Heaven & hell LOKAS

HELL REALMS
 Naraka is the Hindu equivalent of Hell, where sinners are
tormented after death. It is also the abode of Yama, the god of
Death. It is described as located in the south of the universe
and beneath the earth.

 The number and names of hells, as well as the type of sinners

sent to a particular hell, varies from text to text; however, many
scriptures describe 28 hells.

 After death, messengers of Yama called Yamadutas bring all

beings to the court of Yama, where he weighs the virtues and
the vices of the being and passes a judgement, sending the
virtuous to Svarga (heaven) and the sinners to one of the hells.

 The stay in Svarga or Naraka is generally described as

temporary. After the punishment is over, the souls are reborn as
lower or higher beings as per their merits. In a few texts, a hell
is described as a bottomless pit of darkness where souls are
trapped for eternity and deprived of rebirth.
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Asuras

Asuras are described in Indian texts as powerful superhuman

demigods or demons with good or bad qualities. The good Asuras are
called Adityas and are led by Varuna, while the malevolent ones are
called Danavas and are led by Vritra.

Devas

Deva means "heavenly, divine, anything of excellence", and is also one

of the terms for a deity in Hinduism. Deva is masculine, and the
related feminine equivalent is devi (pronounced Devee). Deva is
another word for 'good Asura', in later Hindu texts Asuras only
referred to bad demigods.
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yakshas (nature spirits)

Nature-spirits, usually good (benevolent), who are caretakers of the natural treasures
hidden in the earth and tree roots. On the one hand, a yakṣa may be an inoffensive nature-
fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is also a darker version of the yakṣa,
which is a kind of ghost.

Rakshasas (ghosts, ogres)

Rakshasas are also called 'maneaters". Most often depicted as ugly, fierce-looking and
enormous creatures, with two fangs protruding from the top of the mouth and having sharp,
claw-like fingernails. They are shown as being mean, growling like beasts, and as insatiable
cannibals that could smell the scent of human flesh. Some of the more ferocious ones were
shown with flaming red eyes and hair, drinking blood with their palms or from a human skull
(similar to representations of vampires in later Western mythology). Generally they could fly,
vanish, and had Maya (magical powers of illusion), which enabled them to change size at will
and assume the form of any creature. They can tke human form.


 Heaven & hell LOKAS

HEAVEN REALMS

 There are many realms one can go to after death, these are
called Lokas.

 Attaining heaven is not the final goal in Hinduism as heaven itself

is temporary and related to physical body: heaven cannot be
perfect either and is just another name for pleasurable and
mundane material life.

 According to Hindu cosmology, above the earthly plane, are

other planes: (1) Bhuva Loka, (2) Swarga Loka, meaning Good
Kingdom, is the general name for heaven in Hinduism, a heavenly
paradise of pleasure, where most of the Hindu Devatas (Deva)
reside along with the king of Devas, Indra, and beatified
mortals.
 Heaven & hell LOKAS

BRAHA’S Heaven realm (LOKA)

 Each of the God's lives in a 'Param Padam'

(Supereme Abode)

 Brahmapura is the abode of Brahma, one of the

three Trimurti. It is located on Mount Meru. It is
also referred to as Brahmaloka or Satyaloka in all
of the puranas. Brahmapura is the topmost loka
within this material universe.
 Heaven & hell LOKAS

SHIVA’S Heaven realm (Loka)

 Each of the God's lives in a 'Param Padam'

(Supereme Abode)

 In the Vayu Puraan (an ancient text) it is written: “

Beyond Brahmaloka and beneath the upper crust of the
Cosmic Egg – in between these two is Shiva’s city, his
divine abode called MANOMAYA. The city shines with
scattered diamond dust. These worlds are lit from
within, meaning their reality does not consist of
reflected light, as does our material world.”
 Heaven & hell LOKAS

Vishnu’S Heaven realm (Loka)

 Each of the God's lives in a 'Param Padam' (Supereme Abode)

Vishnu’s is called Vishnu-Loka or Vaikuntha (the Place of not
Hindrance)

 Vishnu is one of the most important gods in the Hindu pantheon

and, along with Brahma and Shiva, is considered a member of the
holy trinity (trimurti) of Hinduism.

 Vishnu is the Preserver and guardian of men (Narayana), he

protects the order of things (dharma) and, when necessary, he
appears on earth in various incarnations or avatars to fight
demons and fierce creatures and so maintain cosmic harmony.
 THE TRUE NATURE OF
THE UNIVERSE

 The world as we (and most people) experience it is called ‘Maya’: The term
Maya refers to a "magic show, an illusion where things appear to be
present but are not what they seem" āyā is also a spiritual concept
connoting "that which exists, but is constantly changing and thus is
spiritually unreal", and the "power or the principle that conceals the true
character of spiritual reality".

 In other words, a central idea in Hinduism is that we are living in a

“dream-world” (samsara) which we need to wake up from.

 “Just as when the dirt is removed, the real substance is made manifest;
just as when the darkness of the night is dispelled, the objects that were
shrouded by the darkness are clearly seen, when ignorance [Maya] is
dispelled, truth is realized.” — Vashistha, Yoga Vasiṣṭha
 THE TRUE NATURE OF
THE UNIVERSE

 The Upanishads describe the universe, and the

human experience, as an interplay of Purusha (the
eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness) and
Prakṛti (the temporary, changing material world,
nature).

 Purusha (consciousness) manifests itself as Ātman

(Soul, Self), and the latter (material world) as Māyā
(illusion). The Upanishads refer to the knowledge of
Atman as "true knowledge" (Vidya), and the
knowledge of Maya as "not true knowledge"
 THE TRUE NATURE OF
THE UNIVERSE

 In Advaita Vedanta philosophy, there are two realities:

Vyavaharika (empirical reality) and Paramarthika (absolute,
spiritual reality).

Māyā is the empirical reality that entangles consciousness. Māyā

has the power to create a bondage to the empirical world,
preventing the unveiling of the true, unitary Self—the Cosmic
Spirit also known as Brahman.

 The realism-driven Nyaya school of Hinduism denied that either

the world (Prakrti) or the soul (Purusa) are an illusion. Naiyayikas
developed theories of illusion, typically using the term Mithya,
and stated that illusion is simply flawed cognition [thinking],
incomplete cognition [thinking] or the absence of cognition.
 THE TRUE NATURE OF
THE UNIVERSE

 Most Hindus agree that to understand the true

nature of the Universe a person needs to
understand the nature of the Atman (soul) within
them.

This is because a Universal Principle (Brahman)

must, logically speaking, be within all things
(including human souls/Atman).

 The world of Maya is overcome by realising the true

nature of the self (Atman) and realising the sacred
divinity behind the limited senses.
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THE UNIVERSE

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 It suggests that the Big Bang is not the beginning of everything,
but is just the start of a present cycle preceded by an infinite
number of universes and to be followed by another infinite
number of universes.

 There are many different stories and beliefs about creation

contained in the Hindu scriptures.

 The sacred sound Aum is believed to be the first sound at the

start of creation.
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Hindus believe that brahman (the one ultimate reality) has three
functions and these are shown by the three gods, Shiva, Brahma and
Vishnu. These three are sometimes shown as three heads merging
into one and are known as the Trimurti.

 Brahma is the Creator and source of all creation

 Vishnu is the Preserver and responsible for keeping all good

things on earth

 Shiva is the Destroyer and is needed because some things

are harmful and because change is necessary for the creation
of new things
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 In the Chandogya Upanishad (a Hindu sacred text.) creation is
described as the breaking of an egg.
 In the Vedas (knowledge) one of the accounts says that the
creator built the universe with timber, as a carpenter builds a
house.
 “Then was neither non-existence nor existence: there was no realm of air,
no sky beyond it. Death was not then, nor was there anything immortal: no
sign was there, the Day’s and Night’s divider. Darkness there was: at first
concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos. All that existed
then was void and formless: by the great power of Warmth was born that
One.” – Rig Veda


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In the Rig Veda (the first scripture of Hinduism,
containing spiritual and scientific knowledge) it says
that the universe was created out of the parts of the
body of a single cosmic man Purusha when his body was
sacrificed. There the four classes (varnas) of Indian
society come from his body: the priest (Brahmin) from
his mouth, the warrior (Kshatritya) from his arms, the
peasant (Vaishya) from his thighs, and the servant
(Shudra) from his legs.
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 Prakritim (or prakti) means "nature"It is a key concept in
Hinduism, formulated by its Samkhya school, and refers
to the primal matter with three different innate qualities
(Guṇas) whose equilibrium is the basis of all observed
visible (empirical) reality.

 Purusha which is pure awareness and metaphysical

consciousness.

 In short: Prakritim = matter, Purusha = mind. Schools

which believe only one exists are called ‘monist’ and
schools which believe both exist and interact are called
‘dualist’
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What are human beings made of?

The word Guna means ‘quality’ or ‘characteristic’

 Three gunas are present in everyone and everything, it is

the proportion that is different, according to Hindu
worldview.
 The interplay of these gunas defines the character of
someone or something, of nature and determines the
progress of life.
 In human behavior studies, Guna means personality,
innate nature and psychological attributes of an individual.