The Hell Tama

Verse 1 (skanda.8.48.1)

सुशर्मोवाच तमो नामापरो घोरो नरकोति भयंकरः । तत्र सोभिपतन्नैव राक्षसैरभिहन्यते

suśarmovāca tamo nāmāparo ghoro narakoti bhayaṁkaraḥ | tatra sobhipatannaiva rākṣasairabhihanyate

Sushrama said: There is another terrible hell named Tama, exceedingly frightful; there, the moment one falls into it, he is struck down by rakshasas.

Verse 2 (skanda.8.48.2)

असिमुद्गरशंक्वग्रै र्गदामुशलपट्टिशैः

asimudgaraśaṁkvagrai rgadāmuśalapaṭṭiśaiḥ

with swords, maces, spear-points, clubs, pestles, and pattisha-blades...

Verse 3 (skanda.8.48.3)

भयदैः परिघैष्टङ्कैर्वज्रैर्ऋष्टिपरश्वधैः

bhayadaiḥ parighaiṣṭaṅkairvajrairṛṣṭiparaśvadhaiḥ

with terrible iron bars, chisels, thunderbolts, spears, and axes...

Verse 4 (skanda.8.48.4)

अन्यैश्च विविधाकारैर्हतः क्रुद्धैः सुनिर्दयैः

anyaiśca vividhākārairhataḥ kruddhaiḥ sunirdayaiḥ

and struck by various other weapons, wielded by wrathful and utterly merciless rakshasas.

Verse 5 (skanda.8.48.5)

मूर्छितस्तमसा ग्रस्तो नरकं तं प्रपद्यते

mūrchitastamasā grasto narakaṁ taṁ prapadyate

Fainting, overcome by darkness, he enters that hell.

Verse 6 (skanda.8.48.6)

स देहेन विनष्टेन तमसा मूच्छिताकृतिः । दुःखसन्ततिसंनद्धो यातनामश्नुते भृशम्

sa dehena vinaṣṭena tamasā mūcchitākṛtiḥ | duḥkhasantatisaṁnaddho yātanāmaśnute bhṛśam

With his body destroyed, his form overwhelmed by darkness, bound in an unbroken chain of suffering, he undergoes torment most severely.

Verse 7 (skanda.8.48.7)

यस्मात् स तमसा ग्रस्त अनाश्वस्तोतिदारुणाम्

yasmāt sa tamasā grasta anāśvastotidāruṇām

Because he is seized by that darkness, unable even to draw breath, he undergoes the most terrible...

Verse 8 (skanda.8.48.8)

यातनामश्नुते जन्तुस्तमस्तस्मात् स उच्यते

yātanāmaśnute jantustamastasmāt sa ucyate

...torment does the creature undergo; therefore it is called Tama.

Verse 9 (skanda.8.48.9)

सर्वा बहुविधाकारा यातना याः प्रकीर्तिताः । तास्तत्र समवाप्नोति स्वेन पापेन दुर्मतिः

sarvā bahuvidhākārā yātanā yāḥ prakīrtitāḥ | tāstatra samavāpnoti svena pāpena durmatiḥ

All the various torments that have been described — the evil-minded sinner obtains every one of them there, through his own sin.

Verse 10 (skanda.8.48.10)

समाप्तयातनश्चापि सन्तीर्ण्णस्वेन कर्मणा । उच्छ्रयेषु पुनर्जन्तुर्यात्यते कर्मबन्धनः

samāptayātanaścāpi santīrṇṇasvena karmaṇā | ucchrayeṣu punarjanturyātyate karmabandhanaḥ

And having completed his torment, having passed through it by the working-out of his own karma, the creature, still bound by karma, is again driven about among the Ucchraya realms.

Verse 11 (skanda.8.48.11)

ब्रह्महा भ्रूणहा चैव सुरापो ब्राह्मणश्च यः । गवां निपाने यश्चैव पिपासूनां नराधमः

brahmahā bhrūṇahā caiva surāpo brāhmaṇaśca yaḥ | gavāṁ nipāne yaścaiva pipāsūnāṁ narādhamaḥ

The slayer of a brahmin, the slayer of an embryo, and the brahmin who drinks liquor; and that vilest of men who obstructs thirsty creatures at a cattle's watering place...

Verse 12 (skanda.8.48.12)

विघ्नं करोति मोहान्ध आहूय भर्त्सयेत्तु यः

vighnaṁ karoti mohāndha āhūya bhartsayettu yaḥ

...blinded by delusion, creates an obstruction there; and one who summons another only to revile him...

Verse 13 (skanda.8.48.13)

ब्राह्मणान् द्वेष्टि नित्यं य अर्थिनं यश्च दूषयेत्

brāhmaṇān dveṣṭi nityaṁ ya arthinaṁ yaśca dūṣayet

one who forever hates brahmins, and one who wrongs a person in need...

Verse 14 (skanda.8.48.14)

शास्त्राणि हरते यश्च गोघ्नो यश्च नरः स्मृतः

śāstrāṇi harate yaśca goghno yaśca naraḥ smṛtaḥ

and one who steals sacred texts, and the man known as a killer of cows...

Verse 15 (skanda.8.48.15)

कापिलश्च वृथादृष्टिर्वेदधर्मार्थदूषकः

kāpilaśca vṛthādṛṣṭirvedadharmārthadūṣakaḥ

the follower of the Kapila (Samkhya) doctrine, one of false views, a corrupter of the true meaning of Vedic dharma...

Verse 16 (skanda.8.48.16)

ब्राह्मणाक्रोशकश्चैव वेदधर्मार्थदूषकः । नास्तिकाश्च दुरात्मान इत्येते तं प्रयान्ति वै

brāhmaṇākrośakaścaiva vedadharmārthadūṣakaḥ | nāstikāśca durātmāna ityete taṁ prayānti vai

and one who reviles brahmins, and the corrupter of the true meaning of Vedic dharma; and the atheist, the evil-souled — all these indeed go to that hell.

Verse 17 (skanda.8.48.17)

य इमं शृणुयात्तमोमयं तमसा नित्यमतन्द्रितेन्द्रिय

ya imaṁ śṛṇuyāttamomayaṁ tamasā nityamatandritendriya

Whoever, with senses ever vigilant, hears of this hell made of darkness, Tama...

Verse 18 (skanda.8.48.18)

न स याति तमोमयं सदा नरकं दारुणजन्तुशोकदम्

na sa yāti tamomayaṁ sadā narakaṁ dāruṇajantuśokadam

he never goes to that hell made of darkness, forever terrible, the source of grief for creatures.