Punishment In Hell : Garuda Purana

Bhagawaan*  : from the Sanskrit language: The Supreme, possessed of all material and spiritual opulences, in a proportion beyond limited human imagination or infinite as in the Sanskrit word, Ananta.

Garuda Purana is in the form of instructions by Vishnu to his carrier, Garuda (The King of Birds - a vahana of Bhagawaan* Vishnu). This Purana deals with astronomy, medicine, grammar, and gemstone structure and qualities. In addition, the Garuda Purana is considered the authoritative Vedicreference volume describing the Nine Pearls, which includes not only the well known Oyster Pearl, but also the Conch Pearl, Cobra Pearl, Boar Pearl, Elephant Pearl, Bamboo Pearl, Whale Pearl, Fish Pearl, and Cloud Pearl.

The Garuda Purana is a Vaishnava Purana. The others in this group are Vishnu Purana, Narada Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Padma Purana and Varaha Purana.

The Garuda Purana has nineteen thousand shlokas(lines). It is a medium-sized Purana. The Skanda Purana, for example, has eighty-one thousand shlokas. And the Markandeya Purana only nine thousand. The thousand shlokas of the Garuda Purana are divided into two parts, a purva khanda (first part) and an uttara khanda (subsequent part). Each khanda has several chapters (adhyaya). The purva khanda is much longer, it has two hundred and thirty-four chapters. The Uttara khanda has only forty-five.

The latter half of this Purana deals with life after death. The followers of the eternal Vedas, addressed as "Hindus" of India generally read this Purana while cremating the physically dead bodies of departed atmaas/souls. This has given great importance to the origin of Garuda. There are nineteen thousand verses describing the ways to the Lord.

Suta and the other sages

Suta was a very learned sage. He was very well-versed in the Puranas and in the shastras (sacred texts). He was also devoted to Vishnu.

Vedavyasa taught the Puranas to one of his disciples named Romaharshana or Lomaharshana. He was thus named because the hair (roma) on his body was thrilled (harshana) when he heard the Puranas from his teacher. It was Romaharshana who related the stories of the Puranas to everyone else. The Bhagavata Purana says the Romaharshana had a son named Suta and it was this son who related the story of that particular Purana to the other sages . On the other hand, Romaharshana himself belonged to the suta class, so that he too could be addressed as Suta. From reading the Garuda Purana, one does get the impression that it is Romaharshana himself who is relating the story, and not his son.

To come back to the point, Romaharshana came to a forest known as Naimisharanya. He sat there and contemplated the mysteries of the Lord Vishnu.

Several other rishis (sages) led by Shounaka also came to the forest. They told Romaharshana, "Sage, you know everything. Who is the god of all gods? Who is to be worshipped? What does one meditate on? Who destroys evil? How did the world come to be created? What is dharma (righteousness)? Tell us all these things and more".

"I will", replied Romaharshana. "I will recite to you the Garuda Purana. Many years ago, this Purana was told to the sage Kashyapa by the great bird Garuda himself. I learnt it from my teacher Vyasadeva. But first let me list for you the twenty-two avataras of Vishnu.

The first incarnation was a young boy. In this form, Vishnu adopted celibacy (brahmacharya) and performed difficult tapasya (meditation).

The second incarnation was as a boar (varaha). In this form, Vishnu rescued the earth from the underworld.

The third incarnation was as a great sage (devarishi). In this form, Vishnu spread the knowledge of several texts (tantras).

The fourth incarnation was as two sages named Nara-Narayana.

The fifth incarnation was as the great sage Kapila. Kapila taught his disciple Asuri the wonderful philosophy known as samkhya yoga.

The sixth incarnation was as the sage Dattatreya, the son of Atri and Anasuya.

The seventh incarnation took place in the manvantra known as svayambhuva. Vishnu was born as the son of Ruchi and Akuti and performed many yajnas (sacrifices).

In the eighth incarnation, Vishnu was born as the son of Nabhi and Meru. His name was Urukrama. He taught everyone the righteous way of life.

In the ninth incarnation, Vishnu became the king Prithu and restored foodgrains and herbs to the earth.

The tenth of Vishnu’s incarnations was as a fish (matsya). He saved Vaivasvata Manu from the flood that enveloped the world.

In the eleventh incarnation, Vishnu adopted the form of a turtle (kurma). This was to help out the gods (devas) and demons (asuras) in the churning of the ocean (samudra manthana).

The twelfth incarnation was as Dhanvantari, physician of the gods and the originator of medicine.

The thirteenth was mohini avatara. In this form, Vishnu adopted the body of a beautiful woman so as to charm and rob the asuras of the amrita (a life-giving drink).

In the fourteenth incarnation, Vishnu became Narasimha, a being who was half-man and half-lion. He killed the evil asura Hiranyakashipu as Narasimha.

The fifteenth incarnation witnessed Vishnu’s adoption of the form of dwarf (vamana). This was to hoodwink the asura Bali and restore the gods to heaven.

In the sixteenth incarnation, Vishnu became Parashurama, killed all the kshatriyas in the world twenty-one times.

The seventeenth incarnation was as Vedavyasa, the son of Parashara and Satyavati. Vedavyasa divided the Vedas.

Vishnu’s eighteen incarnation was as the sage Narada.

The nineteenth incarnation was Rama and the twentieth was Krishna.

In the twenty-first incarnation, Vishnu became a Buddha . Buddha's purpose of the birth was to delude asuras. The Sri Vaishnavas do not believe that Buddha was Vishnu's incarnation, but Madhvas believe that Buddha was indeed Vishnu's incarnation. In the Brahmanda purana it is said (source wiki) "In order to delude the demons, he (Lord Buddha) was present in the form of a child on the way while the foolish Jina (a demon), imagined him to be his son. Later on, Lord Sri Hari (as avatara-buddha) expertly deluded Jina and other demons by his strong words of non-violence."

The twenty-second incarnation is yet to come. And Vishnu will come. Vishnu will be born as Kalki, so as to destroy evil in the world and restore righteousness".

There have been several other incarnations of Vishnu. But the ones mentioned above are the major ones.

List of Punishments

Garuda Purana	Wrong doings	Punishment given in Naraka
Thamisra	Stealing other's property including wife, children and belongings	Thrashing with Gadha .
Andhathamisra	Post marital cheating between husband and wife	Unconscious circulation in abyss
Rourava	Destroying, spiliting other's family and their belongings	Spanking the Life organs with trident by Yama kinkaras
Maharourava	Brutally destroying other's property and family for the sake of acquisition	A wild animal, Guru, tortures them in various forms
Kumbipaka	Destroying innocent lives for food	Roasting in hot oil tank by yama kingaras
Kalasuthira	Torturing and putting elders & parents in starvation	Same set of treatment in hell
Asipathira	Abetting God and devolve from Dharma practises	Torture by evil spirits; results in fear
Panrimukha	Punishing innocent people and accomplice unlawful activiites	Grinding under the sharp teeth of a animal resembling pig
Anthakoopa	Torturing lives and inhumane activities	Biting by wild animals; wild run over by animals
Agnikunda	Snatching other's property by force, gaining undue advantage and unlawfully making best out of everything in the world	Roasting in agni kunda in inverted position with hands and legs ties under a stick
Vajrakandaka	Unchaste people in physical contact with unmatching people	Physical hugging with fire spitting idols
Kirumibhojana	Selfish survival; eating other's work	Insects are left intruding the body
Sanmali	Unchaste relationships by kamukas	Thrashing with gadha
Vaitharani	Using official stature to attain undue advantge, acting against dharma	Submerging in Vaitharini river where water is mixed with blood, urine and feces
Booyoga	Shameless behaviour, mixing with unchaste women & leading the life without any motive	Biting by poisonous insects and animals
Prayanyoga	Torturing lives and killing them	Spanking the Life organs with arrows by Yama kinkaras
Pasusava	All devatas are in cows; torturing those cows	Slashing by canes
Sarameyathana	Gutting houses, torturing lives, poisoning lives, involving in massacre	Torture by unknown wild animals
Aveesi	Giving false evidence	Submerging and torturing in livebodies
Paribathana	Drinking and making others drink alcohol	Drinking lava
Sharakarthama	Involving in bad activities and defaming elders and living with selfish motives	Torture the Life organs by unknown spirits
Rakshogana	Performing narametha yaga, eating non vegetarian dishes and torturing soft animals	The same victims torture the hecklers
Soolaproga	Killing innocent people, masterminding people, committing suicide and doing nambike droha	Unknown birds peck and torture with shoola
Susimuga	Not doing any good, amassing wealth by wrong doings and stealing wealth	Stinging with nails and torturing with hunger and thirst
Kunthasootha	Not doing any good and always doing bad to others	Stinging by insects like scorpio
Vadaroga	Severrly torturing living beings	Handcuffed and burnt in fire
Piravarthana	Defaming guests and not treating them	Torturing with hunger and thirst
Lalapakshuga	Torturing wife and involving her in unchaste relationships	Same set of treatment in hell