Shloka 14
Naraka-varṇana: The Hellish Planets and the Karmic Logic of Punishment
यस्त्विह ब्रह्मध्रुक स कालसूत्रसंज्ञके नरके अयुतयोजनपरिमण्डले ताम्रमये तप्तखले उपर्यधस्तादग्न्यर्काभ्यामतितप्यमानेऽभिनिवेशित: क्षुत्पिपासाभ्यां च दह्यमानान्तर्बहि:शरीर आस्ते शेते चेष्टतेऽवतिष्ठति परिधावति च यावन्ति पशुरोमाणि तावद्वर्षसहस्राणि ॥ १४ ॥
yas tv iha brahma-dhruk sa kālasūtra-saṁjñake narake ayuta-yojana-parimaṇḍale tāmramaye tapta-khale upary-adhastād agny-arkābhyām ati-tapyamāne ’bhiniveśitaḥ kṣut-pipāsābhyāṁ ca dahyamānāntar-bahiḥ-śarīra āste śete ceṣṭate ’vatiṣṭhati paridhāvati ca yāvanti paśu-romāṇi tāvad varṣa-sahasrāṇi.
The killer of a brāhmaṇa is cast into the hell called Kālasūtra, a vast copper realm with a circumference of ayuta-yojanas. Heated from below by fire and from above by the scorching sun, its copper surface blazes. There he burns inwardly from hunger and thirst and outwardly from the heat of sun and fire; thus he sometimes lies down, sometimes sits, sometimes stands, and sometimes runs about. He must suffer in this way for thousands of years equal to the number of hairs on an animal’s body.
FAQs
In Canto 5, Chapter 26, Śukadeva describes Kāla-sūtra as a hell where brahma-dhruk offenders are placed on a blazing copper surface and tormented by heat, hunger, and thirst for an extremely long duration.
He explains the consequences of sinful and anti-dharmic actions so that Parīkṣit (and listeners) develop detachment from sin, fear of offense, and seriousness about spiritual life and devotion.
Avoid harming or disrespecting sacred knowledge, truthful conduct, and saintly persons; cultivate humility and dharma, and take shelter of bhakti to purify tendencies that lead to grave offenses.