Vaitarna river

Vaitarna (Vaitarna,Vaitaraṇî) river is mentioned in the Garuda Purana. The sinful souls are supposed to cross this river after death. According to the Garuda Purana this river falls on the path leading to the Southern Gate of the city of Yama. It is also mentioned that only the sinful souls come via the southern gate.

Description of the River

This river is very frightening and when seen inspires misery. Even hearing an account of this river arouses fear. It is a hundred yojanas in width and it does not contain water. It is a river full of blood and pus with heaps of bones on its banks and mud of blood and flesh. It is impossible for a sinful soul to cross this river as he is obstructed by hairy moss and the river is filled with huge crocodiles and crowded with hundreds of flesh eating birds. When a sinner comes near the river in an attempt to cross, it seethes and becomes overspread with smoke and flames like butter in a frying pan. It is also covered with dreadful throngs of insects with piercing strings and vultures and crows with metallic beaks. In addition to crocodiles it also contains leeches, fishes, turtles and other flesh eating water animals. It is said that the hungry and thirsty sinful souls drink the blood flowing in the river. The sinners who fall into it wail with pain and fright. There is no rescuer for them. The hundreds of whirlpools in the river takes the ones fallen in to the lower region. They stay for a moment in the lower region and then they rise again.

The river was created only for the sinful. It is extremely difficult to cross and the other bank cannot be seen.

Ways to Cross the River

There are a few different ways to cross this river. It is important to note that as mentioned in the description of the river, only those souls who have sinned have to cross this river. The souls with good deeds or good karma do not travel on the path through which the Vaitarna River flows.

* The person who commits good deeds in his life and does not have to cross this river.

* A sinner who has done certain meritorious deeds can get a boat to cross the river after travelling on the terrible way of Yama for sometime. These deeds include donating a cow, food, wealth or any sacrifice etc.

* It is said that even though a person is a sinner, if he is following a real spiritual guru, the sinner can cross the river holding his Guru's hand. ["Siddhabodh" by Gagangiri Maharaj. Published on 13^th December 1998 by Gagangad publications]

* If the sinner cannot cross using the above 2 methods, he has to wait many years till it is decided that he will cross or the servants of Yama drag him through the river.

* The descendents of the sinful soul can help him cross the river by chanting the name "Shree Gurudev Datta"". This is the chant for the Hindu god Dattatreya. [ [http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualscience/afterdeath/regionofthedead.php Martyalok] ]

Consequences of successfully crossing the river

After successfully crossing this river, the sinners reach the terrifying Southern Gate of the City of Yama. In this City the sinners along with the souls with good deeds are judged by the Lord of Justice (Yama or Yamaraja). The sinners are taken to hell and the better souls are taken to heaven.

If a soul cannot cross the Vaitarna River then he cannot be taken to hell. He is stuck at its shore. Thus this prevents him from getting reborn on earth as human or animal. These souls are considered as the ghosts who have not passed on and are stuck.

Another Explanation

This is in fact a subtle sheath of the Absolute Cosmic Water element around the Earth region. This sheath itself is the river Vaitarna. After death, the subtle bodies (souls) take a dip in the Vaitarna and enter the Nether region. The remaining excretory gases and sub-vital energies related to the physical body accompanying the subtle body are discharged into the Vaitarna.

Thus the Vaitarna helps strip the subtle body(soul) of the last vestiges of the gross body so as to make it subtle enough to make it possible for it to enter the Region of the Dead. [www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org | Martyalok]

Footnotes

References

* The Garuda Purana::Translated by Ernest Wood and S.V. Subrahmanyam

* "Siddhabodh" by Gagangiri Maharaj. ::Published on 13^th December 1998 by Gagangad publications. ::Language - Marathi

* Kalayaan (Year 43) "Parlok Aur Punarjanma" (World of the Dead and Reincarnation). ::Publisher - Gitapress, Gorakhpur. ::Language - Hindi

* Spiritual Science Research Foundation :- Articles on "Martyalok"

External links

# http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/gpu/index.htm
# http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualscience/afterdeath/regionofthedead.php

See also

* Garuda Purana
* Yama
* Sin
* Dattatreya