Showing posts with label Punishment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Punishment. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Will people in hell go to heaven after they’ve get enough punishment?

 Yes. Both swarga (Heaven) and Naraka (Hell) are temporary.

Whether a person goes to heaven or hell first depends upon their karma

O bull among men! There are accumulations of good and bad deeds. A person who enjoys the good deeds earlier, goes to hell later. A person who goes to hell first, enjoys heaven later. A person who has committed many wicked deeds may enjoy heaven first.

  • 1, Swargarohana parva, Mahabharata.

We see an example of this in the story of king Nriga where Yama asks him whether he will like to enjoy heaven first for his good deeds or suffer first in hell for his sin

Yama worshipped me and spoke these words. “O king! There is no end to the number of auspicious deeds you have performed. But there is a sin, even if you committed it inadvertently. Do you wish to suffer for the sin earlier or later? It shall be as you wish. You promised that you would protect. You took a false pledge. You seized the possession of a brahmana. These are the three aspects to the sin you committed.”

I replied, “O lord! I shall suffer from the sin first. Let the auspicious benefits come later.”

  • 69, Dana Dharma parva, Mahabharata.

Once your merits have run out, you are reborn on earth

When they have enjoyed the vast pleasures of heaven, the stock of their merits being exhausted, they return to the earthly plane. Thus, those who follow the Vedic rituals, desiring objects of enjoyment, repeatedly come and go in this world.

  • Gita 9.21.

Beings reborn on earth many times after residing in hell or heaven till the day they achieve Moksha

The gods in heaven are beheld by the inhabitants of hell, as they move with their heads inverted; whilst the god, as they cast their eyes downwards, behold the sufferings of those in hell. The various stages of existence, Maitreya, are inanimate things, fish, birds, animals, men, holy men, gods, and liberated spirits; each in succession a thousand degrees superior to that which precedes it: and through these stages the beings that are either in heaven or in hell are destined to proceed, until final emancipation be obtained.

  • Chapter 6, Book 2, Vishnu Purana.

This is why Rishi Mudgala rejected going to heaven and instead solely pursued attaining Moksha

When Moudgalya heard these words, he reflected on them in his mind. Having thought about them, the best of sages replied to the messenger of the gods. ‘O messenger of the gods! | bow down before you. O father! Please go, according to your wishes. If there are such great taints, i have nothing to do with heaven or happiness. There will be great unhappiness at the time of the fall, by those who have enjoyed heaven. There will be extremely terrible regret. Therefore, i do not desire heaven. I will only look for the infinite region where there is no sorrow, unhappiness or dislodging, once one has traversed the path and has reached there.”

Having spoken these words, the sage gave the messenger of the gods permission to leave. He returned to a life of collecting rice and achieved supreme serenity. He looked on praise and blame equally. A brick, a stone and a piece of gold were the same to him. Through the yoga of knowledge, he was always engaged in meditation. Having obtained strength through the yoga of meditation, he obtained supreme wisdom. He attained the eternal and supreme success, the marks of supreme salvation.

  • 247, Vrihi-Drounika parva, Mahabharata.