Hells

Hells (dmyal ba)

• The eighteen hells (Skt. aṣṭadaśanaraka), in which sentient beings may be born through a preponderance of aversion, include the eight hot hells, the eight cold hells, the neighbouring hells and the ephemeral hells, which are all described individually in dPal-sprul Rin-po-che, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pp. 63-71. Among these, the hot hells comprise (in descending order): the reviving hell, the black-line hell, the crushing hell, the howling hell, the great howling hell, the heating hell, the intense heating hell, and the hell of ultimate torment. The neighbouring hells are located in the cardinal and intermediate directions of the last mentioned hell of ultimate torment. Then, the eight cold hells comprise: the hell of blisters, the hell of burst blisters, the hell of chattering teeth, the hell of lamentation, the hell of groans, the hell of lily-like cracks, the hell of lotus-like cracks, and the hell of great lotus-like cracks. Lastly, the ephemeral hells, which are said to exist in all sorts of diverse locations, give rise to equally diverse sufferings. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)