Naraka

[DavidH]

I've been interested in Hinduism and reincarnation lately, and I've done some reading and came across the wikipedia page about Naraka.

I'm scared right now. I've done some terrible things, like...

Kumbhipaka (cooked in a pot): A person, who cooks animals and birds, is cooked alive in boiling oil by Yamadutas here for as many years as there were hairs on the bodies of their animal victims.

Krimibhojana/Krimibhaksha (worm-food): As per the Bhagavata Purana and the Devi Bhagavata Purana, it is where a person who does not share his food with guests, elders, children or the gods, and selfishly eats it alone, and he who eats without performing the five yajnas (panchayajna) is chastised. The Vishnu Purana states that one who loathes his father, Brahmins or the gods and who destroys jewels is punished here. This hell is a 100,000 yojana lake filled with worms. The sinful person is reduced to a worm, who feeds on other worms, who in turn devour his body for 100,000 years.


and many others. According to this, I'm probably going to go to Naraka for millions of years. At the very least, hundreds of thousands. And that's just with those two. There's many more that I've done. I'm probably looking at billions of years.



Is there any thing at all I can do to not go to Naraka?

 

[Onkara]

Hi DavidH
Welcome to the forum.
One can abide in the Lord and seek wisdom, consider Chapter 4 verses 35 and 36 of the Bhagavad Gita for a solution:

Oh Pandava, Once you understand this wisdom,
You would not be troubled by illusions of this sort,
And because of that you would see all beings
Of the world within me and within you. 4.35

Even if you are the greatest sinner possible,
Among all the sinners of the world,
You would cross all the sins of yours,
With the help of this boat of wisdom. 4.36
www.celextel.org

or Bhagavad-gita As It Is Chapter 4 Verse 36

Translations vary, so consider a few and the contextual verses.

 

[Sumit]

Puranas are not authentic scriptures, they are philosophical books. Naraka is just a state and not any physical place.

 

[Vinayaka]

You guys bit. Have fun.

 

[Kalidas]

I have yet to hear of those subjects for my self. Yet I will tell you this. I am a Hindu and am yet to be a vegetarian but I will be working on that soon enough. But I believe in Gods love and mercy,my best guess.is that doing goo deeds and accruing good karma can help. But maybe more senior members can add more.

 

[Kalidas]

You guys bit. Have fun.

Huh? What are you talking about?

 

[Jainarayan]

You guys bit. Have fun.

You mean if we eat rice on Ekadashi, Lord Hari won't turn the grains into intestinal worms!? (yes, I actually read that's what will happen ).

 

[Jainarayan]

Huh? What are you talking about?

"Admiral! There be trolls here!"

"Good job Mr. Scott."

 

[Vinayaka]

You mean if we eat rice on Ekadashi, Lord Hari won't turn the grains into intestinal worms!? (yes, I actually read that's what will happen ).

Oh yeah, there is some really funny stuff around. But it's not unique to our scriptures either, as you know.

 

[Jainarayan]

Of course, people are the same everywhere. I'll bet there are some humdinger stories going around on Alpha Centauri IV.

 

[DavidH]

Thank you all for the information. I'll keep reading, but from what Sumit said, I feel very relieved. You have no idea how stressed I've been since I read that.

And to the person who thinks I'm a troll, I'm really not. I don't know much about Hinduism, and since I I've been a Christian for all of my life, the first thing that came to mind was to see if there was an equivalent to Hell. Can you please point out where I sounded like a troll so I can prevent it in the future? I seem to provoke a lot of those kind of responses from people. :/

 

[Vinayaka]

Thank you all for the information. I'll keep reading, but from what Sumit said, I feel very relieved. You have no idea how stressed I've been since I read that.

And to the person who thinks I'm a troll, I'm really not. I don't know much about Hinduism, and since I I've been a Christian for all of my life, the first thing that came to mind was to see if there was an equivalent to Hell. Can you please point out where I sounded like a troll so I can prevent it in the future? I seem to provoke a lot of those kind of responses from people. :/

You followed the pattern trolls follow. You picked an obscure and irrelevant unheard of scripture that ridicules or mocks Hinduism and Hindu thought. Most of us have never heard of such an idea, as what you claimed to have read, and we're Hindus. A much more appropriate way of starting out would be to read the threads about hell in Hinduism.

BTW, the second thing most trolls do when called out is to claim they're not a troll, in an adamant manner. But time will tell. If you have some sincere questions about Hinduism, and are legitimately interested, and not here to mock, please ask away. Myself and several others will be more that happy to answer in to the best of our ability.

 

[Kalidas]

Yep I can personally say from experience that they will gladly answer.

 

[DavidH]

Alright, thank you and I'm sorry again about that. I just have one last question. Do you have to go to a temple or anything to become a Hindu? I don't think there are any where I live(Saginaw, MI). We don't have much of anything here in Saginaw.

 

[Sumit]

I just have one last question. Do you have to go to a temple or anything to become a Hindu?

I have many temples in My city but I rarely visits any. You don't need to visit temple to be Hindu. Just pray or meditate in a room. I suggest you to chant Gayatri Mantra.

 

[Breathe]

Hi David,
It's okay.

I take Naraka as a state of mind, Purāṇas as metaphorical; I believe that all can be 'saved' from duality, and -- if Naraka existed -- then from it too, simply by being devoted to, and knowing God.

So if you didn't want to go to Naraka, love God and your fellow sentient beings. The fact that you're focused on these is you putting yourself in the very Hell that you fear; the easiest way to avoid it -- easier said than done for many (this I know) -- is to go vegetarian, so you will no longer have this plaguing the back of your mind.

 

[bp789]

Many Indian Hindus I know are aware of the references to hell (naraka), but most just ignore it and say that's all BS and that they're trying to scare you into being religious

 

[Kalidas]

Alright, thank you and I'm sorry again about that. I just have one last question. Do you have to go to a temple or anything to become a Hindu? I don't think there are any where I live(Saginaw, MI). We don't have much of anything here in Saginaw.

Now THAT sounds like a normal question that even I asked. And no you don't plenty worship at home just fine. Yet there those who like going so they go. I want to go and there is one kinda near kinda far from me. So next month I wan to take a day off work and take a bus down and check them out. You will find hinduism is about what helps YOU get close to God and NOT about what a book tells you that you HAVE to do.

 

[VajraYosid]

In contrast to the above, as a lifelong Hindu moderately versed in the scriptures, I can say that these descriptions of Naraka are common in the puranas, and appear also sometimes in the agamas.

The idea of hell (or better; purgatory) is Vedic, both as a physical place sinners transmigrate to and as a state of mind.

Like many Hindus, I find myself unable to accept many of these teachings as literal, and see them instead as allegory, or at worst, as fanciful scare tactics employed by some of the authors of our less-than-perfectly-revealed texts.

We have many scriptures, as you may know. Most of these claims appear in scriptures which are Smriti - that is to say, their authority is derived from the higher scriptures, the Shruti - consisting of the Vedas and, depending on who you ask, the agamas.

What may I ask is your interest in Hinduism? There is much that is more relevant than this.

 

[Vinayaka]

Alright, thank you and I'm sorry again about that. I just have one last question. Do you have to go to a temple or anything to become a Hindu? I don't think there are any where I live(Saginaw, MI). We don't have much of anything here in Saginaw.

There is a big one in Flint, one in Lansing, and several in Detroit. Try using the 'search nearby' function on goole maps, and search for Hindu temples. I often recommend it as a shortcut for people seriously interested in Hinduism. (If you don't feel comfortable in a Hindu temple, it very well may be you're not a Hindu, whereas Hindu souls often have a I'm finally home' overwhelming feeling. It might be a quick reslove to a search) Scripture is just a small part of it. Kind of like having first year teachers actually spend some time in a classroom, rather than just studying theory.