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3. 1-6
Description of Hell
The body is established in the lower sky, and the sky is dependent. This order is the same for each realm and its dense layers up to the seventh realm. Even though the predominance of the lower realm is less than the upper realms, its dimension continuously increases; therefore, their organization is said to be like that of a canopy, meaning progressively broader.
The thickness of the seven realms mentioned above, excluding one thousand yojanas above and below, has hell in the remaining middle part, just as there is hell in the segment of one lakh seventy-eight thousand yojanas out of the one lakh eighty thousand yojanas of the Ratnaprabha. This order continues up to the seventh realm. The names of the hells such as Raurava, Raudra, Ghatan, Shocan, etc., are inauspicious names that invoke fear just by hearing them. All hells, from the Narakavas in the area of the border of Ratnaprabha to the Narakavas in the area of Mahatam Prabha, resemble the blades of a thunderbolt. The organization (shape) of these hells is not the same—some are round, some triangular, some quadrangular, some like pots, and some like iron pitchers. The stones (pratara), which are like the base of a house with a floor, are numbered as follows: there are stones in Ratnaprabha. Similarly, in each lower realm, in the Prabha realm, there is only one stone. Among these stones, there are thirteen in Sharcara Prabha, and eleven decrease by two to make the seventh Mahatama: Hell.
The number of hells is thirty million in the first realm, twenty-five million in the second, fifteen million in the third, ten million in the fourth, three million in the fifth, one lakh less five in the sixth, and only five hells in the seventh.
Question: What is the purpose of saying hell within the stones?
Answer: There is no hell in the space (interval) between one stone and another, but these various hells are present in the thickness of three thousand yojanas of each stone.
Question: What is the relation between Narak and Naraka?
Answer: Narak is the living being, and Narak is their place. The beings are called Narak in relation to their place known as Narak.
From the first realm to the second and from the second to the third, similarly up to the seventh realm, the hells are inauspicious, more inauspicious, and most inauspicious in nature. Similarly, the beings residing in those hells also possess progressively more inauspicious aspects in terms of shape, result, body, pain, and reaction.