PLATE SIX
“All the hellish planets are situated in the intermediate space between the three worlds and the Garbhodaka Ocean. The king of the  pitās  is Yamarāja, the very powerful son of the sun-god. He resides in Pitṛloka with his personal assistants and, while abiding by the rules and regulations set down by the Supreme Lord, has his agents, the Yamadūtas, bring all the sinful men to him immediately upon their death. After bringing them within his jurisdiction, he properly judges them according to their specific sinful activities and sends them to one of the many hellish planets for suitable punishments. In the province of Yamarāja there are hundreds and thousands of hellish planets. All impious people must enter these various planets according to the degree of their impiety.
“For the maintenance of their bodies and the satisfaction of their tongues, cruel persons cook poor animals and birds alive. Such persons are condemned even by man-eaters. In their next lives, they are carried by the Yamadūtas to the hell known as Kumbhīpāka, where they are cooked in boiling oil.
“A human being endowed with knowledge certainly commits sin if he kills or torments insignificant creatures, who have no discrimination. The Supreme Lord punishes such a man by putting him into the hell known as Andhakūpa, where he is attacked by all the birds and beasts, reptiles, mosquitos, lice, worms, flies, and any other creatures he tormented during his life. They attack him from all sides, robbing him of the pleasure of sleep. Unable to rest, he constantly wanders about in the darkness. Thus in Andhakūpa his suffering is just like that of a creature in the lower species.
“In his next life, a sinful king or governmental representative who punishes an innocent person, or who inflicts corporal punishment upon a  brāhmaṇa , is taken by the Yamadūtas to a hell known as Śūkharamukha, where the most powerful assistants of Yamarāja crush him exactly as one crushes sugarcane to squeeze out juice. The sinful living entity cries very pitiably and faints, just like an innocent man undergoing punishment. This is the result of punishing a faultless person.” ( pp.437-453 )