Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Crime and Punishment
We have not seen it. Nor have we experienced it. Yet, the very word is enough
to strike deadly fear in our hearts. There is not a single soul who doesn't
dread the fires of hell. We are told that sinners are invariably sent there to
undergo just punishment, which cleanses them of the cloying effect of misdeeds.
The GAruda PurANa lists out the varied types of torture and suffering people
undergo in Narakam, according to the type and quantum of their transgressions.
Just a casual perusal of the relevant chapter of this purana is enough to make
us toe the righteous path and cure us of the proclivity for misdeeds. To
mention but one, it is reported that people having a penchant for abandoning
their own lawfully-wedded spouses and consorting with others', when they pass
from this world, are made to embrace red-hot copper statues of their illegal
companions. Says Sri Kalian-
"VambulAm koondal manayviyai turandu pirar poruL tAram endru ivattrai
nambinAr irandAl naman tamar pattri Ettri vaitthu eri ezhugindra
sembinAl iyandra pAvaiyai pAvI tazhuvena mozhivadarkku anji
nambanE vandu un tiruvadi adaindEn naimisAraNiyatthuL endAi"
In other pasurams too, Sri ParakAla talks about the torments sinning souls
undergo in Hell-
"naman tamar seyyum vEdanaikku odungi nadunginEn"
"kadum solar kadiAr kAlanAr tamarAl
paduvadOr kodumiraikku anji" etc.
The minions of the Lord of Hell are absolutely without the finer feelings:
their speech is steeped in invective and their actions bereft of mercy or
compassion, says Sri Thirumangai Mannan-"kadunsolAr kadiAr naman tamar". We
have heard too of the cruel punishment ANi MAndavya, a Rishi, was awarded in
Hell for having disfigured a dragonfly, when he was three or four year old-he
was impaled on a spear. From all accounts, it would appear that the
penitentiaries of earth are places of rest, relaxation and pleasurable
pursuits, compared to the rigours of the Purgatory.
Dreadful as they are, we are yet curious to know about these accursed worlds,
where only the offenders are taken, to work-off their sins by undergoing
exemplary retribution. As to their location, Sri Vishnu Purana places them
below this earth and oceans. The same Purana lists the various types of Hell
and the sins of commission and omission, which provide a free passage to
offenders to these worlds of terror and torment. Here are a few:
Rouravam is the narakam reserved for those who commit perjury. Perjury is of
two types-suppressio veri (holding back the truth) and suggestio falsi
(furnishing false information). Liars, habitual and occasional, and
prevaricators of all hues, are also destined for Rouravam.
One who destroys the unborn child, those who obliterate villages and those who
kill cows, are all sent to ROdha narakam, where people suffocate, unable to
breathe.
Sookaram is the Hell reserved for those who kill brAhmanAs, those who steal
gold and those who imbibe forbidden liquors. Not only these people, but their
associates too are awarded a spell in this narakam. Though stealing anything is
bad, yet filching gold or ornaments made of it ("Svarna sthEyam") is supposed
to be heinous.
Those who kill Kings, merchants or royal messengers, those engaging in indecent
behaviour with the GurupatnI or sister-in-law, are sent to narakAs called TAla
and TaptakuNdam (a pit with boiling water).
TaptalOha is the destination of those who sell horses (one would have thought
this to be an innocuous occupation!), prison guards and those abandoning
devotees.
Inappropriate behaviour with one's daughter-in-law or daughter sends one to the
terrible hell of MahAjwAlA, while those who insult Acharyas and the Shruti, one
who sells VedAs ( who takes money for imparting scriptural knowledge) and one
who consorts with undesirable women-these are destined for a special Purgatory
known as LavaNam. Here, though the Acharya is not supposed to demand recompense
in cash or kind for imparting knowledge, the sishya, on his own, should offer
the best and the most he can to the Acharya, so that the vidyA he has imbibed
would be fruitful.
Thieves and those who cross the lines of decency and good behaviour fall into
the VilOha narakam, while those who harbour ill will towards deities, ancestors
and DvijAs, and those who tarnish diamonds, are pushed into Krimibhaksha
narakam, where worms eat one alive. Those who perform undesirable sacrifices
fall into the KrimIsa narakam.
There is a terribly tormenting hell known as lAlAbhaksham, reserved for those
who eat before propitiating deities, pitru devatas, and guests. This is in tune
with the Gitacharya's dictum that one who eats without offering it first to the
Lord, imbibes sin with every morsel of intake. This is to emphasize the
indispensability of ThiruvArAdhanam and pitru tarpaNam, as well as atiti
satkAram.
Manufacturers of deadly weapons, those merchants of death, are sentenced to the
deadly BhEdaka narakam or to Visasanam, depending upon how lethal are the arms
they produce.
Those acquiring wealth by unlawful means (one pities the politicians) and those
making a livelihood through false prophecies (woe betide our astrologers) go to
adhOmukham, (where perhaps they hang by their feet). Those who reserve
delicious items of food for themselves, denying one's children or friends, and
BrAhmanAs who sell meat, sesame, salt and resin, fall into the Pooyavaha
narakam.
And now a word of cheer for those who own poultry farms, cattle-breeding
centers, etc.- those who rear or keep cats, cocks, pigs, horses and birds may
also look forward to a spell in Pooyavaha.
RudhirAndha is a spacious hell, which accommodates the perpetrators if the
following types of misdeeds-
Professional actors (and we used to envy these matinee idols!)
Wrestlers and Boxers
Fishermen
Those who poison others
Arsonists
Back-biters and complainants
Brahmins who perform karmas for others at times other than those stipulated for
their performance
Murderers of friends and well-wishers
Soothsayers specializing in reading omens etc.
Liquor merchants
Village Purohit, etc.
Those who destroy YagyAs and villages fall into the VaitariNI, while those who
alter the bunds in fields, those who are fickle-minded and impure-all these may
find places reserved for them in the Krishna naraka.
Here is something to cheer environmentalists-those who destroy forests without
justification would find themselves consigned to the asipatra naraka, while
rearers of rams and brickmakers fall into the VahnijvAlA narakam.
Those who don't observe the penances (Vratam) they ought to and those who fail
to stick to the standards set for their Ashrama (whether they be BrahmachAris,
GrihastthAs, VAnaprastthAs or SanyAsis) would find themselves in Sandamsa
naraka.
Those who are taught by their own children are also destined to rot in hell,
this one being named Shvabhojanam.
The Vishnu Purana adds encouragingly that the aforesaid is only an indicative
list of Hells, and that there are thousands more of the same type, depending
upon the category of misdeed and its gravity. And after being cleansed of their
sins, these people are born again on this earth and graduate from one form to
another in their cycles of births- trees, worms, fish, birds, cattle, human
beings, righteous men and women, dEvatAs and finally, one who aspires for
liberation from this endless cycle of Samsara. Such is the graded rise of
births each Atma undergoes, each superior to the previous one. Imagine what a
waste of the human birth it would be, if a man doesn't take advantage of the
exalted form he has been blessed with after being born countless times as trees
or bushes fixed to the soil or as lowly beings like a worm, bird or cattle! The
natural progression thus should be from man to Super-man ( in the sense of
imbibing and upholding Dharma in all actions one undertakes) and from there to
GnAnI, who desires only the Lord and His service.
It would appear from the above that whatever be our current occupation or
avocation, all of us might be knowingly or unknowingly committing sin after
monumental sin. If a mere sample list like the one above is enough to make us
despair of ever being rid of the unending process of crime and punishment, we
are filled with overwhelming dread, when we think of the massive baggage of
misdeeds we have accumulated over innumerable lifetimes. Would any number of
births and penal servitudes be enough to wash off this benumbing burden,
wonders Swami Desikan in Daya Satakam-"anubhavitum aghougham nAlam AgAmi kAla:"
Even if we were to be in Hell permanently for the future, our sins would still
undergo only a marginal reduction.
Lest we drown ourselves in bottomless despair, Sri Parakalan, having pointed
out the rigours of hell, also tells us an easy way to rid ourselves of this
accumulated baggage, which is wearing us down-
"vandu un tiruvadi adaindEn naimisAraNiyatthul endAi". Prescribing Prapatthi as
the sole strategy for cleansing ourselves of our countless sins of commission
and omission, Sri Tirumangai Mannan exhorts us to follow his example in taking
refuge in the lotus feet of the Lord, who is ever merciful and forgiving. True,
the Lord's face is indeed turned away from us due to all our transgressions:
but with Piratti on our side, there is little we have to fear. Once we appeal
to Her ever-vigilant maternal instinct, the Universal Mother's merciful heart
melts for us and She intercedes with the Lord on our behalf to ensure our
emancipation-"VEri mArAda poo mEl iruppAl vinai teerkkumE" says Sri Nammazhwar,
confirming Piratti's penchant for destroying all our sins by making us toe the
easy path of surrender, for She knows that the only way to the Lord's heart is
total surrender-"tasya cha vaseekaraNam tat saranAgati: Eva", as Sri
Bhashyakara puts it succinctly. With Piratti as PurushakAram and the Lord
unable to defy Her dictates, all we have to do is to perform Bharasamarpanam to
the Lord through our Acharya, to be rid forever of the tormenting thoughts of
Crime and Punishment.
Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan, sadagopan
"
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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