_Rasâtala_: — Below Mahatala is Rasâtala; Daityas, Dânavas and Panis, named Nivatakavachas, Kâlakeyas and Hiranyapuravâsins dwell there. They are the enemies of the Devas. They are powerful from their very birth. They are subdued by the Sudarsana of Vishnu. They are like serpents. They fear even the threats of Saramâ, the bitch of the gods who is Indra’s messenger to them. They fear Indra also. _Pâtala_: — Below Rasâtala is Pâtala. The Nâgas dwell there. Vasûki is their chief. The other principal Nâgas are — Sankha, Kulika, Mahâ Sankha, Sveta, Dhananjaya, Asvatara, and Devadatta. Their hood is very large and they are very furious. Some of them are five headed, some 7 headed, some 10 headed, some a thousand headed. The precious stones on their hoods dispel all darkness in Pâtala. ANANTA. *SKANDHA V. CHAP. 25.* At the root of Pâtala, thirty thousand Yojanas beyond, is the Tamas aspect of Bhagavân called Ananta. Those that worship the Chaturvyûha aspect call him Sankarshana. He has a thousand heads. The earth held up on one of these heads looks but like a mustard seed. When the time for dissolution comes, Ananta assumes His Tamas form and becomes Rudra — other wise called Sankarshana, a host of eleven, with three eyes, three tufts of hair and with tridents on their heads. At other times, Ananta withdraws His Tamas and abides for the good of all Lokas. His eyes roll as it were by intoxication. His garments are blue. He has one ear-ring. He has a plough on his back. THE NARAKAS. *SKANDHA V. CHAP. 26.* Where are the Narakas, O Rishi, asked Parikshit? Are they particular localities? Are they outside the Trilokî or inside? Suka replied: — They are inside the Trilokî on the south side below the earth, over the waters, where Agnishvâttâ and other Pitris deeply meditate on the welfare of their respective descendants. There, Yâma, the Death-god, metes out just punishment to the dead. There are twenty-one Narakas: — 1. Tâmisra 2. Andha Tâmisara 3. Rourava 4. Mahârourava 5. Kumbhipâka 6. Kâla Sutra 7. Asipatravana 8. Sûkara Mukha 9. Andha Kûpa 10. Krimi bhajana 11. Sandansa 12. Tapta Surmi 13. Vajra-Kantaka Sâlmali 14. Vaitarani 15. Pûyôda 16. Prânarodha 17. Vaisâsana 18. Lâlâbhaksha 19. Sârameyâdâna 20. Avichi and 21. Ayahpâna. There are seven other Narakas: 1. Kshâra Kardama 2. Rakshogana bhōjana 3. Sûlaprōta 4. Danda Sûka 5. Avata-nirodhana 6. Paryâ vartana and 7. Sûchi mukha. (For details of these Narakas, the reader is referred to the original. They are more for the exoteric than for the esoteric reader.) There are hundreds and thousands of such Narakas in the realms of Yâma. The vicious enter them by turns. The meritorious go to Svarga. But the Karma of men is not exhausted in Svarga or Naraka. For that which remains unexhausted, they enter life again by re-birth. (The mention of Pitris and Yâma connects the Narakas with the astral plane.) SKANDHA VI.