O Sukeśin, listen as the realms of suffering are revealed. Among the dread abodes of punishment, the eighth is renowned as Narakottama, measured in yojanas, vast and fearsome. Another is called Karapatra, and yet another, Śvānabhojana, where the torments are suited to the crimes. The eighteenth hell is the dreadful river Vaitaraṇī, across which the sinful must pass. There is also Saṃśoṣaṇa and the endless Ananta—these, O Sukeśin, are the hells that await those who stray from righteousness. Now, O best of Brāhmaṇas, you inquire with great curiosity about the fates that await souls according to their deeds. Hear, then, of the hells where the fruits of one’s own actions are experienced. Those sinners who do not honor the meanings of the Purāṇas and Itihāsas, and those lowly ones who sow discord between the sacrificer and the teacher, are met with a terrifying fate. The servants of Yama split them in two with a saw named Karapatra, their screams echoing in the dark. Some, who have stolen a child’s fan or taken food mixed with sand, are tormented by birds with razor-sharp beaks. These birds stand above the sinner, ceaselessly striking, while crows with thunderbolt-like beaks and claws tear at their tongues. The wretches sink face down into filth, pus, and urine, their agony unending. Those who eat before feeding children, fathers, the sacred fire, or mothers are reborn as Sūcīmukhas—beings tormented by hunger, their bodies enormous as mountains. And those who have consumed excrement in life descend to hell, while those who eat without sharing are forced to consume food made of phlegm. Their hands are plunged into cauldrons of searing iron, and the servants of Yama blow fire into their eyes, causing unbearable pain. Men who have insulted wives, elders, or teachers by touching them with their feet are cast into the dreadful Raurava hell, where they burn up to their knees. For such offenses, balls of red-hot iron are thrust into their mouths—a sight both terrible and astonishing. Those who slander sinners, or even merely observe and utter words of blame, are pierced in the ears by the servants of Dharmarāja. Those who destroy wells, ponds, or reservoirs are cut with sharp, dreadful knives, and crows tear out their intestines at the anus. In times of famine or confusion, such wretches are thrown among food meant for dogs, suffering the lowest degradation. Those tormented by mechanical devices are struck and beaten by Yama’s servants, crushed in stone mills, and dried out by desiccators until they are emaciated, their palates and lips parched. They are then flung into a pit of scorpions, writhing in pain. Some are forced to embrace the Śālmalī tree, whose spikes are heated by fire. Whoever is their teacher must carry a heavy stone on his head as punishment. Others fall into filth and urine, immersed in foul stench and pus, while the foolish among them devour each other’s flesh in their madness. He who eats the offerings of a miscarriage, or who consumes worms and ants, whether the officiating priest or the sacrificer, is reborn as a gross insect among the denizens of hell. They are thrown to be devoured by wolves, their cries lost in the darkness. Likewise, those who steal cows or land, and those who kill cows, women, or children, are cast into these hells, their suffering without end. Thus, O seeker, the results of actions are inexorable, and the realms of punishment are many and terrible, each fitted to the gravity of the deed.