Indian Inferno in Garud Puran

All religious traditions inevitably develop concepts concerning the destiny of living beings after death. Religious agnostics might even get the impression that the concerns associated with the end of earthly existence and the expected transition to a different type or form of being are the crux of religious thinking, as they are its driving force. The fear of the hereafter induces remarkable creativity in the human imagination. In it, previous life experiences, anxious dreams as well as taboo projections and fantasies of man as an individual and also as the whole of society and corresponding culture are reflected. This truly existential collective look into the unknown future then results in a wide range of eschatological visions. Leaving aside the possibility of absolute nonexistence as their ultimate and most feared variant, in virtually all known religious cultures we can find terrifying images of the other world, where all beings receive their just retribution for the evil deeds they have done during their lives. In some traditions, the idea of hell seems to be a fixed constant, present since their early, historically documented beginnings and makes up an integral part of their complex view of the world and man within it. In others, contrarily, it has undergone a remarkable evolution and only vague references can be found about it in the oldest layers of text. However, when the idea of hell eventually does appear in them it seems as if the floodgates have been opened for the imagination, allowing it to indulge in spine-chilling depictions. The local religious traditions of India belong to the second category. Here, the increased interest in this type of eschatological imagination does not emerge at full strength until after the turn of the Common Era. It then acquires a remarkably sophisticated form in the religious narrative literature of the Purāṇas, which were formed into their final, albeit considerably fluid text during the whole first millennium, as well as in the following centuries. In many places, the Purāṇas pay much the same attention as is given to a vivid description of the suffering in hell to depictions of the road to hell full of hardships. The theme of the road down which the deceased must travel when leaving for the

Paper depicts development of the imagery of hell in South and Central Asia. Unknown to the oldest Indian literature as a place of punishment the imagery has developed in later Vedic Brahmanic / Hindu literature, in Jainism and Buddhism and penetrated across Asia.

2020

This research seems to indicate; 1), the concept of hell and its classification, 2) then compare the mythology of religious values in the book Daqa’iq al-Akhbar and La Divina Commedia. As a doctrine that exists in every religion, hell has a discussion that is often debated because each religion has a narrative characteristic to explain its definition and truth. Both East and West, they have written and literary works that reveal the truth of hell. Furthermore, this paper will analyze the comparison between the two understandings with the Roland Barthes mythological approach through critical qualitative descriptive research. The result of this study seems to indicate that there are significant similarities in understanding the concept of hell in Daqa’iq al-Akhbar and La Divina Commedia, although there are several different depictions of the physical form of hell.

The day when we ‘live’ after our life is ended (hereafter-life) is being the very reason of how to be a meaningful and valuable person, an ultimate reason to have religion. Not just as being a person who lives in very short time and chasing the worldly things. According to the Islamic teaching a person who lived un-relgiously and always committed ‘sins’ would be living in a darkest and miserable place call as Hell. Muslim witnessed and experienced this frightful teaching of hells tortures that somehow it has been part of their everyday vocabulary in religious education. No doubt, even up to the present day, people still produced and distributed in a form of comic book for Islamic elementary school. Meanwhile, a surprising encounter on the visualization of Hell’s Tortures in Buddhism marks many similarities with Islam. However, their kind of ‘theological’ tendencies may result different outcomes. By comparing the visual narration of this Islamic comic’s book with the Buddhism hell illustration, this paper attempts to make an ‘imaginary’ dialogue between the concept and visuality of hells tortures that exist in both traditions and sees the impact on how far a sincere dialogue could be achieved both in these two beliefs. During this comparison, it found that both Buddhism and Islam in Java had ever made such an interesting dialogue. Keywords: Hell Tortures, Islam, Buddhism, comparison, encounter, Java-Indonesia

The paper explores nature as an instrument in the Puranic imagination of hell. Nature is here considered in the broadest sense of the word; including both the inanimate and animate world as well as man, an essential part of nature, along with everything that is generated by him. A classification of various infernal instruments is proposed, based on their different characteristics and potential employment in the torments of hell, and it is also considered whether they are real, i.e. originating from everyday reality, or only purely imaginary. Findings are demonstrated on numerous examples from Puranic literature; the material under examination comes from Agni, Brahma, Devībhāgavata, Mārkaṇḍeya and Padma Purāṇas.

Comparative Hell: Arts of Asian Underworlds, 2023

Essay and catalogue entries in "Comparative Hell: Arts of Asian Underworlds," ed. Adriana Proser. https://www.accartbooks.com/us/book/comparative-hell/

Religions and cultures across the globe believe in the idea of divine judgement resulting in punishment or eternal life after death. The Book of the Dead belonging to the ancient Greeks contains two hundred spells and illustrations that are believed to help the dead journey through the perils of the „Netherworld1‟, a place where all souls go after death, and face judgements based on their earthly doings2. The African folks also believe in the afterlife which is associated with the „already‟ and „not yet‟ of one‟s actions and how it affects the afterlife of an individual3. Likewise, many religions and cultures believe in the afterlife where an individual is judged based on earthly actions which results in reincarnation or paradise or damnation. The researcher attempts to study the similarities and differences in the ideas of punishments portrayed in Ved Vyasa‟s Garuda Purana and Dante Alighieri‟s “Inferno” in The Divine Comedy. The researcher intends to study the types of punishments depicted in both works and on what basis the punishments are decided. Detailed textual analyses have helped to understand the conceptual mirroring of both works to comprehend the similarities and the contextual mirroring in the works to understand the differences in ideas.

All Poetry, 2023

'Dozakh (Hell)' is a modernist poem, based on my experiences in the Delhi Metro, and was originally published on the “All Poetry” Website on November 28, 2023. Here I am providing the original text along with endnotes and hyperlinks for better comprehension of the literary and cultural allusions I have made in this verse. I hope this way you can articulate the depths of this work in a more nuanced and deeper way. The painting used on the cover is Botticelli’s depiction of Dante’s inferno from the Divine Comedy. It is a 15th-century artwork called - La Carte de l'Enfer in French; which in English means ‘The Map of Hell’. Here is the link for the original poem: - https://allpoetry.com/poem/17504399-Dozakh--Hell--by-Vinay-Rajoria

GJHASS, 2022

The research is intended to critically analyze and interpret the description of Hell done by three famous writers of their time and era and the main theme of the research is to find and relate the comparison between all the forms of Hell presented and their effects on the readers. The three writers mentioned, Dante, Milton, and James Joyce portray sin and its repercussions which would be influencing the type of formulation obtained while being in Hell. The research would analyze it and help the readers understand the main motive and succession behind the depiction of Hell.

The Yogins, through Yoga, realise their being with the supreme Brahman. Realization of this is called Mukti.-Garuda Purana, Purvakhanda, Chapter 235 Yama, the Lord of Naraka, the Underworld Death "Our soul never dies; only the physical body dies. We neither fear death nor look forward to it , but revere it as a most exalted experience. Life, death and the afterlife are part of our path to perfect oneness with God." "For Hindus, death is nobly referred to as mahaaprasthaana, 'the great journey'. When the lessons of this life have been learned and karmas reach a point of intensity, the soul leaves the physical body, which then returns its elements to the earth. The awareness, will, memory and intelligence which we think of ourselves continue to exist in the soul body. Death is a most natural experience, not to be feared. It is a quick transition from the physical world to the astral plane..." Satguru S'ivaya Subramuniyaswami, p. 99. Hell and Satan "There is no external hell, nor is there a Satan. However, there are hellish states of mind and woeful births for those who think and act wrongfully-temporary tormenting conditions that lift the fiery forces within." Satguru S'ivaya Subramuniyaswami, p. 155. Hinduism does not believe in an eternal hell. However, hellish states of mind and woeful births do exist temporarily for those who think and act wrongfully. They consist of fear, hate, jealousy, bigotry and anger, and are brought about by one's own thoughts, actions and deeds. But they are not eternal and can be changed by positive karma. Satan does not exist nor does he tempt mankind. (There asuras, immature entities of deception and hurtfulness.) There is no eternal damnation; the way out of hellish situations can be altered by positive karma. Paraphrased from Dancing with S'iva, p. 155 Death and the mortal world According to Hinduism the world in which we live is a mortal world (mrtyulokam), ruled by Death (Kala), who is a manifestation of Brahman himself. He is also personified as Time because in this world everyone has a rendezvous with Death and meets with it when their time comes. The ultimate cause of death is creation itself because everything that manifests in creation, including inanimate objects eventually has to come to an end. Therefore, Death is considered the lord of the mortal world. In Hindu tradition Death is also symbolized as Shiva, the destroyer.