Abstract
[Objective] The purpose of this study is to analyze the Bhrigu episode, which is the first to describe hell in Vedic religion. I would like to reveal the original characteristics of hell in Vedic literature, focusing on the intuitive hell and symbolic hell that Bhrigu experienced in the afterlife.
 [Contents] God Varuṇa sends his son Vrgu to the afterlife to pass on wisdom (prajña) as insight into the nature of reality to him. The hell narrative of this episode consists of the terrible intuitive hell world where humans eat humans, which Bhrigu witnesses, and the symbolic hell where rivers of blood and angry men appear. This paper sequentially analyzes its main contents and examines the characteristics of the knowledge of the Agnihotra ritual, the method of atonement (niskṛti) to avoid the suffering of hell taught by Varuna.
 [Conclusions] In the Bhrigu episode, the Brahmins, who are the subjects of the narrative, project their ritualistic worldview and weave the storytelling of a cruel hell. The narrative structure provides the value of ceremonial atonement and ceremonial knowledge through various metaphors and figuration of hell, providing solutions for the Brahmana era.
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