Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/451

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LIFE AFTER DEATH

hells. These are the Evil Thought Hell, Evil Word Hell, Evil Deed Hell, and the Worst Existence of Darkness.[1] Sometimes the grades of hell are vaguely spoken of without any definite number.[2]

Location of hell. The abode of the sinners is in the middle of the earth,[3] down below the Chinvat Bridge.[4] It is in the northern regions, as in Avestan times it was also believed to be, and below the surface of the earth, with its gate on the ridge Arezur, where the demons hold their fiendish council.[5]

Description of hell. Hell is deep and dreadful, dark and stinking, vile and grievous, cold and stony, devoid of joy and pleasure, of comfort and happiness, and full of pain and punishment, filth and stench, misery and torture.[6] It is coldest beyond description in one place and hottest in another and is full of noxious creatures, stench, and darkness.[7] It is traversed by a gloomy and dreadful river filled by the tears shed by men for their departed ones.[8] The depth of hell is such that its bottom cannot be reached by a thousand cubits,[9] and it is tenanted by the demons, fiends, and the souls of the damned.[10]

Ahriman greets the wicked souls in hell with scorn and mockery. No sooner is the terrible sentence pronounced upon those destined for perdition than Vizarsh and other demons pounce upon the wretched souls of the sinful and put them in heavy chains, and, beating them and mercilessly torturing them, drag them down to hell.[11] The wretched souls now repent of their sins and exclaim that it would have been better for them if they had not been born upon the earth.[12] The angels give them up to the charge of the demons, their own conscience deserts them, and thus forsaken and forlorn, they lament and weep, shout and shriek, gnash their teeth and tear their hair, mutilate their limbs and lacerate themselves, making moan, and soaking

  1. ↑ Mkh. 2. 182, 183; 7. 20, 21.
  2. ↑ Bd. 11; Dd. 20. 4; 33. 3–5; Dk., vol. 8, p. 448.
  3. ↑ Bd. 3. 27.
  4. ↑ Bd. Modi, op. cit., 1; Dk., vol. 9, p. 626; AV. 53. 2, 3.
  5. ↑ Phl. Vd. 3. 7; Bd. 12' 8, Dd. 33. 5.
  6. ↑ Bd. 28. 47; Dd. 27. 2–5; 33. 2; Dk., vol. 8, p. 449; vol. 9, p. 626; AV. 54. 1.
  7. ↑ Mkh. 7. 27–31.
  8. ↑ AV. 16. 2, 7.
  9. ↑ AV. 54. 3.
  10. ↑ Dk., vol. 3, p. 135.
  11. ↑ Dd. 32. 4–7; Mkh. 2. 164.
  12. ↑ Dk., vol. 5, p. 279.
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