Chapter 32 - On the enumeration of various hells for sinners

1-28. Nārāyaṇa said :-- Then, initiating her with the Great Seed, the Ādi Radical Mantra of the Mahā Śakti, Śrī Bhuvaneśvarī in accordance with due rules, the son of Sūrya began to recite the various effects of various Karmas, auspicious and inauspicious. Never do the persons go to hell when they perform good Karmas; it is only the bad works that lead men to hells. The different Purāṇas narrate various heavens. The Jīvas go to those places as the effects of their various good Karmas. The good Karmas do not lead men to hells; but the bad Karmas do lead them veritably to various hideous hells. In different Śāstras, different hell-pits are ascertained. Different works lead men to different hells. O Child! Those hell-pits are very wide, deep, painful and tormenting, very horrible and ugly. Of these, eighty six pits or Kuṇḍas are prominent. Many other Kuṇḍas exist. Now listen to the names of the Kuṇḍas mentioned in the Vedas.

Their names are :-- Vahni Kuṇḍa, Tapta Kuṇḍa, Kṣāra Kuṇḍa, Bhayānaka Kuṇḍa, Viṭ Kuṇḍa, Mūtra Kuṇḍa, Śleṣma Kuṇḍa, Gara Kuṇḍa, Dūṣikā Kuṇḍa, Vasā Kuṇḍa, Śukra Kuṇḍa, Śoṇita Kuṇḍa, Aśrū Kuṇḍa, Gātramala Kuṇḍa, Karṇamala Kuṇḍa, Majjā Kuṇḍa, Māmsa Kuṇḍa, impassable Nakra Kuṇḍa, Loma Kuṇḍa, Keśa Kuṇḍa, impassable Asthi Kuṇḍa, Tāmra Kuṇḍa, the exceedingly hot and painful Lauha Kuṇḍa (the pit of molten iron), Carma Kuṇḍa, the hot Surā Kuṇḍa, sharp Thorny Kuṇḍa, Viṣa Kuṇḍa, the hot Taila Kuṇḍa, very heavy Astra Kuṇḍa, Krimi Kuṇḍa, Pūya Kuṇḍa, terrible Sarpa

Kuṇḍa, Maśaka Kuṇḍa, Daṃśa Kuṇḍa, dreadful Garala Kuṇḍa, Vajra Daṃṣṭra Vriścika Kuṇḍa, Śara Kuṇḍa, Sūla Kuṇḍa, awful Khaḍga Kuṇḍa, Gola Kuṇḍa, Nakra Kuṇḍa, sorrowful Kāka Kuṇḍa, Manthāna Kuṇḍa, Vīja Kuṇḍa, painful Vajra Kuṇḍa, hot Pātśāṇa Kuṇḍa, sharp Pāśāṇa Kuṇḍa, Lālā Kuṇḍa, Masī Kuṇḍa, Cakra Kuṇḍa, Vakra Kuṇḍa, very terrible Kurma Kuṇḍa, Jvālā Kuṇḍa, Bhasma Kuṇḍa, Dagdha Kuṇḍa, and others. Besides these, there are the Taptasūcī, Asipatra, Kṣuradhāra, Sūcīmukha, Gokhāmūkha, Kūmbhīpāka, Kālasūtra, Matsyoda, Krimi, Kantuka, Pāṃśubhojya, Pāśaveṣṭa, Sūlaprota, Prakampana, Ulkāmakha, Andhakūpa, Vedhana, Tāḍana, Jālarandhra, Dehacūrna, Dalana, Śoṣaṇa, Kaṣa, Śūrpa, Jvālāmūkha, Dhūmāndha, Nāgaveṣṭana and various others. O Savitri! The Kuṇḍas give much pain and torment greatly the sinners; they are under the constant watch of innumerable servants. They hold rods in their hands; some of them have nooses; others hold clubs, Śaktis, awful scimitars; they are fierce fanatics, maddened with vanity. All are filled with Tamoguṇas, merciless, irresistible, energetic, fearless and tawny-eyed (like copper). Some of them are Yogis; some are Siddhas, they assume various forms. When the sinners are about to die, they see these servants of Yama. But those who do their own duties, who are Śāktas, Sauras, or Gāṇapatyas or those who are virtuous Siddha Yogis, they never see the servants of Yama. Those who are engaged in their own Dharmas, who are possessed of wisdom, who are endowed with knowledge, who are mentally strong, who are untouched by fear, who are endowed with the feelings of the Devas, and those who are real Vaiṣṇavas, they never see these servants of Yama. O Chaste One! Thus I have enumerated to you the Kuṇḍas. Now hear who live in the Kuṇḍas.

Here ends the Thirty-second Chapter of the Ninth Book on the enumeration of various hells for sinners in the Mahāpurāṇam Śrī Mad Devī Bhāgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharṣi Veda Vyāsa.