Description of the Hells: The Account of Asipatravana

Verse 1 (skanda.8.41.1)

सुशर्मोवाच । अतः परं प्रवक्ष्यामि असिपत्रवनं पुनः । नरकं पापकृद्दुःखं सर्वसत्वभयंकरम्

suśarmovāca | ataḥ paraṁ pravakṣyāmi asipatravanaṁ punaḥ | narakaṁ pāpakṛdduḥkhaṁ sarvasatvabhayaṁkaram

Sushrama said: Now, after this, I shall tell once more of the hell called Asipatravana, which brings suffering to sinners and terrifies all beings.

Verse 2 (skanda.8.41.2)

असिपत्र इति ख्याता वृक्षास्तत्र दुरासदाः । बहवः सुमहाशाखा घनाश्चोच्चाश्च ते भृशम्

asipatra iti khyātā vṛkṣāstatra durāsadāḥ | bahavaḥ sumahāśākhā ghanāścoccāśca te bhṛśam

There, trees known by the name Asipatra (sword-leaved) grow, difficult to approach, many in number, with vast branches, dense and lofty.

Verse 3 (skanda.8.41.3)

तेषां पत्राणि घोराणि तीक्ष्णान्यसिनिभानि च । आयसेभ्यो विशिष्टानि न च तान्यायसानि हि

teṣāṁ patrāṇi ghorāṇi tīkṣṇānyasinibhāni ca | āyasebhyo viśiṣṭāni na ca tānyāyasāni hi

Their leaves are terrible, sharp as swords, and surpass even iron, though they are not made of iron.

Verse 4 (skanda.8.41.4)

तैक्ष्ण्यात्तानि विशिष्टानि छेदने च महामते । तैः पत्रैराचिताश्चैव तथा कण्टकिनश्च ते

taikṣṇyāttāni viśiṣṭāni chedane ca mahāmate | taiḥ patrairācitāścaiva tathā kaṇṭakinaśca te

O wise one, in their sharpness they excel at cutting. Those trees are covered with such leaves, and are thorny besides.

Verse 5 (skanda.8.41.5)

जन्तवस्तत्र रक्षोभिः पापकर्मनिबन्धनाः । वध्यमानासिमुशलैस्तथैवान्यैर्महायुधैः

jantavastatra rakṣobhiḥ pāpakarmanibandhanāḥ | vadhyamānāsimuśalaistathaivānyairmahāyudhaiḥ

There, beings bound by their sinful deeds are struck down by the rakshasas with swords, pestles, and other mighty weapons.

Verse 6 (skanda.8.41.6)

अग्निना दह्यमानाश्च वृक्षांस्तान् संप्रयान्ति ते । तानागतान् समीक्ष्यैव पर्णानि प्रपतन्त्युत

agninā dahyamānāśca vṛkṣāṁstān saṁprayānti te | tānāgatān samīkṣyaiva parṇāni prapatantyuta

Burning in fire, they run toward those trees; and the moment the trees see them approaching, their leaves begin to fall.

Verse 7 (skanda.8.41.7)

महागुरूणि तीक्ष्णानि विनिकृन्तन्ति ताँश्च ह । ते निकृत्तशिरोग्रीवा देशात्तस्मात् प्रयान्ति वै

mahāgurūṇi tīkṣṇāni vinikṛntanti tāṁśca ha | te nikṛttaśirogrīvā deśāttasmāt prayānti vai

Those heavy, sharp leaves cut them apart; their heads and necks severed, they flee from that place.

Verse 8 (skanda.8.41.8)

ते गता राक्षसैर्भूयो भूयो वृक्षैर्दुरासदैः । यात्यन्ते वर्षकोटीस्तु तत्र पञ्च सुदुःखिताः

te gatā rākṣasairbhūyo bhūyo vṛkṣairdurāsadaiḥ | yātyante varṣakoṭīstu tatra pañca suduḥkhitāḥ

They are again and again seized by the rakshasas and by those impassable trees, and there they undergo torment, greatly afflicted, for a full fifty million years.

Verse 9 (skanda.8.41.9)

ततो विमुक्तास्तेभ्यस्ते उच्छ्रयान् संविशन्ति हि । विश्रान्तास्तत्र ते सर्वे उच्छ्रयान्नरके पुनः

tato vimuktāstebhyaste ucchrayān saṁviśanti hi | viśrāntāstatra te sarve ucchrayānnarake punaḥ

Freed from that, they enter the Ucchrayas. Having rested there, all of them are again cast down from the Ucchrayas into that same hell.

Verse 10 (skanda.8.41.10)

पात्यन्ते विवशा मूढा यावत् पापं क्षयं गतम् । ये तु तं नरकं घोरं नरा गच्छन्ति पापिनः

pātyante vivaśā mūḍhā yāvat pāpaṁ kṣayaṁ gatam | ye tu taṁ narakaṁ ghoraṁ narā gacchanti pāpinaḥ

Bewildered and helpless, they keep falling until their sin is exhausted. Now, as for those sinful men who go to that dreadful hell.

Verse 11 (skanda.8.41.11)

तांस्तेहं संप्रवक्ष्यामि शृणुष्वावहितो द्विज । वृक्षं यः पुत्रकृतकं विनाशयति दुर्मतिः

tāṁstehaṁ saṁpravakṣyāmi śṛṇuṣvāvahito dvija | vṛkṣaṁ yaḥ putrakṛtakaṁ vināśayati durmatiḥ

About them I shall now tell you, O twice-born; listen attentively. That foolish man who destroys a tree raised like a son.

Verse 12 (skanda.8.41.12)

आरामे वाथ ग्रामे वा विक्रीणाति च दुर्मतिः । निष्पादितं तथा वृक्षमाश्रमे पथि वा पुनः

ārāme vātha grāme vā vikrīṇāti ca durmatiḥ | niṣpāditaṁ tathā vṛkṣamāśrame pathi vā punaḥ

That foolish man who sells it in a garden or a village, or destroys a tree cultivated in a hermitage or along a road.

Verse 13 (skanda.8.41.13)

तडागे वा तथोद्याने देवतायतनेषु वा । गृहे प्रपायामथवा नद्यास्तीरे चतुष्पथे

taḍāge vā tathodyāne devatāyataneṣu vā | gṛhe prapāyāmathavā nadyāstīre catuṣpathe

By a pond, in a garden, in temple grounds, in a house, at a water-shed, on a riverbank, or at a crossroads.

Verse 14 (skanda.8.41.14)

यत्र वा तत्र वा जातं यो नाशयति दुर्मतिः । पादपान् गुल्मवल्लीर्वा क्षुपानथ तृणान्यपि

yatra vā tatra vā jātaṁ yo nāśayati durmatiḥ | pādapān gulmavallīrvā kṣupānatha tṛṇānyapi

That foolish man who destroys, wherever they may have sprung up, trees, shrubs, creepers, bushes, or even grasses.

Verse 15 (skanda.8.41.15)

छायापुष्पफलार्थं हि स्वकार्यकरणाय वा । विनाशयति यो मूढः स च तं प्रतिपद्यते

chāyāpuṣpaphalārthaṁ hi svakāryakaraṇāya vā | vināśayati yo mūḍhaḥ sa ca taṁ pratipadyate

That fool who destroys them for the sake of shade, flowers, or fruit, or for some purpose of his own, he too attains that same hell.

Verse 16 (skanda.8.41.16)

यश्चापहरते मूलं पुष्पाणि च फलानि च । आत्मार्थं कामसंपत्तौ न देवपितृकारणात्

yaścāpaharate mūlaṁ puṣpāṇi ca phalāni ca | ātmārthaṁ kāmasaṁpattau na devapitṛkāraṇāt

One who steals roots, flowers, and fruit for the fulfillment of his own desire, not for the sake of the gods or the ancestors.

Verse 17 (skanda.8.41.17)

नदीं यश्चावरुध्नीयात् कूपान्यश्च प्रपूरयेत् । यश्च पर्णत्वचामर्थे वृक्षं छिन्द्यान्नराधमः । विनाशयेद्वा तं वृक्षं स च तं प्रतिपद्यते

nadīṁ yaścāvarudhnīyāt kūpānyaśca prapūrayet | yaśca parṇatvacāmarthe vṛkṣaṁ chindyānnarādhamaḥ | vināśayedvā taṁ vṛkṣaṁ sa ca taṁ pratipadyate

One who dams up a river, one who fills in wells, and that base man who cuts down or destroys a tree for the sake of its leaves or bark -- he too attains that same fate.

Verse 18 (skanda.8.41.18)

यश्च छायासमासन्नान् जन्तून् वै संप्रबाधते । स्वस्थानं च समासन्नान् त्रासयेद्वारयेदपि

yaśca chāyāsamāsannān jantūn vai saṁprabādhate | svasthānaṁ ca samāsannān trāsayedvārayedapi

And one who torments creatures taking refuge nearby in the shade, and one who frightens away or drives off creatures that have come near his own dwelling.

Verse 19 (skanda.8.41.19)

सर्वे ते तं प्रपद्यन्ते सोच्छ्रयं नरकं महत् । उत्तीर्णाश्च ततो भूयः संसारं यान्ति तेशुभाः

sarve te taṁ prapadyante socchrayaṁ narakaṁ mahat | uttīrṇāśca tato bhūyaḥ saṁsāraṁ yānti teśubhāḥ

All these attain that vast hell together with its Ucchrayas; and having passed through it, those now purified return once more to the round of rebirth.

Verse 20 (skanda.8.41.20)

य इमं शृणुयादतन्द्रितात्मा नरकं पापकृतामशर्मभूतम् । न स तं समुपैति पुण्यकर्मा विदितात्मा ह्यसिपत्रनामधेयम्

ya imaṁ śṛṇuyādatandritātmā narakaṁ pāpakṛtāmaśarmabhūtam | na sa taṁ samupaiti puṇyakarmā viditātmā hyasipatranāmadheyam

Whoever, vigilant of mind, hears of this hell of sinners, devoid of all comfort, that man of virtuous deeds, knower of the self, never attains that hell named Asipatra.