Text 7] The Hellish Planets 439
PURPORT

Yamaraja is not a fictitious or mythelogical character; he has his own
abode, Pitrloka, of which he is king. Agnostics may not believe in hell,
but Sukadeva Gosvami affirms the existence of the Naraka planets.
which lie between the Garbhodaka Ocean and Patalaloka. Yamaraja is ap-
pointed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to see that the human
beings do not violate His rules and regulations. As confirmed in
Bhagavad-gita (4.17):

karmano hy api boddhavyam
boddhavyam ca vikarmanah
akarmanas ca boddhavyam
gahana karmano gatih
“The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one
should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what
inaction is.”’ One should understand the nature of karma, vikarma and
akarma, and one must act accordingly. This is the law of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. The conditioned souls. who have come to this
material world for sense gratification, are allowed to enjoy their senses
under certain regulative principles. If they violate these regulations, they
are judged and punished by Yamaraja. He brings them to the hellish
planets and properly chastises them to bring them back to Krsna con-
sciousness. By the influence of mdyd, however, the conditioned souls
remain infatuated with the mode of ignorance. Thus in spite of repeated
punishment by Yamaraja, they do not come to their senses, but continue
to live within the material condition. committing sinful activities again
and again.
TEXT 7
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