Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 5 Chapter 26:34-40

Book 5: Chapter 26

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 5: Chapter 26: Verses 34-40 A description of the infernal regions As regards these who actually shut up living beings here in dark holes, granaries and caves etc., the servants of Yama likewise thrust them (in their turn) into holes etc., in the other world (in the hell called Avatanirodhana) and confine them there with poisonous fire and smoke. Again, vultures, buzzards, crows, quails and other birds with adamantine bills forcibly pluck out with great might in the infernal region (called Paryavartana) the eyes of that sinful-eyed householder himself who, full of wrath, looks on strangers or (other) known visitors here with a malicious eye again and again as if he would actually burn them. Again, he who, proud of his opulence and full of egotism, looks askance at others and distrusts all (including his elders), and who, with his heart and face withering through anxiety about his wealth being exhausted or lost and himself knowing no peace of mind, guards his treasure like a devil, accumulates sin in the process of earning, augmenting and preserving wealth and (consequently) falls after his death into the hell called Sucimukha, where, it is said, the servants of Yama (the deity presiding over righteousness), like tailors, stitch, all over, the body of the sinful man, clinging to wealth like a demon. The path characterized by Nivrtti or cessation of worldly activity (leading to final beatitude) has been told in detail at the very outset (in 11. ii. 24 et seqq.). Of this extent only is the egg-shaped universe, which is depicted in the Puranas as divided into fourteen spheres and which is the (most) well-known (and) grossest form of the Supreme Person, Bhagavan Narayana Himself, consisting (as it does) of the (three) Gunas (modes) of His own Maya (deluding potency known by the name of Prakrti or matter). He who, full of reverence, reads (all alone), hears (as recited by another) or recites (to another) the account of it (as) told (by me) comes to realize even the incomprehensible (most subtle) aspect of the Supreme Spirit, the theme of the Upanisads, his mind being purified through faith and devotion. Having heard of the gross as well as of the subtle (incomprehensible) aspect of the Lord, the striver should gradually fix his mind with the help of his subtle intellect on the subtle aspect, when it has been fully concentrated on the gross aspect. In this way has been described by me for you, O king (Pariksit), the relative position of the earth with its (various) divisions (Dwipas) and subdivisions (Varsas), rivers and mountains, of the aerial region, the (seven) oceans and the (seven) subterranean regions, the (four) quarters and the infernal regions, as well as of the luminaries and the spheres, constituting the wonderful gross (material) Body of the almighty Lord, (and) the abode of all species of living beings. Thus ends the twenty-sixth discourse entitled "A description of the infernal regions' in Book Five of the great and glorious Bhagavata-Purana, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhita, consisting of eighteen thousand Slokas,composed by the (divine) sage Vedavyasa. END OF BOOK FIVE