Question: SB 11.10.29, within the verse and not purport, states
“Worshiping ghosts and spirits, the bewildered person falls fully into the grip of unauthorized activities and thus goes to hell, where he receives a material body infected by the darkest modes of nature.”
I was always under the impression that hellish life is experienced within the subtle body, without the presence of a gross body. The presence of a gross body commonly requires a mother and father; no mention of such family life in hell is found anywhere that I am aware of.
What is the situation for jivas within hell? Do they have a body, other than the subtle body made of mind/intelligence/false ego?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
There is a special artificial body, known as yātanā çaréra (tormentable body), which is given to residents of hell. The body doesn’t die even after suffering a lot. See SB 3.30.5. “The conditioned living entity is satisfied in his own particular species of life; while deluded by the covering influence of the illusory energy, he feels little inclined to cast off his body, even when in hell, for he takes delight in hellish enjoyment.”
Below is the verse, as well as a strictly literal translation.
naraka-stho ‘pi dehaà vai na pumäàs tyaktum icchati närakyäà nirvåtau satyäà deva-mäyä-vimohitaù
“Even situated in hell, a person does not want to give up the body. Bewildered by God’s Maya, he is satisfied even being in hell.”
An equivalent term to yātanā çaréra (tormentable body) – i.e. yätanä-deha – is mentioned in SB 3.30.20. However, the way it is translated in English in the BBT publication, it may appear to the reader as if the jiva in hell has only a subtle body. Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakura and other acaryas, however, clearly identify this yätanä-deha as a body different from the subtle body.
VCT: “Pulling him out of his gross body and putting him in a body suitable for punishment, they take him away.”
Another example, regarding yātanā-deha – Sri Vamshidhar says – chinnā dagdhā punas te hi prarohanti yathāyatham – “Even if cut apart or burnt, these bodies restore themselves (so that the torture can continue).”
