The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c34.s2.77

v2.c34.s2.77

It is probable that in the Indo-Iranian period there had already developed the conception of the distinction between the heavenly lot of the blessed dead and the dismal fate in hell of the evil. There is less ground for supposing that such beliefs go back to the Indo-European period;⁴ then it may be that the only idea of the fate of the dead was that of a continued existence in a shadowy and imperfect condition, best represented to us by the Hades of Homer. Of this there may be seen traces in the Vedic conception of the future of the dead; it is interesting that the vision of Bhṛgu presents us with something of this kind, though evil-doers suffer there, as do even in the Greek Hades certain criminals of conspicuous demerit. As it stands, however, the account is not early, since Varuṇa’s heaven appears to be located in the same region as that of the shades.⁵