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Aruna Prashna mantras list four forms of hell |
Self loath creates intense mental turmoil in anyone. This is called the Vishadi Naraka, or the hell of anguish. The gravity of one's injustice to others does not always strike one immediately. According to the Karmic theory, it remains as a seed to eventually sprout, creating a quake within one's mind then. Vishadi Naraka is attributed to the Northeast direction. Suffering which crosses a threshold creates the Avishadi Naraka which is the hellish experience attributed to the Northwest direction. The suffering in this hell is so intense that one has no energy even for self loath.
The founders of the Vedic tradition concluded that psychological challenges were more daunting to a human being than material challenges. Rituals were designed by them as a mechanism to enable a person to let off steam from psychological suffering. Everyone, according to the belief system of the Vedas, is in a state of natural state of perfection and are only momentarily pulled away by psychological influences. A belief that one can return to the state of equilibrium easily is a strength in itself. The belief was that Devas who create psychological influences are playful and that they can be pleased easily with small and big offerings allows one to take responsibility for gaining back one's own strength. Hell in this system of belief is in different directions, inches away from one self!!
Directional Devas |