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## Third Chapter: Description of the Hells
**227. O Bhagavan! What is the diameter and circumference of the hells on the seventh hell-earth?**
**Gautama:** The hells on the seventh earth are of two types: (1) those with a diameter of a thousand yojanas, and (2) those with an immeasurable number of thousand yojanas. The ones with a diameter of a thousand yojanas have a diameter of one hundred thousand yojanas, and their circumference is three hundred sixteen thousand two hundred twenty-seven yojanas, three kosas, one hundred twenty-eight dhanus, and slightly more than thirteen and a half angulas. The ones with an immeasurable number of thousand yojanas have a diameter of an immeasurable number of thousand yojanas, and their circumference is also an immeasurable number of thousand yojanas.
**Discussion:** This sutra describes the structure, diameter, and circumference of the hells. There are two types of hells: **pavalikapravisht** and **avalikabahya**. Those that are arranged in a series in all eight directions are called **avalikapravisht**. They are of three types: circular, triangular, and square. Those that are scattered like flowers are of various types. These various types are described in two collections of verses.
There are hells shaped like an iron chest, a vessel for cooking dough to make liquor, a baker's oven, a griddle, a frying pan, a **sthali** (large pot), a **pitharak** (large vessel), a hermit's ashram, a **murj**, a **nandīmṛdanga**, a **praling** earthen drum, a **sughosha**, a **daddar** (a type of musical instrument), a **panav** (a drum made of vessels), a **patha** (a general drum), a **jhalar**, a **bheri**, a **kustumbak** (a type of musical instrument), and a **nadi** (a timepiece). The **mṛdanga** is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, while the **murj** is even at both the top and bottom.
This description should be understood for the hell-earths from **Ratnaprabha** to **Tamaprabha**. The hells on the seventh earth are only **avalikapravisht**, not **pavalikabahya**. These **avalikapravisht** hells are five in number: four in the four directions and one in the middle. The central hell is round, and the remaining four are triangular. The **Ratnaprabha** hell has an outer diameter of three thousand yojanas. The lower part of one thousand yojanas is cubic, the middle part of one thousand yojanas is **jhushira**, and the upper part of one thousand yojanas is narrow. Similarly, the outer diameter of the hells on all seven earths is the same. The diameter and circumference are clear from the original text.
**83. O Bhagavan! What is the color of the hells on the **Ratnaprabha** earth?**
**Gautama:** The color of the hells on the **Ratnaprabha** earth is black, dark, deep, dark brown, fierce, and extremely dark. This is the same for all the hells up to the seventh.
**1. What are the shapes of the hells?**
They are shaped like a **pitupayanag** (a type of vessel), a **kandulohi** (a type of vessel), a **kadah** (a type of vessel), a **thali** (a type of vessel), a **pihadag** (a type of vessel), a **kinha** (a type of vessel), a **udae** (a type of vessel), a **mukhe** (a type of vessel), a **muyange** (a type of vessel), a **nandīmuinge** (a type of vessel), a **praling** (a type of vessel), a **sughosha** (a type of vessel), a **daddare** (a type of vessel), a **panave** (a type of vessel), a **padhag** (a type of vessel), a **jhalari** (a type of vessel), a **bheri** (a type of vessel), a **kutdhumbag** (a type of vessel), and a **nadi** (a type of vessel).