naraka

Naraka is a term used in several Indian religions to denote the realm of punishment after death, often translated as hell or the lower world. It serves as a conceptual space where consequences of one’s actions are believed to play out, and where the soul moves on according to karma.

In Hinduism, Naraka appears in the Puranas and other scriptures as a collection of grim realms presided over by Yama, the god of death. These Narakas are described as places of retributive torments tailored to the karma of the deceased. The number and nature of Narakas vary by text, and the stay is typically temporary, lasting until the accumulated karma is exhausted, after which the soul is reborn into a higher realm or into human life.

In Buddhist cosmology, Naraka is one of the lower realms within samsara. It is associated with intense suffering caused by negative actions; there are multiple hells, described with varying torments in different sutras. As with other realms, beings in Naraka are not eternally fixed and can exit through karma exhaustion, awakening, or rebirth into other realms.

In Jainism, Naraka also denotes a hellish realm where souls experience punishment for bad conduct. The framework emphasizes moral discipline and the purging of karma before rebirth into better states of existence.

In modern popular culture, Naraka appears in media such as Naraka: Bladepoint, a 2021 video game by 24 Entertainment. The game and its title draw on the mythic sense of a perilous, otherworldly realm.

The term Naraka thus functions as a cross-tradition concept for a post-mortem realm of punishment, alongside broader doctrines of karma, rebirth, and moral consequence.