Neighbouring Hells

Neighbouring Hells (Skt. pratyekanakara; Wyl. nye 'khor dmyal ba) — one of the eighteen hells.

Chökyi Drakpa writes:

In each of the four directions surrounding the Hell of Ultimate Torment (Skt. avīci), there are four neighbouring hells, such as the ‘Plain of Razor Blades’ (Skt. ksuradhāraḥ; Wyl. spu gri'i gtams pa'i lam). When the karma that led you there is exhausted, you leave the Avichi Hell and see an attractive plain. You walk towards it, but when you reach it, it turns into a plain of weapons, cutting your feet to ribbons. Similarly, you see what appears to be a pleasant forest, but once you arrive there it becomes a ‘Forest of Sword Blades’ (Skt. asidhāraḥ; Wyl. ral gri lo ma'i nags tshal) where your body is gashed and chopped. Then you see a river and go towards it to have a drink, but it transforms into a ‘Swamp of Putrefying Corpses’ (Skt. kuṇapam; Wyl. ro myag dam). You become submerged in it up to your head and worms with metal beaks eat away at your flesh. Alternatively, you may see a shady trench, but once you arrive there it changes into a ‘Pit of Hot Embers’ (Skt. kukutam; Wyl. me ma mur) and sinking inside it, you suffer as your flesh and bones are burnt away. These are the sixteen Neighbouring Hells that ring the Hell of Ultimate Torment.