Naraka (Buddhism)

Naraka (Sanskrit: नरक; Chinese: 地獄／奈落; pinyin: Dìyù/Nàiluò; Japanese: 地獄／奈落, romanized: Jigoku/Naraku) is a term in Buddhist cosmology usually referred to in English as "hell" (or "hell realm") or "purgatory". Another term used for the concept of hell in earlier writings is niraya. In Cambodia, Naraka was part of Buddhist cosmology and indeed also a Khmer word (នរក; norok) for hell. The Narakas of Buddhism are closely related to Diyu, the hell in Chinese mythology. A naraka differs from the concept of hell in Christianity in two respects: firstly, beings are not sent to Naraka as the result of a divine judgment or punishment; secondly, the length of a being's stay in a naraka is not eternal, though it is usually incomprehensibly long.

A being is born into naraka as a direct result of its accumulated actions (karma) and resides there for a finite period of time until that karma has achieved its full result. After its karma is used up, it will be reborn in one of the higher worlds as the result of karma that had not yet ripened.

The eight hot naraka appear in Jātaka texts and form the basis of the hell system in Mahayana Buddhism, according to them the hells are located deep under the southern continent of Jambudvīpa, denoting India. They are built one upon the other like stories, the principle being that the more severe kind of damnation is located under the previous one. There are differences in the conception of the naraka's height, breadth, length, depth, and distance, meaning that there is not a clear canonic system of naraka at this point of time besides their size.