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## The Land of Merit
**209.** The soul ascends through Dharma (righteousness) and falls through Adharma (unrighteousness). It attains the human realm through a mixture of both. This is the conclusion reached by the wise. ||11||
**12.** Your minister, Shatabuddhi, is suffering in the second hell due to the firmness of his false knowledge, experiencing excruciating pain. ||12||
**13.** This is the consequence of the self-inflicted harm of a soul that has not conquered its own mind, for it harbors hatred for Dharma and delights in Adharma. ||13||
**14.** It is well-known that Dharma brings happiness and Adharma brings suffering. Therefore, wise individuals, desiring to escape suffering, strive for Dharma. ||14||
**15.** Dharma is compassion for all beings, truthfulness, patience, freedom from greed, absence of desire, and the attainment of knowledge and detachment. Adharma is the opposite of these. ||15||
**16.** Attachment to worldly pleasures intensifies the thirst for sensual delights. This thirst, like a blazing fire, generates intense suffering. ||16||
**17.** Tormented by this suffering, the soul seeks relief and becomes attached to sin. One who is attached to sin hates Dharma and, due to Adharma, falls into lower realms. ||17||
**18.** Just as the poison of a mad dog takes effect in due time (usually during the rainy season), so too do the evil deeds committed in time bring great suffering in hell. ||18||
**19.** Just as improper food consumption intensifies fever in foolish people, so too does the practice of sin greatly increases the suffering of those with false beliefs. ||19||
**20.** The ripening of karma is relentless and yields bitter fruit. Due to this, the soul falls into hell and does not find relief from suffering even for a moment. ||20||
**21.** If you wish to know about the suffering in hell and the origin of beings there, listen attentively with a steady mind. ||21||
**22.** Those who are engaged in violence, those who are devoted to falsehood, those who are thieves, those who are attached to other people's wives, and those who are addicted to alcohol... ||22||