Text 23]
The Hellish Planets
459
pūya —pus;  śoṇita —blood;  keśa —hair;  nakha —nails;  asthi —bones;  medaḥ —marrow;  māṁsa —flesh;  vasā —fat;  vāhinyām —in the river;  upatapyante —are afflicted with pain.
TRANSLATION
A person who is born into a responsible family—such as a kṣatriya, a member of royalty or a government servant—but who neglects to execute his prescribed duties according to religious principles, and who thus becomes degraded, falls down at the time of death into the river of hell known as Vaitaraṇī. This river, which is a moat surrounding hell, is full of ferocious aquatic animals. When a sinful man is thrown into the River Vaitaraṇī, the aquatic animals there immediately begin to eat him, but because of his extremely sinful life, he does not leave his body. He constantly remembers his sinful activities and suffers terribly in that river, which is full of stool, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and fat.
TEXT 23
ये त्विह वै वृषलीपतयो नष्टशौचावारनियमास्त्यक्तलज्जाः पशुचर्या चरन्ति ते चापि ग्रेत्य पूयविष्णुत्रश्लेष्ममलापूर्णार्णवे निपतन्ति तदेवातिबीभत्सितमश्नन्ति ॥ २३ ॥
ye tv iha vai vṛṣalī-patayo naṣṭa-śaucācāra-niyamās tyakta-lajjāḥ paśu-caryām caranti te cāpi pretya pūya-viṇ-mūtra-śleṣma-malā-pūrṇārṇave nipatanti tad evātibibhatsitam aśnanti.
ye —persons who;  tu —but;  iha —in this life;  vai —indeed;  vṛṣalī-patayaḥ —the husbands of the  śūdras ;  naṣṭa —lost;  śauca-ācāra-niyamāḥ —whose cleanliness, good behavior and regulated life;  tyakta-lajjāḥ —without shame;  paśu-caryām —the behavior of animals;  caranti —they execute;  te —they;  ca —also;  api —indeed;  pretya —dying;  pūya —of pus;  viṭ —stool;  mūtra —urine;  śleṣma —mucus;  malā —saliva;  pūrṇa —full;  arṇave —in an ocean;  nipatanti —fall;  tat —