is being burnt by red hot coal. One who gives
a false evidence, with the Tûlasî (holy basil) in his hand becomes a
Chândâla for seven births; one who makes a false promise with the Ganges
water in his hand, becomes a Mlechcha for five births; one who swears
falsely while touching the S’âlagrâma stone, becomes a worm of the faeces
for seven births; one who swears falsely, touching the image of the God,
becomes a worm in a Brâhmin’s house for seven births; one who gives a false
evidence touching with the right hand, becomes a serpent for seven births;
then he becomes born as a Brâhmin, void of the knowledge of the Vedas, when
he becomes freed. One who speaks falsely, while in a temple, is born as a
Devala for seven births.
45-59. If one swears falsely, touching a Brâhmana, one becomes a tiger. Then
he becomes dumb for three births, then for three births he becomes deaf,
without wife, without friends, and his family becomes extinct. Then he
becomes pure. Those that rebel against their friends, become mongoose; the
treacherous persons become rhinoceroses; the hypocrite and treacherous
persons become tigers and those who give false evidences become frogs. So
much so, that their seven generations above and seven generations below go
to hell. If any Brâhmana does not perform his daily duties (Nitya Karma), he
is reckoned as Jada (an inert matter). He has no faith in the Vedas. Rather
he laughs at the Vedic customs. He does not observe vows and fastings; he
blames others who give good advices. Such persons live in Dhûmrândhakâra
hell where they eat dark smoke only. Then he roams about as an aquatic
animal for one hundred births successively. Then he becomes born as various
fishes when he is freed. If anybody jests at the wealth of a Deva or a
Brâhmana, then he with his ten generations above and below becomes fallen
and he himself goes to the Dhûmrândhakâra hell, terribly dark and filled
with smoke. There his pains know no bounds and he lives there for four
hundred years, eating smoke only. Then he becomes a mouse for seven births,
and he becomes various birds and worms, various trees and various animals
when ultimately he gets a human birth. If a Brâhmin earns his livelihood by
being an astrologer or if he be a physician and lives thereby or if he sells
lac, iron, or oil, etc., he goes to the Nâgavstana Kunda hell where he lives
for as many years as there are hairs on his body, tied up by snakes. Then he
becomes born as various birds; ultimately he gets a human birth and becomes
an astrologer for seven births and a physician for seven births. Then for
sometime he becomes a cowherd (milkman), for sometimes a blacksmith; for
sometimes a painter, when he becomes freed of his sin. O Chaste One! Thus I
have described to you all the famous Kundas or hells. Besides there are
innumerable small Kundas. The sinners go there and suffer the fruits of
their own Karmas and travel through various wombs. O Fair One! What more do
you now want to hear ? Say.
Here ends the Thirty-Fifth Chapter of the Ninth Book on the description of
the various hells for the various sinners in the Mahâ Purânam S’rî Mad Devî
Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
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