Avīci or Avici (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

and

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist '' Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Bud ...

for "without waves"; zh, 無間地獄 or ; ja, 無間地獄 or ; my, အဝီစိငရဲ) is one of the hells (''

naraka Naraka ( sa, नरक) is the realm of hell in Indian religions. According to some schools of Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism, ''Naraka'' is a place of torment. The word ''Neraka'' (modification of ''Naraka'') in Indonesian and Malaysi ...

'') in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. In Hinduism, it is one of the twenty-eight hells located in the kingdom of

Yama Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities ...

, where individuals are reborn for bearing false witness and outright lying while transacting business or giving charity. In Buddhism, it is the lowest level of the

Naraka Naraka ( sa, नरक) is the realm of hell in Indian religions. According to some schools of Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism, ''Naraka'' is a place of torment. The word ''Neraka'' (modification of ''Naraka'') in Indonesian and Malaysi ...

or "hell" realm, with the most suffering, into which the dead who have committed grave misdeeds may be reborn. It is said to be a cube 20,000 ''

yojana A yojana (Sanskrit: योजन; th, โยชน์; my, ယူဇနာ) is a measure of distance that was used in ancient India, Thailand and Myanmar. A yojana is about 12–15 km. Edicts of Ashoka (3rd century BCE) Ashoka, in his Major R ...

s'' (240,000 to 300,000 kilometers) on each side, buried deep underneath the divine (nonvisible) earth. ''Avīci'' is often translated into English as " interminable" or " incessant", referring to suffering without periods of respite, although it is believed to be ultimately impermanent.

Avīci-punishable offenses/transgressions

There are various evil acts which can lead one to being committed to the torments of . People reborn in have generally committed one or more of the Five

Anantarika-karma Ānantarya Karma (Sanskrit) or Ānantarika Kamma (Pāli) are the most serious offences in Buddhism that, at death, through the overwhelming karmic strength of any single one of them, bring immediate disaster. Both Buddhists and non-Buddhists mus ...

("Grave Offenses"): * Intentionally killing one's

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

. * Intentionally killing one's

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ge ...

. * Killing an ''

arhat In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved '' Nirvana'' and liberated ...

'' (enlightened being). * Shedding the blood of a

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

. * Creating a

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

within the ''

sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

'' (the community of Buddhist monks, nuns, and laypeople who try to attain enlightenment).

Details about Avīci

Buddhism teaches that going to Naraka is temporary, allowing the offenders to work off the karma they garnered in life. is sometimes cited as lasting 3.39738624×10¹⁸ or 339,738,624×10¹⁰ years, about 3.4 quintillion years. The Lotus Sutra provides an example of humans who have to endure long-term suffering in . Some

sutras ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...

state that rebirth in will be for innumerable '' kalpas'' (aeons). When the offending soul passes away after one ''kalpa'', it is reborn in the same place, suffering for another ''kalpa'', and on and on until it has exhausted its bad

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively ...

. For this reason, the hell is also known as the "nonstop way" ().

Nichiren Nichiren (16 February 1222 – 13 October 1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. Nichiren declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of ...

famously wrote that Buddhist monks who ignored the passages in the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

, which claimed superiority over other sutras, would fall into . Outside of Nichiren, it is extremely rare for a Buddhist monk to condemn anyone to , although the Lotus Sutra itself states of anyone who slanders it: "when his life comes to an end, he will enter the Avichi Hell." Some believe rebirth in (or any lower realm, for that matter) should be seen as a process of purification. If anyone correctly follows the teachings of Buddha, they will be able to attain enlightenment without going to any hell even if they have accumulated a vast amount of negative karma (excluding

). There are many stories of people who have accumulated negative karma but avoided all the levels of Naraka because they attained enlightenment before their karma ripened. If one has Anantarika-karma, he will not be able to attain enlightenment in this life because this negative karma will ripen immediately. Buddhism accepts the principle of ''

anattā In Buddhism, the term ''anattā'' (Pali: अनत्ता) or ''anātman'' (Sanskrit: अनात्मन्) refers to the doctrine of "non-self" – that no unchanging, permanent self or essence can be found in any phenomenon. While often ...

'', according to which there is no concept of

self The self is an individual as the object of that individual’s own reflective consciousness. Since the ''self'' is a reference by a subject to the same subject, this reference is necessarily subjective. The sense of having a self—or ''selfhood ...

. Consequences are results of actions that are brought by in an impersonal manner described with the concept of

. There is no supernatural being applying its own will to determine someone's fate: " ..beings are owners of kamma, heir to kamma, born of kamma, related through kamma, and have kamma as their arbitrator. ''Kamma'' is what creates distinctions among beings in terms of coarseness & refinement."Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta: The Shorter Analysis of Action
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avīci Locations in Buddhist mythology Buddhist cosmology Naraka