Overview
Naraka (Sanskrit: नरक) is the realm of hell as conceived in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Across these traditions, it is described as a place of torment where beings undergo suffering as a consequence of their actions.
The term has travelled beyond the Indian subcontinent. In Indonesian and Malaysian, the modified form Neraka is used to describe the Islamic concept of hell. Naraka was also a Khmer word for hell in Cambodia, where the Khmer Empire's blend of Buddhism and Hinduism gave shape to local understandings of this realm of torment and suffering, integrating diverse worldviews into its representation.
The word Naraka is used in two related senses. It denotes the underworld itself, and it also designates the beings believed to reside there. Such "hellish beings" are referred to in Sanskrit by several terms, including Narakiyas (नारकीय, Nārakīya), Narakarnavas (नरकार्णव, Narakārṇava), and Narakavasis (नरकवासी, Narakavāsī).
Within the religious literature of these traditions, Naraka functions as a counterpart to higher realms, forming part of broader cosmological schemes that describe the consequences of moral and ritual conduct. As a shared concept across Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, and as a term adopted into Southeast Asian languages and religious vocabularies, Naraka illustrates the wide cultural reach of Indic ideas concerning the afterlife.