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"Crime and Punishment"

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sadagopaniyengar • March 17, 2003 


                   
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,

           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

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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