THIS earth, which is the object of the physical senses
and of the knowledge based thereon, is but one of fourteen
worlds or regions placed “above” and “below” it, of
which (as the sūtra says1) knowledge may be obtained
by meditation on the solar “nerve” (nāḍ i) suṣ umṇ ā in
the merudaṇ ḍ a. On this nāḍ i six of the upper worlds
are threaded, the seventh and highest overhanging it in
the Sahasrāra-Padma, the thousand-petalled lotus. The
sphere of earth (Bhūrloka), with its continents, their
mountains and rivers, and with its oceans, is the
seventh or lowest of the upper worlds. Beneath it are
the Hells and Nether World, the names of which are
given below. Above the terrestrial sphere is Bhuvarloka,
or the atmospheric sphere known as the antarikṣā,
extending “from the earth to the sun,” in which the
Siddhas and other celestial beings (devayoni) of the
upper air dwell. “From the sun to the pole star”
(dhruva) is svarloka, or the heavenly sphere. Heaven
(svarga) is that which delights the mind, as hell
(naraka) is that which gives it pain.2 In the former is
the abode of the Deva and the blest.
These three spheres are the regions of the consequences
of work, and are termed transitory as compared
1 Bhuvanajnānam
̣ sūrye saṃ yamāt, Patanjali Yoga-Sutra (chap. iii, 26).
An account of the lokas is given in Vyāsa’s commentary on the sūtra, in
the
Viṣ ṇ u-Purāṇ a (Bk. II, chaps. v-vii): and in the Bhāgavata, Vāyu,
and other
Purāṇ as.
2 Viṣ ṇ u-Purāṇ a (Bk. II; chap. vi). Virtue is heaven and vice is
hell, ibid,
Narakamināti = kleśaṃ prāpayati, or giving pain.
with the three highest spheres, and the fourth, which is
of a mixed character. When the jīva has received his
reward he is reborn again on earth. For it is not good
action, but the knowledge of the Ātmā which procures
Liberation (mokṣ a). Above Svarloka is Maharloka, and
above it the three ascending regions known as the
janaloka, tapoloka, and satyaloka, each inhabited by
various forms of celestial intelligence of higher and
higher degree. Below the earth (Bhah) and above the
nether worlds are the Hells1 (commencing with Avichi),
and of which, according to popular theology, there are
thirty-four2 though it is elsewhere said3 there are as
many hells as there are offences for which particular
punishments are meted out. Of these six are known as
the great hells. Hinduism, however, even when popular,
knows nothing of a hell of eternal torment. To it
nothing is eternal but the Brahman. Issuing from the
Hells the jīva is again reborn to make its future. Below
the Hells are the seven nether worlds, Sutala, Vitala,
Talātala, Mahātala, Rasātala, Atala, and Pātāla, where,
according to the Purāṇ as, dwell the Nāga serpent divinities,
brilliant with jewels, and Dānavas wander, fascinating
even the most austere. Yet below Pātāla is the
form of Viṣ ṇ u proceeding from the dark quality (tamoguṇ
ah), known as the Seṣ a serpent or Ananta bearing
the entire world as a diadem, attended by his Śakti
Vāruṇ ī,4 his own embodied radiance.
1 Ganabheda of Vahni-Purāṇ a.
2 Devī-Purāṇ a.
3 Viṣ ṇ u-Purāṇ a
4 Not “the Goddess of Wine,” as Wilson (Viṣ ṇ u-Purāṇ a) has it.
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