Description of the Hells: The Account of Kalasutra

Verse 1 (skanda.8.39.1)

सुशर्मोवाच । अतः परं प्रवक्ष्यामि नरकं कालसूत्रकम् । समन्तान्महतोच्चेन प्राकारेण सुसंवृतम्

suśarmovāca | ataḥ paraṁ pravakṣyāmi narakaṁ kālasūtrakam | samantānmahatoccena prākāreṇa susaṁvṛtam

Sushrama said: Now, after this, I shall tell of the hell named Kalasutraka, enclosed all about by a great, lofty wall.

Verse 2 (skanda.8.39.2)

लोहजालेन च तथा आकाशेप्यभिसंवृतः । यथैकश्च तथा सर्वे नरका अभिसंवृताः

lohajālena ca tathā ākāśepyabhisaṁvṛtaḥ | yathaikaśca tathā sarve narakā abhisaṁvṛtāḥ

It is covered too by a net of iron, and overhead as well. Just as this one hell is enclosed, so are all the hells enclosed in like manner.

Verse 3 (skanda.8.39.3)

सोच्छ्रयाश्चैव विज्ञेया न वक्ष्ये तानहं पुनः । लोकद्रुहो जनास्तत्र यात्यन्ते पुरुषाधमाः

socchrayāścaiva vijñeyā na vakṣye tānahaṁ punaḥ | lokadruho janāstatra yātyante puruṣādhamāḥ

Their subsidiary Ucchrayas should likewise be understood; I shall not describe them again. There, base men who do harm to the world undergo torment.

Verse 4 (skanda.8.39.4)

ये हरन्ति स्त्रियं वापि विक्रेता यस्तथा गवाम् । धर्मस्य चात्मनश्चैव ब्राह्मणानां च निन्दकः

ye haranti striyaṁ vāpi vikretā yastathā gavām | dharmasya cātmanaścaiva brāhmaṇānāṁ ca nindakaḥ

Those who abduct women, those who sell cows, and those who revile righteousness, their own self, and the Brahmins.

Verse 5 (skanda.8.39.5)

छद्मना यश्च शास्त्राणि गुरुभ्योपह्नवेत् पुनः । गुरुं निन्दति यश्चापि पितरं मातरं तथा

chadmanā yaśca śāstrāṇi gurubhyopahnavet punaḥ | guruṁ nindati yaścāpi pitaraṁ mātaraṁ tathā

One who deceitfully conceals the scriptures from his teachers, one who reviles his teacher, and likewise one who reviles his father and mother.

Verse 6 (skanda.8.39.6)

श्वशुरं भ्रातरं ज्येष्ठं तथा चान्यान् गरीयसः । आक्रोशयति यस्तान्वै तथा चाप्यवमन्यते

śvaśuraṁ bhrātaraṁ jyeṣṭhaṁ tathā cānyān garīyasaḥ | ākrośayati yastānvai tathā cāpyavamanyate

One who curses his father-in-law, his elder brother, and other elders, and likewise one who dishonours them.

Verse 7 (skanda.8.39.7)

आश्रमाणां तथा भेत्ता रहस्यानां च सर्वशः । अदत्तं यः समादद्यात् स गच्छेद् द्विज तत्र वै

āśramāṇāṁ tathā bhettā rahasyānāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ | adattaṁ yaḥ samādadyāt sa gacched dvija tatra vai

One who destroys hermitages, one who wholly betrays secret confidences, and one who takes what has not been given -- O twice-born, such a one goes there.

Verse 8 (skanda.8.39.8)

ते तत्र पतिता घोरे नरके पापचेतसः । तिस्रः कोटीस्तु संपूर्णा वर्षाणान्तु नराधमाः । यात्यन्ते मृत्युवचनात् क्रन्दमाना विचेतसः

te tatra patitā ghore narake pāpacetasaḥ | tisraḥ koṭīstu saṁpūrṇā varṣāṇāntu narādhamāḥ | yātyante mṛtyuvacanāt krandamānā vicetasaḥ

Those base men, their minds fixed on sin, having fallen into that terrible hell, undergo torment for a full thirty million years, by the decree of death, senseless and wailing.

Verse 9 (skanda.8.39.9)

कालसूत्रेण महता मित्वा मित्वा तु दुष्कृतम् । छिन्दन्त्यङ्गानि जन्तूनां कुण्ठाग्रैरायुधैर्भृशम्

kālasūtreṇa mahatā mitvā mitvā tu duṣkṛtam | chindantyaṅgāni jantūnāṁ kuṇṭhāgrairāyudhairbhṛśam

With the great Kalasutra, measuring that evildoer again and again, they hack the limbs of these beings severely with blunt-tipped weapons.

Verse 10 (skanda.8.39.10)

किंकरैस्तैरविश्रान्तं दिवारात्रमतन्द्रितैः । पूर्णे काले ततो जंतुरुच्छ्रयान् प्रतिपद्यते

kiṁkaraistairaviśrāntaṁ divārātramatandritaiḥ | pūrṇe kāle tato jaṁturucchrayān pratipadyate

Tormented without respite by those tireless servants, ever watchful day and night, when the time is fulfilled, that being attains the Ucchrayas.

Verse 11 (skanda.8.39.11)

विश्राम्य स तदा जन्तुः पात्यते नरके पुनः । यावदस्य कृतं पापं क्षीणं सर्वमशेषतः

viśrāmya sa tadā jantuḥ pātyate narake punaḥ | yāvadasya kṛtaṁ pāpaṁ kṣīṇaṁ sarvamaśeṣataḥ

Then, having rested a while, that being is again cast into that same hell, until all the sin he has committed is entirely exhausted.

Verse 12 (skanda.8.39.12)

य इमं बहुपापकर्तृसूत्रं शृणुयाद् दुष्करलोककर्मसूत्रम् । न स याति तदुग्रदुःखसूत्रं नरकं तद् यमलोककालसूत्रम्

ya imaṁ bahupāpakartṛsūtraṁ śṛṇuyād duṣkaralokakarmasūtram | na sa yāti tadugraduḥkhasūtraṁ narakaṁ tad yamalokakālasūtram

Whoever hears this account of the many doers of sin, this thread of the world's hardest deeds, never goes to that thread of fierce suffering, that hell of Yama's realm named Kalasutra.