Skandapurana 5.26

Sūta said: / The eastern and western borders have been fully proclaimed by me; / now I shall speak to you of that which belongs to the south and north.

On the surface of the earth there is a celebrated great city named Madhurā, / crowded with various brahmins and situated on the bank of the Yamunā.

In it was an excellent twice-born known as Gokarṇa, / endowed with the study of the Vedas and skilled in all the scriptures.

Now there was another aged brahmin of the same name there; / he too was an excellent brahmin, a master in all fields of knowledge.

Then, after some time, Yama spoke to his servant, / who had hair standing upright, very red eyes, black teeth, and a terrifying appearance:

"Go quickly today, messenger, to the great city called Mathurā. / Bring from it the excellent twice-born named Gokarṇa.

The end of his lifespan has arrived at midday on this very day. / Another twice-born of that [same name] there is to be left alone, who is long-lived."
Sūta said:
Then, having gone quickly to that city by Yama's order, / out of confusion the messenger brought Gokarṇa, the one who was long-lived.

Then Yama, his mind filled with anger, spoke to the servant: / "This long-lived one has been brought! Curse you, sinner! What is this you have done?

Therefore return him to that very place, as long as by his kinsmen / his body is not burned out of grief by a fully kindled fire."

The brahmin said:
"I will not go there; by good fortune I have reached your presence, / desiring death at all times, tormented by poverty."

Yama said:
"I do not bring a mortal from the earth even for a moment [before his time], / nor, O best of brahmins, do I abandon [him] when the remainder of his lifespan is complete.

For precisely this reason my name is remembered as Dharmarāja, / because of impartiality toward all creatures and the absence of partiality.

Therefore go home, O brahmin, as long as your body is not burned / by your kinsmen stricken with grief; your place is not here now.

Request a boon of your heart's desire, O best of brahmins. / The darśana of me should by no means be in vain for embodied beings."

The brahmin said:
"If I must inevitably go home again, O god, / then explain to me what I ask, and let this be my boon:

These terrible hells that are inhabited by those who perform evil deeds / are seen [here]; tell me, which [hell] is inhabited by people on account of what deed?"

Yama said:
"Hells are innumerable, O brahmin, just as the hosts of living beings upon the earth; / they cannot possibly be told in their entirety, even in hundreds of years.

I shall recount the principal ones among them to you, O best of the twice-born, / which, twenty-one in number, were made for sinful people.

This first hell, named Raurava, O best of the twice-born, / is where creatures are cooked in cauldrons of heated oil.

Vile men who take pleasure in others' cooking and who steal the property of others, / utter the most terrible cry: 'Ah mother, father, son!'

This second [hell], O best of brahmins, known as Mahāraurava, / is continually inhabited by the ungrateful and by violators of the guru's bed,

screaming loudly, afflicted with burning, cooked by fire, / and cut into pieces in many ways with sharp weapons.

The third hell is named Andhatamas, which is extremely terrifying. / Which men go there, those too I will tell you, O good twice-born.

Vile men by whom another's wife has been looked upon with a wicked eye— / birds with iron beaks tear out their eyes here.

This fourth hell is proclaimed by the name Prataptaka. / Having endured torture here, they thus become purified.

Those by whom constant censure of gurus, gods, and ascetics was made, / of them the tongue is torn out repeatedly as soon as it regrows here.

This other, fifth [hell] is widely renowned by the name Vidāraka; / and here those devoted to betraying friends are cut with saws.

Filled with heated sand, and blazing with fire, / the sixth [hell], celebrated as Nikuṃbha, causes terror to the world.

Men by whom mortal distress was formerly inflicted on living beings / without fault are cooked here by piles of sand.

Renowned as Bībhatsa, the seventh is the lowest of hells, / full of urine and excrement, thoroughly vile on every side.

Those most wicked souls by whom slander was brought before a king— / those lowest of men are kept here with mouths filled with excrement.

Renowned by the name Kutsita, O twice-born, is this vile eighth [hell], / completely filled with phlegm and urine, and with foul smells.

Those who ate food without having given [it] to their guru, the gods, guests, / and especially to their own servants, are stationed here.

This ninth [hell], named Durgama, O best of the twice-born, / is beset with sharp thorns and swarming with snakes and scorpions.

Those who ate food without giving [it] to a travel companion / exhausted by hunger and sinking down, are stationed here.

This well-known tenth hell is named Duḥsaha; / it is surrounded on all sides by pillars made of heated iron.

Those sinful men who were attached to another's wife or to sweet meats, / embrace pillars made of heated iron here.

This other, eleventh hell is proclaimed by the name Ākarṣa, / O tiger among brahmins, filled with heated pincers.

Those men who consume the wealth of women, brahmins, gurus, and the gods, / are dragged around on every side there by heated pincers.

The twelfth is Saṃdaṃśa; those who devour inedible things, / those lowest of men, are devoured here by vultures with iron-toothed mouths.

This thirteenth [hell] is widely renowned by the name Niyantraka, / infested with worms on all sides and having tight fetters.

Sinners who steal deposits, bound there with fetters, / are eaten by worms, scorpions, insects, and the like, O best of the twice-born.

Likewise, the fourteenth hell is established by the name Adhomukha; / of all the hells, this one has the most terrible form.

And bound head-downwards here, suspended from branches of trees, / those men who are slayers of brahmins are cooked by fire from below.

Teeming with lice, bugs, biting insects, and the like, O best of the twice-born, / the great fifteenth hell is renowned by the name Bhīṣaṇa.

For those intent on false testimony and likewise for liars, / a dwelling has been provided here by me, as well as for other evildoers.

This sixteenth hell indicated is named Kṣudrada; / it is filled on all sides with men tormented by hunger, O best of the twice-born.

Those sinners who, though twice-born, have eaten seasoned meat, / being afflicted with hunger, stay here eating their own bodies. 49

And so this seventeenth hell is known by the name of Kṣāra; / it is filled with strong alkaline caustic and brings fear to all living beings. 50

And those men who break their vows, and those who are heretics— / coming here, those worst of evildoers are ground up by sharp weapons. 51

And this eighteenth is declared by the name Nidāghaka; / filled with blazing coals, it is painful to endure for all embodied beings. 52

Those who defame scripture, poetry, a brahmin, and an unmarried maiden— / those men are held here staying amidst the coals, O twice-born. 53

And this nineteenth is renowned as Kūṭaśālmali; / it is covered all around with extremely sharp thorns, O best of the twice-born. 54

Atheists, transgressors of proper boundaries, and those who murder a brahmin— / all those men perpetually climb up and fall down here. 55

This twentieth hell, O best of the twice-born, / is named Asipatravana, and it is painfully endured by the wicked. 56

To this place go men, O brahmin, who spy on the faults of others, / those devoted to deceitful deeds, and those who sell sacred scriptures. 57

And this twenty-first is the river called Vaitaraṇī, / which must be crossed by all men, followers of righteousness or sin. 58

Those men who, when the time of death arrives, give a cow, / cross over with ease by clinging to its tail. 59

And mortals who die without giving a cow, O best of the twice-born, / cross over this difficult [stream] swimming with their hands and other limbs. 60

All this, concerning which I was asked, has been related to you, O best of the twice-born, / in detail, out of affection for you—the nature of hell. 61

Therefore, go home quickly before your body is burned / by your relatives, who are stricken with grief, having taken their desired wealth. 62

The brahmin said: / If, O lord, I must indeed go to my own home, / then tell me by what deed a man does not go to hell. 63

Yama said: / One who is devoted to pilgrimage to sacred fords, always worships deities and guests, / is friendly to brahmins and offers refuge—such a man does not go to hell. 64

One engaged in benevolence toward others, always devoted to silent prayer, / and constantly absorbed in scriptural study—such a one does not go to hell, O twice-born. 65

The man who continually constructs stepped wells, wells, ponds, / and shrines to the deities does not see hell. 66

He who gives fire in the cold season, provides water in the summer, / and provides shelter in the rains does not see hell. 67

One endowed with vows and fasting, of tranquil soul, with senses subdued, / celibate, and always meditative—such a man does not go to hell. 68

The man who is a giver of food, especially a giver of sesame seeds, / and devoted to non-violence does not see hell. 69

One accomplished in Vedic study, dedicated to scripture, of pleasant speech, / and always devoted to righteous discourse does not see hell. 70

The brahmin said: / Even a fool knows this: a man who performs good deeds / does not go to hell, whereas one devoted to sinful actions [does]. 71

Therefore, tell me by what deed even one who has done evil deeds / quickly destroys sin, even by a small [act], and a man then goes to heaven. 72

Tell me that, O best of gods, whether a vow or a observance, / a sacred ford, or recitation and oblation, which brings happiness to all people. 73

Yama said: / Here I shall tell you a very great secret, O best of the twice-born; / it should always be carefully guarded according to my word. 74

By performing which deed even a person endowed with great sins / does not go to the hell that causes torment. 75

In the region of Ānarta there is a delightful, auspicious sacred field, embodying all sacred fords, / born of Hāṭakeśvara, which destroys great sins. 76

Whoever worships Hara there with devotion even for half a month, / though burdened with all sins, is honored in the world of Śiva. 77

Therefore, having gone there swiftly, worship Śaṃkara, / whereby you will attain final liberation along with ten generations. 78

Sūta said: / Having heard the instruction of the king of righteousness, when he, delighted, / set out toward his home, the sweet city [of Mathurā], 79

just then a messenger arrived, bringing the second Gokarṇa, / and having seized him, quickly presented him before the king of righteousness. 80

Then the king of righteousness, overjoyed, spoke to that messenger, / having seen Gokarṇa before him and the other departing for home: 81

“Since this brahmin was brought by you after the proper time had elapsed, / therefore release him also quickly along with the second one.” 82

Then, released immediately at that moment, the two brahmins named Gokarṇa together / reached their respective bodies and were at once reanimated. 83

Then that first twice-born Gokarṇa, endowed with the instruction of Yama, / recounted everything in detail to the second one. 84

Then, having abandoned their homes, both Gokarṇas remained [there], / having then seen the entire sacred field filled with shrines to the deities. 85

Two liṅgas were established by the two on the southern and northern boundaries, / and having reached the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, they swiftly engaged in austerity. 86

Then, having properly worshipped Śiva and performed austerity as prescribed, / they attained heaven in bodily form by that power, O best of the twice-born. 87

A night-vigil was performed by both on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Mārgaśīrṣa; / whatever man performs it with devotion goes to Śiva’s abode. 88

A childless man obtains sons, one desiring wealth will attain wealth, / and a desireless person surely attains liberation; there is no doubt. 89

Sūta said: / All this has been related to you, O best of the twice-born—the boundary / and the extent of this sacred field in the four directions in detail. 90

And whatever men dwell within it, O best of brahmins, / even those engaged in agriculture attain the supreme state; / how much more so those of restrained mind, peaceful, self-controlled, and with subdued senses! 91

Even insects, winged creatures, beasts, birds, and game, / dying in that sacred field, go to the heavenly world, without doubt. 92

How much more so those men who, after resolving to fast unto death there, / have renounced the world, endowed with faith, with Janārdana residing in their hearts! 93

Therefore, with every effort, that sacred field is indeed to be served, / especially when the Kali age has arrived, engulfed in sin. 94

All sacred fords purify by means of ritual ablution and gifts, without doubt; / but the sacred field originating from Hāṭakeśvara purifies through merely residing [there]. 95

Wherever there is water—in step-wells, wells, and tanks, O brahmins— / having bathed there, a man is freed from all sins. 96

What use are sacrifices? What use are vain gifts? What use are vows, or even recitations? / Dwelling made in that sacred field is better for those who desire heaven. 97

This is purifying, granting longevity, auspicious, and destroying sin / for those who constantly listen to the māhātmya of the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara. 98

Thus ends the twenty-sixth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Gokarnatīrtha,' in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section], in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. 26.