After the death of the physical body, the soul goes either to heaven or to hell. This is how world religious movements are taught: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism. Righteous souls enjoy in the Gardens of Eden, not knowing old age and disease. Sinners fall into the underworld - these are Divine correctional colonies where the soul is cleansed of sins through suffering. Many people have a question: why does a loving God punish people, and so cruelly?
Where are heaven and hell
Before answering this question, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the word “hell”. The concept came to modern Russian from Old Slavonic and means "the very bottom." The material world is based on the existence of opposites: good - bad, white - black, high - low. Therefore, everything is logical: paradise is somewhere above, in heaven, and hell is at the very bottom, underground. A primitive but not meaningless understanding of duality.
The underworld is a place somewhere underground, where people who live an unrighteous life are tortured and tortured. In detail, hell, or hell, is described in the Vedic scriptures.
Vedic cosmology
In Vedic literature, our universe is divided into several areas in which souls with different levels of development live.
The worship of God, the recognition of His Higher Will, blessed state, non-violence distinguish living beings abiding on higher planetary systems.
Indifference or hatred towards God, refusal to accept His supremacy, enjoyment of technological achievements characterize the inhabitants of lower worlds.
The middle worlds, to which the Earth belongs, are between the higher and lower, and play the role of a kind of transit point. On these planets there are qualities of the higher and lower worlds. On the one hand, religious organizations help everyone to follow the path to God. On the other - scientific achievements, a high level of comfort, which is achieved through mechanized life, speaks of the omnipotence of the human mind and leads a person to atheism.
On the middle planets, the soul, while in the human body, makes a choice depending on the way in which life was lived. There are only two ways: to God and from God. A person is born with a unique nature and inclinations that lead to certain actions. Any actions have consequences: good or bad. And these consequences determine where the soul goes after death.
Planetary systems
Three levels correspond to 14 planetary systems located one above the other. They, in turn, are divided into aboveground or underground worlds. It should be noted here: these words cannot be taken literally. Earth-type planets are in the middle, so those above them are considered above-ground by the Vedas, and those below are considered underground.
The first, or highest, level is called Svarga. It consists of five planetary systems where souls are located at the highest stages of development. Moreover, the planets of the paradise type, where the righteous go after death, are below, closer to the Earth.
The middle level is Bhur-loka. It includes terrestrial planets like our Earth.
The lowest level is Bill Swarg. It includes 7 planetary systems that have their own gradation. The planets that are closer to the earth are called the lower planets of the paradise type. There souls enjoy technocratic achievements, not remembering God. Next come the planets of naga, demons, etc. On these planets sinners are not punished, which means that the underworld is below them.
Hellish worlds
At the very bottom of the universe are 28 hellish-type planets. The soul of a sinful person, having left the material body on earth, receives another shell - the subtle body of suffering. It looks like a physical body and is able to endure various torments.
The meaning of the underworld is that a person passes through himself and experiences the pain and suffering that he, consciously or not, caused to other living beings. Staying in hell is not infinite, because time is a subjective concept. In joy and happiness, it flies by unnoticed, but constant pain, fear, despair can seem like an eternity. After the term in hell has passed, the soul is born on Earth. She does not remember that hell is the place where she recently suffered.
However, in the subconscious, these torments leave an indelible impression. There are people who experience a natural fear of temptations and sinful activities. A soul after hellish planets is born with a conscious desire to lead a righteous lifestyle. However, there are exceptions to the rules. If a person does not understand that the underworld is a place where he must be cleansed of vices and continues to live in sin, then after death the soul again goes to hell.
For what sins fall into the underworld
Each planet of the infernal world is a place of punishment for a certain misconduct.
Tamisra is a planet on which they constantly beat, deprive of water and food of those who in the earthly life robbed another of his wife, child or money.
Andhatamisra - on her punish adulterers and child molesters. From terrible torture, the executed person loses his sight and reason.
Kumbhipaka - here they boil in boiling oil those who cook animals and birds alive to satisfy their tongue.
Sukaramukha is a planet for government officials who punish the innocent or subject the saints to bodily torment. They break bones and crush the whole body, like sugarcane, from which juice is squeezed.
The fifth song, Srimad Bhagavatam, describes in detail all the planets of the hellish world and the punishment for sins.
Does the underworld really exist
It is difficult for people to bind a loving God together with hellish torments, so the followers of the New Age do not recognize the existence of hell as a place of punishment for sins. Some Christian preachers explain that hell is a state of mind. God has such strong love that when meeting with her, a sinful person experiences great shame and cruel disappointment for his mediocre life.
The Vedas explain the existence of hellish planets differently. The home for the soul is the spiritual world, which is located outside the material universes. Therefore, in order to return back to Godhead, a person must be cleansed of material consciousness and acquire the spiritual. To do this, you must surrender to the Almighty and devote your life to service. But if this does not work out or a person continues to cause suffering to others through his behavior, after the end of his earthly existence he has a direct path to the underworld - this is the place where the soul, being purified, begins to ascend to the higher worlds.