Description of the Hells: The Account of Vaitarani

Verse 1 (skanda.8.42.1)

सुशर्मोवाच । अतः परं वैतरणीं नदीं पापप्रणाशनीम् । शृणुष्वावहितः पुत्र पापकर्मभयावहाम्

suśarmovāca | ataḥ paraṁ vaitaraṇīṁ nadīṁ pāpapraṇāśanīm | śṛṇuṣvāvahitaḥ putra pāpakarmabhayāvahām

Sushrama said: Now, after this, I shall tell of the river Vaitarani, the destroyer of sins. O son, listen attentively to that river which strikes terror into sinful deeds.

Verse 2 (skanda.8.42.2)

नदी वैतरणी पुत्र टङ्कच्छिन्नतटा शुभा । केशास्थिरुधिरापूर्णा महाक्षाररसा तथा

nadī vaitaraṇī putra ṭaṅkacchinnataṭā śubhā | keśāsthirudhirāpūrṇā mahākṣārarasā tathā

O son, the river Vaitarani has banks as though cut by a chisel; it is filled with hair, bone, and blood, and its waters are of a most caustic taste.

Verse 3 (skanda.8.42.3)

उल्लुम्पकैर्गर्दभकैर्मकरैः कच्छपैरपि । शिशुमारैश्च नक्रैश्च तन्तुकै राक्षसैरपि

ullumpakairgardabhakairmakaraiḥ kacchapairapi | śiśumāraiśca nakraiśca tantukai rākṣasairapi

It teems with vultures, donkeys, crocodiles, tortoises, porpoises, alligators, and thread-like rakshasas.

Verse 4 (skanda.8.42.4)

महादष्ट्रैर्महाकायैः पिशिताशैः समाकुला । असिपत्रैश्च तैर्वृक्षैस्तीरजातैः समावृता

mahādaṣṭrairmahākāyaiḥ piśitāśaiḥ samākulā | asipatraiśca tairvṛkṣaistīrajātaiḥ samāvṛtā

Thronged with great-fanged, huge-bodied, flesh-eating creatures; and bordered by asipatra trees growing along its banks.

Verse 5 (skanda.8.42.5)

शैवलेन च दीर्घेण वितानेनेव संवृता । तस्यास्तीरे वनं घोरं शरभर्क्षसमाकुलम्

śaivalena ca dīrgheṇa vitāneneva saṁvṛtā | tasyāstīre vanaṁ ghoraṁ śarabharkṣasamākulam

It is covered over, as if by an awning, with long moss. On its bank is a terrible forest, thronged with sharabhas and bears.

Verse 6 (skanda.8.42.6)

व्याघ्रद्वीपिसमाकीर्णं सिंहेभखरसंकुलम् । तत्र दुष्कृतकर्माणस्तैर्व्याघ्रादिभिरर्दिताः

vyāghradvīpisamākīrṇaṁ siṁhebhakharasaṁkulam | tatra duṣkṛtakarmāṇastairvyāghrādibhirarditāḥ

Filled with tigers and leopards, teeming with lions, elephants, and donkeys. There, evildoers are tormented by those tigers and the like.

Verse 7 (skanda.8.42.7)

तां नदीं सुमहाघोरां पात्यन्ते दुःखितास्ततः । तत्र ते पतिता वत्स तन्तुकैः शैवलेन च

tāṁ nadīṁ sumahāghorāṁ pātyante duḥkhitāstataḥ | tatra te patitā vatsa tantukaiḥ śaivalena ca

Suffering thus, they are cast into that most terrible river. O child, having fallen there, they become entangled in the threads and moss.

Verse 8 (skanda.8.42.8)

वितानेन च संनद्धा भक्ष्यन्ते तैर्नक्रादिभिः । क्षारोदकेन दह्यन्तो ननादयन्तश्च दुःखिताः

vitānena ca saṁnaddhā bhakṣyante tairnakrādibhiḥ | kṣārodakena dahyanto nanādayantaśca duḥkhitāḥ

Bound fast in that canopy of moss, they are devoured by crocodiles and other creatures of the water; burning in the caustic water, they cry out in their affliction.

Verse 9 (skanda.8.42.9)

षड् वर्षकोटीः यात्यन्ते यावत् पापस्य संक्षयः । ततो मुक्तास्तूच्छ्रयेषु पात्यन्ते वै पुनः पुनः

ṣaḍ varṣakoṭīḥ yātyante yāvat pāpasya saṁkṣayaḥ | tato muktāstūcchrayeṣu pātyante vai punaḥ punaḥ

They undergo torment for a full sixty million years, until their sin is exhausted. Then, freed, they are cast into the Ucchrayas, again and again.

Verse 10 (skanda.8.42.10)

विश्रान्तास्तत्र ते सर्वे ये उच्छ्रयान् नरके पुनः । पात्यन्ते विवशा मूढा यावत् पापं क्षयं गतम्

viśrāntāstatra te sarve ye ucchrayān narake punaḥ | pātyante vivaśā mūḍhā yāvat pāpaṁ kṣayaṁ gatam

Having rested there, all of them are again cast down from the Ucchrayas into that hell. Bewildered and helpless, they keep falling until their sin is exhausted.

Verse 11 (skanda.8.42.11)

उत्तीर्णः सोच्छ्रयानेतान् संसारं प्रतिप्रद्यते । तीर्णोन्तमेषु च पुनर्नरकेषु पृथक् पृथक् । कोटिरेका तु कालस्य वर्द्धते ह्युत्तरोत्तरम्

uttīrṇaḥ socchrayānetān saṁsāraṁ pratipradyate | tīrṇontameṣu ca punarnarakeṣu pṛthak pṛthak | koṭirekā tu kālasya varddhate hyuttarottaram

Having crossed these Ucchrayas, he attains the round of rebirth. Having passed even beyond these, in each successive hell separately, the duration increases by one further crore of years, one after another.

Verse 12 (skanda.8.42.12)

उच्छ्रयाणान्तु सर्वेषामेकैकस्य पृथक् पृथक् । सहस्रं वर्द्धते पुत्र वर्षाणां वै समासतः

ucchrayāṇāntu sarveṣāmekaikasya pṛthak pṛthak | sahasraṁ varddhate putra varṣāṇāṁ vai samāsataḥ

And of each and every Ucchraya, O son, in brief, the duration increases by a further thousand years each.

Verse 13 (skanda.8.42.13)

ये तु गच्छन्ति तं घोरं नरकं दुष्टचेतसः । शृणुष्व तानिमान् सम्यगुच्यमानान्मयानघ

ye tu gacchanti taṁ ghoraṁ narakaṁ duṣṭacetasaḥ | śṛṇuṣva tānimān samyagucyamānānmayānagha

As for those wicked-minded men who go to that dreadful hell, O sinless one, hear these things now being properly related by me.

Verse 14 (skanda.8.42.14)

सरितं योभिशपते यश्चैनामवमन्यते । यश्च नग्नः प्रविशति स्त्रियं यश्चात्र गच्छति

saritaṁ yobhiśapate yaścaināmavamanyate | yaśca nagnaḥ praviśati striyaṁ yaścātra gacchati

One who curses a river, one who dishonours it, one who enters it naked, and one who has union with a woman there.

Verse 15 (skanda.8.42.15)

निष्ठीवेदथ मूत्रं वा पुरीषं वाप्यथोत्सृजेत् । अपश्च हरते यस्तु क्षेत्रारामजनोपगाः

niṣṭhīvedatha mūtraṁ vā purīṣaṁ vāpyathotsṛjet | apaśca harate yastu kṣetrārāmajanopagāḥ

One who spits into it, or voids urine or excrement into it, and one who diverts water meant for fields, gardens, and the people.

Verse 16 (skanda.8.42.16)

अपां सेतुहरश्चैव तडागस्य च भेदकः । तथा पुष्करिणीनां च दूषको यश्च मानवः

apāṁ setuharaścaiva taḍāgasya ca bhedakaḥ | tathā puṣkariṇīnāṁ ca dūṣako yaśca mānavaḥ

One who destroys a water-dam, one who breaches a reservoir, and that man who defiles lotus-ponds.

Verse 17 (skanda.8.42.17)

दुष्टामदुष्टामथवा यश्च नारीं प्रदूषयेत् । पद्मिनीं यश्च हरति नाशयेद्वापि दुर्मतिः

duṣṭāmaduṣṭāmathavā yaśca nārīṁ pradūṣayet | padminīṁ yaśca harati nāśayedvāpi durmatiḥ

One who violates a woman, be she wicked or innocent, and that foolish man who steals or destroys a lotus-pond.

Verse 18 (skanda.8.42.18)

सार्थस्य वाथ जन्तोर्वा यो जन्तुर्भयमावहेत् । ते सर्वे नरकं घोरं प्रपद्यन्ते नराधमाः

sārthasya vātha jantorvā yo janturbhayamāvahet | te sarve narakaṁ ghoraṁ prapadyante narādhamāḥ

One who strikes fear into a caravan or into any creature -- all these base men attain that dreadful hell.

Verse 19 (skanda.8.42.19)

य इमामशुभप्रणाशनीं शृणुयान्नित्यमशुद्धबाधनीम् । प्रयतः स न याति भावनीं सरितं वैतरणीमसङ्गिनीम्

ya imāmaśubhapraṇāśanīṁ śṛṇuyānnityamaśuddhabādhanīm | prayataḥ sa na yāti bhāvanīṁ saritaṁ vaitaraṇīmasaṅginīm

Whoever, pure of heart, ever hears this account that destroys inauspiciousness and wards off impurity, that person never attains that pensive, unattached river Vaitarani.