A Journey Through Hell: Visions of the Afterlife

Narakas is a series of layers below the surface of Earth. There are eight cold layers and eight hot layers. The cold layers include Arbuda, Nirarbuda, Atata, Hahava, Huhuva, Utpala, Padma and Mahapadma. The order of terror is as listed: Arabuda: A dark, frozen plain with icy mountains and blizzards. Inhabitants of this world are fully grown and live naked and alone. Because of the inhabitants' nakedness, their bodies are covered in blisters from the cold. The length of life in this place is said to be the time it would take to empty a barrel of sesame seed if one took out only one seed every hundred years.

Nirarbuda: Colder than Arabuda, here the blisters burst open, leaving inhabitants' bodies covered in frozen blood and pus.

Atata: Characterized as shivering. Here, the inhabitants shiver because of the cold, making an at-at-at sound with their mouths.

Hahava: Characterized as lamentation. Here, the inhabitants lament in the cold. They make noised akin to ha,ho because of the pain.

Huhuva: Characterized by the chattering of teeth. These inhabitants shiver as their teeth chatter, making a sound akin to hu,hu.

Utpala: Known as the "blue lotus" layer. The intense cold makes the inhabitants' skin turn blue like the color of an utpala waterlily.

Padma: Known as the "lotus" layer. The blizzard cracks open the frozen skin leaving one raw and bloody.

Mahapadma: Known as the "great lotus" layer. The whole body cracks into pieces. The internal organs also crack as they are exposed to the cold.

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The following are the eight hot layers. The order of terror is as listed: Sanjiva: Known as the "reviving" layer. Here, the ground is made of hot iron heated by a fire. Inhabitants of this world are fully grown, in a state of misery and fear. As soon as one begins to fear being harmed by others, their fellow inhabitants appear and attack each other with iron claws. Either that, or the attendants of Yama appear and attack the being with fiery weapons. As soon as the inhabitant experiences unconsciousness, they are suddenly restored to full health to endure the attacks some more. Other tortures in this world include having melted metal drop on inhabitants, suffering from the heat of the iron ground and being sliced into pieces.

Kalasutra: Known as the "black thread" layer. Here, in addition to the torment listed above, black lines are drawn on inhabitants' bodies, and Yama's servants cut the beings upon the lines with fiery saws and sharp axes.

Samghata: Known as the "crushing" layer. Here, the ground is made of hot iron, but is surrounded by great masses of rock that smash together and crush the inhabitants to a bloody jelly. When the rocks move apart, life is restored to the inhabitant and the process begins again.