Vajrakuṭhāra
Vajrakuṭhāra · vajra-kuṭhāra, “the axe of vajra”
Vajrakuṭhāra, “the axe of vajra”, is one of the narakas, the realms of torment ruled by Yama. The Brahma Purāṇa names it in Vyāsa‘s account of the narakas: it is made wholly of vajra, the adamant of Indra‘s thunderbolt, and those who cut down trees fall into it.
In Vyāsa’s account of the narakas
The munis asked Vyāsa, whose wealth is tapas, to tell them in full how those who have done pāpa (wrong deeds) go along the southern road (dakshiṇa-mārga) to Yama. Vyāsa told them of that dreadful road, of Yama’s court and of Citragupta’s reckoning, and of how the Yama-kiṅkaras punish each fault in the very manner that Vasishṭha and the other maharshis laid down for it. Then he said: “Hear the terrible form of the narakas and their measures.”
Among the narakas he named, after Ambarīsha, lit by the kālāgni of pralaya, where the stealer of gold falls for a hundred crore kalpas, came Vajrakuṭhāra. It is made wholly of vajra. Those who cut down trees fall there. After it Vyāsa told of Paritāpa, made of the fire of pralaya, for the one who gave poison and the stealer of honey.
Vyāsa closes his account of the narakas with these words: those who have turned away from dharma in mind, speech, body and deed must suffer the very dreadful torments of Yamaloka for thousands, lakhs and crores of years.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 215
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 215