Kaśmala
Kaśmala, “the foul one”
Kaśmala is one of the narakas, the places of suffering ruled by Yama into which those who do pāpa (wrong deeds) are cast after death. The Brahma Purāṇa describes it as a naraka filled with mucus and phlegm. One with an unceasing craving for meat lies there for one kalpa.
In Vyāsa’s account of the narakas
The munis ask Vyāsa to tell them in full how those who do pāpa (wrong deeds) go along the southern road, the dakshiṇa-mārga. Vyāsa tells them of that dreadful road to Yama’s city, of Yama’s court, where the pāpīs see Yama and Citragupta, and of the Yama-kiṅkaras, Yama’s servants, who punish each offence in the very manner that Vasishṭha and the other maharshis laid down for it. Then he says: “Hear the terrible form of the narakas and their measures,” and names them one by one, with the deed that leads to each.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 215
The naraka and who falls there
Kaśmala is filled with mucus and phlegm. One with an unceasing craving for meat (nirantara māṃsābhiruci) lies there for one kalpa (a day of Brahmā).
Vyāsa names it after Kālasūtra, the naraka of vajra threads for those who stole others’ crops, and before Ugragandha, the naraka of fierce stench for those who did not offer piṇḍa to the pitṛs.
Vyāsa ends the account of the narakas with these words: those who turned away from dharma in mind, speech, body and deed must suffer sorrows in the very dreadful torments of Yama-loka for thousands, lakhs and crores of years.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 215
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 215