Hey guys, today I am going to show you some carvings which are at least 900 years old
and they show something quite unique.
They show hell, they literally show hell and punishment for your sins according to ancient
Indian texts, these details are almost never shown in temples of India, but the Angkor
Wat Temple in Cambodia shows this in great detail.
So here you can see three floors depicted.
The top one is heaven, and the middle one is our world where the sins happen, and the
bottom floor is the Hell or the underworld.
The top 2 levels are good, but in hell, you can see a lot of action.
They are beating the life out of the sinners.
And you are being starved, look you can see your own rib cage.
Also it is clear that hell does not discriminate between men and women, it is an equal opportunity
system, many women are also being punished.
It appears that they are begging for food, they are holding begging bowls and asking
for food.
Here you can see a person tied to a wooden frame and they are inserting nails all over
his body like crucifixion.
They have defaced this carving, they have damaged the face, but look carefully, one
guy is pounding a nail on his face.
Now, look near his feet, there are huge stones tied to his legs.
Why?
What is the purpose of that?
Well think about what is going to happen to his joints, and also he cannot move his legs
and will have to keep his legs still, so they can pound nails on his legs as well.
On the right, there are a few more people who are experiencing the same torture.
They also have beds made of metal nails.
They will make you lie down on this.
Imagine lying on a bed full of sharp metal nails.
Even worse, they will take some other guy, they will tie him to a tree and put him on
top of you.
Imagine what happens if you are lying down on a nail bed, and someone is now standing
on top of you.
Now, these guys are going to churn that person like they are churning butter.
How would you feel now?
Who would you rather be?
The Guy on the tree, or the guy on the ground?
You can see the contrast between heaven, earth and hell.
Above, people are being carried in a palanquin where they are eating and drinking and enjoying
all types of luxury.
In hell, you are being tied to a leash with a series of other people.
An elephant is crushing the bones of a sinner.
Here a guy has put chains around their necks and is dragging them, like how they are dragging
animals.
This one is very very strange.
One guy is caught by many and they are torturing him.
But what are they doing?
Who can explain what is going on here?
So who is the one who came up with these innovative ways of torture?
His name is Yama, he is the Lord of death and justice, he has 18 arms and he is sitting
majestically on a buffalo.
He is in charge of torturing all these wrong doers.
Yama is not only feared by Hindus, even Buddhists, even Cambodian Buddhists today, revere Yama,
as the God of Justice.
And he has many attendants, the huge guys who are shown torturing the people in hell,
they all work for him.
I know you want to see more of these punishments, so let's look at what else is going on.
Here is a completely new technique you have never heard of.
Catch some one, and then use brute force and snap their spinal cord.
Look how their bodies are getting twisted, just hold their neck in one hand, their feet
in the other hand and then break their back.
Here is another one.
Some people are tied to trees, some are also tied upside down and then the attendants keep
swinging a sword at them.
So why are some hanging upside down, while others are upright?
See in ancient Indian texts, Specific types of torture are assigned to specific types
of sins.
For example, this punishment is called Adhomukha, he is tied upside down because he took bribes,
he was a corrupt person on earth.
Now, interestingly, all these ancient Sanskrit names are inscribed on top of the punishments
in this temple.
So you can still read these inscriptions of the various types of torture, if you know
Khmer script, the script itself looks very similar to the letters of ancient Tamil language.
Ancient Indian texts describe the sins in detail, and this not only includes bad actions,
but it also includes bad thoughts.
For example, a guest has come to your house, and let us say he or she is an in-law, so
you dislike them, but you cannot explicitly show this.
So you will give them a cruel glance to make sure they know that you don't like them.
So, you think you are clever, because you have not done anything, but you have been
subtle to show them your hatred with just one look.
Of course, you can escape on earth, but when you die, you will go to hell, and these guys
have special forceps like devices for you.
They are going to pluck your eyes out for giving that cruel glance, sometimes they will
tie you to a tree, and make sure eagles come and eat your eyes.
Here is a new technique.
Put the sinner on a grinding stone and grind him using another rock, until all his ribs
and bones break.
But there is another strange detail depicted here.
Today, we are living our lives thinking that death will not happen today, it will happen
sometime in the distant future.
But look, suddenly, the people who are alive in the upper floor are pushed into the bottom
floor by the attendants of the Lord of Death.
Death can happen anytime, anywhere, you are having fun and now, suddenly you are in hell.
Now, you will be received in hell and they are going to grind you in a grinding stone
ha-ha.
Now the tears, the tears for mercy is shown quite realistically, you know we see people
who commit evil deeds, for example they murder someone.
But when they get caught, and the judge gives them a death sentence in a court, they beg
for mercy, suddenly they regret their actions.
That's shown rather well in these carvings.
I know there is a question on your mind that I haven't answered, it is a very logical question.
If you die on earth, you leave your body here, whether they burn it or bury it, you leave
your body on earth.
So how are they able to torture your body in hell?
Now, Hinduism believes in astral body which exists separately from the physical body and
it does not die, it is called Sukshma Sarira.
So this astral body exists very much like a real body and experiences pleasure and pain,
but it does not die when your physical body dies.
And this will be taken to hell and all these torments are inflicted on this body.
It is very unique to see ancient carvings of Hell, and it is very rare to see Hindu
carvings depicting hell.
So I hope this was interesting to watch, and it was also of some value to you.
I am Praveen Mohan, thanks a lot for watching, don't forget to subscribe and also click on
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