Markandeyapurana 12.15

12.15

prāpyate brāhmaṇaśreṣṭha yāvadduṣkṛtasaṃkṣayaḥ /
nikṛntana iti khyātastato 'nyo narakottamaḥ //

“Moreover there is another hell named Tamas;[3] it is bitterly cold naturally; it is as long as Mahāraurava, and is enveloped in darkness. There the men, afflicted with the cold, running about in the awful darkness, encounter one another and seek refuge clasping one another. And their teeth adhere together, chattering with pain through the cold; there are also other plagues the strongest of which are hunger and thirst. A cutting wind, laden with particles of snow, pierces their bones; pressed with hunger, they feed on the marrow and blood that trickle down therefrom. Constantly licking, they whirl about in mutual contact. So there in Tamas very great affliction is indeed endured by human beings, until, O most worthy brāhman! their sins are completely consumed.

“Next there is another notable hell, known as Nikṛntana.[4] In it potter’s wheels revolve incessantly, O father! Human beings are mounted thereon and are cut by the string of Fate which is borne on the fingers of Yama’s servant, from the sole of the foot to the head; and these men do not lose their life thereby, most virtuous brāhman! and their portions severed in hundreds reunite. In this way sinners are cut in sunder during thousands of years, until indeed the whole of their sins are consumed.