The first plane of existence is Apaya-bhumi or the plane of misery. It is where the doer of evil deeds is born after death to suffer the consequences of his wicked actions. This plane is further divided into four sub-divisions according to different types of beings. The four sub-divisions are:

1. Niraya or hell,
2. Tiracchanayoni or the realm of animals,
3. Petayoni or the realm of the hungry ghosts and
4. Asurayoni or the realm of the Titans.

These four realms of Apaya-bhumi will be discussed separately.
 

1. NIRAYA OR HELL

The Pali term Niraya is defined in the Paramatthajotika-a commentary on the Abhidhammatthasangaha-as a place completely devoid of happiness. It is one of the four realms of misery where evildoers are reborn after death according to their evil kamma. It is explained that the beings in Niraya will never have even a single moment of happy feeling; they have to suffer the painful results of their evil kamma from the beginning to the end of their lives in that realm. There is no time limit for one who is born in hell. Some may have to suffer there for a short period of time and some for numberless years. This depends on the power and efficacy of evil kamma done by each individual.

But however long one may suffer in hell, his life there is still temporary; one day, upon the exhaustion of the power of his evil kamma, he will be free from his hellish suffering. Bhikkhu Devadatta is an example in this connection. Because of his ill-will and misdeeds directed towards the Buddha and the Order or Sangha, he is said to have been born, after death, in the lowest hell called Avici. It was prophesied by the Buddha that Devadatta, upon the exhaustion of his evil kamma after the lapse of a long period of time, would, as a result of his previous meritorious actions, become in the future a Pacceka-Buddha named Atthissara.’

In the Paramatthajorika, eight great hells or Mahaniraya are mentioned. They are said to be located under the realm of human beings. The eight great hells are as follows:
 

A. Saiijiva:

It is explained that in this hell, the guardians of the hell (niraya-pala) chop and cut the hell creatures with glowing weapons. But as long as their evil deeds remain unexhausted, they regain their lives after the punishment is over.

Hence this hell is called Sanjiva or ‘the reviver’.
 

B. Kalasutta:

It is explained that the beings born in this hell are placed on a floor of heated iron, marked with a black thread, and made red hot. The guardians of hell then plane them with adzes along the markings and hence the name Kalasutta, ‘the black thread’.
 

C. Sanghata:

This hell is so called because the beings born here are crushed into dust by glowing mountains.”
 

D. Roruva or Dhumaroruva:

This hell is so called because the beings born here are all the time crying with a loud noise, or because they have noxious gases blown into their bodies and painfully cry with a loud noise and hence the name Dhumaroruva.’
 

E. Maharoruva or Jalaroruva:

This hell is called Maharoruva because the beings born here are crying louder than the beings born in the roruva hell, or it is called Jalaroruva because the beings born here have hellish flames blown into their bodies and they cry loudly.
 

F. Tapana or Culatapana:

It is said that the beings born in this hell are pierced by red-hot stakes and they remain transfixed, motionless as long as the results of their evil deeds last and hence the name.
 

G. Mahatapana:

It is explained that the hell in which the beings are heated with more suffering than in the Culatapana is called Mahatapana. The niraya-pala (hell-guardians) of this purgatory force the hell creatures to climb up a burning iron mountain and then they are slipped down by strong winds, falling to the red-hot stakes below. There at they experience feelings that are painful, sharp, severe, as long as the power of their evil kamma lasts.
 

H. Avici:

This great hell is the lowest and the most terrible of all. The chief suffering endured in this hell is that of heat. It is explained that there is no space between the beings and the flames and there is no gap of suffering experienced in this hell and hence it is called Avici.

It seems to have been specially designed for those who had committed very grievous crimes, such as the five great sins, etc.  In the Pali scriptures many names are mentioned as to those who had to suffer the fruition of their evil deeds done in their human life.

Among them are, for instance, Nanda, who raped his cousin, the Theri (nun) Upalavanna; Devadatta, who tried to assassinate the Buddha and caused a schism in the Order; Cunda, the pork butcher; Suppabuddha who insulted the Buddha; etc.

It is said that when Devadatta entered the great hell Avici, his body became one hundred leagues (yojana) in height; his head, as far as the outer ear, entered into the glowing iron ceiling and his feet entered into a glowing iron floor up to the ankles; and an iron stake as big as the trunk of a palmyra tree coming from the west wall pierced him from the back through his breast entering the east wall.

Other similar stakes coming from the right wall pierced through his body entering the left wall and from the ceiling pierced his head penetrating through the whole body and entering the red-hot iron ground below. Both of his hands were fixed with red-hot iron stakes. He is thus standing motionless amidst the hellish flames until his evil kamma is exhausted in the future.”

The above mentioned great hells are said to be located farther downwards respectively from the human world, the Sanjiva being the nearest and the Avici is the farthest or the lowest. The hell creatures may die because of the severest punishment, but they will regain their lives as long as the power of their evil kamma lasts.

Apart from the eight great hells, the Paramatthajotika mentions also five small hells called Ussada-niraya. The Pali term Ussada literally means ‘plenty’ or `abundance’. It is explained that suffering is abundant in these small hells. They are therefore called Ussada.’s The Ussada-niraya surround each great hell in four directions.

The Devaduta Sutta describes the great hell as being square in shape encircled by an iron wall and covered by an iron roof; the floor is made of glowing iron of a hundred leagues square; there are four big gates in four directions. Next to each gate in each direction are situated in respective order the five small hells or Ussada-niraya.

The five small purgatones are:
 

a. Gutha or the filth hell,
b. Kukkula or the ember hell
c. Simpalivana or the silk-cotton tree hell,
d. Asipattavana or the sword-leafed forest hell, and
e. Vettarani or the river of caustic water hell.
 

Thus one great hell is surrounded in four directions by twenty small hells. Counted together the total number of hells becomes 168, i.e. eight great hells and 160 small hells. But since each great hell is surrounded by five varieties of small hells, the same kinds of hells in the four directions may be counted as one and thus one great hell has only five surrounding small hells. In this way the total number is 48 - eight great hells and 40 small hells.

The ruler of the great hell is called Yama or Yamaraja. But there is not only one Yamaraja for one Mahaniraya; there are actually four Yamaraja who are in charge of the four gates. Thus for eight great hells there are altogether thirty-two Yamaraja. Apart from these Yamaraja there are a number of hell-guardians called Niraya-pala.

The duty of the Yamaraja is to consider the case of each hell creature and give orders for punishment; the Niraya-pala’s duty is to inflict the penalties typical of each hell on the hell-creatures. Yamaraja and Niraya-pala are actually not hell beings but belong to the heaven of Catummaharajika.

They are described as Vemanikapeta, the beings that sometimes enjoy the fruitions of their meritorious kamma in heaven and sometimes suffer the results of their evil deeds in hell. By particular kinds of karnma they are sent to perform their duties in this realm of misery by inflicting penalties on the hell creatures.

It is said in the Devaduta Sutta that the Niraya-pala seize the person who has just passed away from the human world - and present him to Yamaraja, saying: “This man, sire, has no respect for his mother, no respect for his father; he does not honour recluses; he does not honour Brahmins; he does not pay due respect to the elders of the family.

Let your majesty decree a punishment for him.” Then the Yamaraja cross-questions him, asking about the five divine messengers (Devaduta). The five divine messengers are:
 

a. a newly born baby,
b. an aged man or woman,
c. a sick person,
d. a person subjected to various punishments, and
e. a dead man or woman.
 

The Yamaraja questions him about these five divine messengers one by one respectively. In asking about the fifth messenger, for instance, he says: “My good man, did you see the fifth divine messenger who appeared among men.”

He replies: “I did not see him revered sir.”

Yamaraja speaks to him thus: “My good man, did you not see among men a woman or a man dead for one, two or three days, swollen, discoloured, decomposing? “

He replies: “I saw this, revered sir.” Then Yamaraja says: “My good man, although you are sensible and grown up, did it not occur to you that you too were liable to death, that you had not outstripped death and that you should do what is lovely in body, speech and thought?” He speaks thus: “I was not able, revered sir. I was indolent, revered sir.”

Yamaraja then speaks to him: “If it was because of indolence, my good man, that you did not do what is lovely in body, speech and thought, they will undoubtedly react unto you, my good man, in accordance with that indolence. For this deed that is evil is yours; it was neither done by your mother, nor by your father, nor by your brother, nor by your sister, nor by your friends and acquaintances, nor by kith and kin, nor by recluses and brahmins, nor by gods.

This evil deed was done by you; it is you yourself that will experience its ripening.” Yamaraja, having thus spoken, remains silent. The guardians of the hell then subject him to what is called the fivefold pinion. They drive a red-hot iron stake through each hand and each foot and a red-hot iron stake through the middle of his breast. Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp and severe. But his term does not expire until an end is made of his evil kamma.

Then the guardians of the hell lay him down and plane him with adzes. Thereat....

Then the guardians of the hell place him feet up and head down and plane him with razors. Thereat...

Then the guardians of the hell bind him to a chariot and drive him up and down over ground that is burning, aflame, ablaze. Thereat....

Then the guardians of the hell push him up and down a great mountain slope of glowing cinders, burning, aflame, ablaze. Thereat....

Then the guardians of the hell take him feet up and head down, and plunge him into a glowing brazen cauldron, burning, aflame, ablaze.  There he is boiled and rises to the surface with the scum. Boiling there and rising to the surface with the scum, he once comes up and once goes down and once he goes across.
Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp and severe. But his term does not expire until an end is made of his evil kamma. Then the guardians of the hell toss him into the great hell. The Devaduta Sutta describes the penalties inflicted on the hell creatures in the great hell or Mahaniraya as follows:

The flames that leap up by the eastern wall of this great hell are hurled against the western wall; the flames that leap up by the western wall are hurled against the eastern wall; the flames that leap up by the northern wall are hurled against the southern wall; the flames that leap up by the southern wall are hurled against the northern wall; the flames that leap up from below are hurled above, the flames that leap up from above are hurled below.

Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp, severe. But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma.

There comes a time once in a very long while when the eastern gateway of this great hell is opened. That being rushes there swiftly and speedily; while he is rushing swiftly and speedily his skin burns and his hide burns and his flesh burns and his tendons burn and his eyes are filled with smoke - such is his plight. But just when his organs are razed, they immediately become normal.

And though he has attained much, the gateway is nevertheless closed against him. Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp, severe. But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma.

There comes a time once in a very long while when the western gateway... the northern gateway... the southern gateway of this great hell is opened. He rushes there swiftly and speedily; while he is rushing swiftly and speedily his skin burns... the gateway is nevertheless closed against him. Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp, severe. But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma.

There comes a time once in a very long while when the eastern gateway of this great hell is opened. He rushes there swiftly and speedily... such is his plight. He issues forth by this gateway. But surrounding this great hell is the Filth Hell (Gutha-niraya). He falls into it. And in the Filth Hell needle-mouthed creatures cut away his skin; having cut away his skin they cut away his hide...his flesh... his tendons... his bones; having cut away his bones, they devour the marrow of the bones.

Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp, severe. But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma. And surrounding this Filth Hell is the Ember Hell (Kukkula-niraya). He falls into it. Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp, severe.

But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma. And surrounding this Ember Hell is the Silk-Cotton Tree (Simpalivana-niraya) towering a league (yojana) high with prickles of sixteen finger-breadths long, burning, aflame, ablaze. The hell guardians make him climb up and down. Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp, severe. But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma.

And adjacent to that forest of Silk-Cotton Trees is the great Sword-Leafed Forest (Asipattana-niraya). He enters it. Its leaves, stirred by the wind, cut off his hands and cut off his feet and cut off his hands and feet... ears... nose, and cut off his ears and nose.’

Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp, severe. But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma.  An adjacent to that Sword-Leafed Forest is the great River of Caustic Water (Vettarani-niraya). He falls into it. There he is carried with the stream, against the stream and with and against the stream.

Thereat he experiences feelings that are painful, sharp, severe. But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma.  The guardians of the hell haul him out with a fish-hook, set him on dry ground and speak thus to him: “My good man, what do you want?”

He replies: “I am hungry, revered sirs.” The guardians of the hell, opening his mouth with a glowing iron spike, burning, aflame, ablaze, then push into his mouth a glowing copper pellet, burning, aflame, ablaze. It burns his lips, his mouth, his throat, his chest and it passes out below taking with it his bowels and intestines.

Thereat he experiences feelings... But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma.  Then, the guardians of the hell ask him: “My good man, what do you want?”

He speaks thus: “I am thirsty, revered sirs.” The guardians of the hel.l, opening his mouth... pour glowing copper liquid into his mouth... Thereat he experiences feeling .... But he does not expire his term until he makes an end of his evil kamma. Then, the guardians of the hell toss him back again into the
great hell.

The great hell as described in the Devaduta Sutta is probably the Avici-mahaniraya since the chief suffering endured in this hell is that of heat. But the Avici-mahaniraya seems to consist of more than one great hell and five small hells as appears in the Devaduta Sutta.

The Venerable Saddhammajotika in his Paramatthajotika quoting the commentary on Sarityutta-Nikaya and Atiguttara-Nikaya says that there are twelve various hells under the common name Avici:
 

i.     Pahasa,
ii.    Aparajita,
iii.   Ambuda,
iv.   Nirabbuda,
v.    Ababa,
vi.   Ahaha,
vii   Atata,
viii. Kumuda,
ix.   Sogandhika,
x.    Uppala,
xi.   Pundarika,
xii.  Mahapaduma or paduma.
 

The last one or Paduma-niraya is known as where Bhikkhu Kokalika, a close friend of Devadatta, who falsely accused the Venerable Sariputta and Moggallana of having a wicked thought, was born after his human life. In the small hell or Ussada-niraya, apart from suffering caused by the nature of punishment particular to each hell, the hell creatures are said to suffer also from the attack of four kinds of hell beasts: giant vultures, giant crows, giant hawks and giant dogs.

These animals are said to be very fierce and will furiously attack the hell creatures at first sight.  Among four realms of Apaya-bhumi or the plane of misery, Niraya appears, as we have seen, to be the most horrible of all. The birth of the being in hell is of spontaneous birth or opapatika and this is purely brought about by evil kamma.

The body of the hell being may be completely destroyed by hellish punishment, but as long as his evil deeds have not been recompensed it will always be created anew. It is said that when the power of evil kamma becomes weaker he will be free from the great hell, but he still continues to suffer in the small hell or Ussada-niraya.

During this period, if his meritorious kamma performed in the past is very powerful, he may immediately move from hell and assume rebirth in heaven or in the realm of human beings. If, on the other hand, his evil kamma still remains, but not strong enough for his suffering in hell, he may move from there and take rebirth in the realm of the hungry ghost (Peta) or as an animal, whatever will suit the case.
 

2. TIRACCHANAYONI OR ANIMAL BIRTH

Buddhism regards animal existence as a state of life belonging to the plane of misery or Apaya-bhumi. It maintains that there is no certainty in the state of being, a man may be reborn as an animal, and vice versa or an animal may attain the state of divine being in heaven and the divine being may be degraded and be reborn as an animal. This depends on ‘the kamma performed by each individual in his previous and present life.

Whatever action has been done by him, he himself is to receive its consequences. As the Buddha said,

“Owners of their own kamma are living beings, heirs to their kamma, have kamma as the wombs from which they spring, have kamma as their kinsmen, have kamma as their refuges. Whatsoever kamma they do, be it wholesome or unwholesome, of that thing they are the receivers.”

Now, what type of person will attain, after death, animal birth? To this question we find the answer in the Anguttara-Nikaya where the Buddha is reported to have said:

“Some person in this world, bhikkhus, takes life, he is a hunter, bloody-handed, given over to killing and slaying, void of compassion for all living creatures... takes what is not given... commits adultery... is a liar, a slanderer, of harsh speech, of idle babble... covetous... of harmful thoughts... of wrong view....

He goes crookedly in body, crookedly in speech, crookedly in mind.  His physical action is crooked, verbal action is crooked and mental action is crooked; crooked in his bourn and crooked in his rebirth.  I declare, bhikkhus, any one of the two bourns, viz., a woeful state of hell or birth as an animal that creeps crookedly along, for him whose bourn is crooked and whose rebirth is crooked.

Of what sort, bhikkhus, is that animal birth, one that creeps crookedly along. It is of a snake, a scorpion, a centipede, a mongoose, a cat, a mouse, an owl or whatsoever other animal, one that goes stealthily on seeing human beings.”

In the Jataka we are told that the Buddha himself had been born as an animal in many of his previous births. Thus, for ordinary men like us it is no doubt that in the course of our wandering in Samsara we might have been born as an animal, since no one who is still in bondage has never performed evil deeds in the past.

Some modern Buddhists, however, are of the opinion that it is not possible for a well-developed being like man to be reborn as a low creature like an animal. This view is definitely not in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings and it will never be accepted by a serious Buddhist.

From the Buddhist point of view, the interchange of beings between the plane of misery and the plane of happiness is a common phenomenon in the world of Samsara. Buddhism maintains that only one who has attained the holy stages ranging from the Stream-Enterer or Sotapanna to the Non-Returner or Anagami will be no more reborn as an animal.

There is nothing to be said about one who has attained the stage of Arahat-ship, as the root-cause of his rebirth has been totally uprooted. But for the worldly man or puthujana like us, rebirth in the plane of misery, e.g. as an animal, as a hell being, etc., is as possible as rebirth in the plane of happiness.

The animal kingdom, unlike other realms, is in the same world as human beings. It is not difficult to see the reason why Buddhism regards animal birth as a state of life included in the plane of misery.

First of all there is no morality in the animal kingdom; animals live according to the wild law of nature. Among animals, the strongest is the survivor; the bigger eats the smaller. Danger to life is the crucial problem for them; it may come at any moment from animals themselves as well as from human beings. They have to struggle hard for their survival, especially for food which is not always certain.

 Sometimes they have enough to eat but sometimes they have to starve for many days. Moreover, they have to bear nakedly the hot and cold, the wet and dry seasons of the year without proper protection. With all these difficulties, animal lite, although it is not as much suffering as that of the beings in hell, is rationally included as one of the miserable existences.

Another reason why Buddhism includes animal birth in the Apaya-bhumi is that whosoever, because of his evil kamma; attains the birth of animal is naturally obstructed from realizing the ultimate truth, from following the path of virtue which leads to emancipation. This is because animal existence is the negation of such realization and practice. Lacking the capacity for realizing the ultimate truth is considered critical since such realization is the prime aim of life that we struggle for.
 

3. PETTIVISAYA OR THE REALM OF THE UNHAPPY GHOSTS

Pettivisaya literally means ‘the realm of the Peta or unhappy ghosts.’ It is a realm included in the plane of misery according to Buddhism. It is said that there is no particular place for the Peta to live; they live in the same world as human beings, such as in forests, on mountains, on islands, in cemeteries, etc.

But since they belong to a different realm of existence they are, therefore, invisible to human eyes. They may be seen only when they want themselves to be seen by human beings. Another means of seeing the Peta is by clairvoyance or dibbacakkhu developed by meditation. The Paramatthajotika quotes the commentary on Petavatthu and mentions four kinds of Peta, namely,
 

i.    Paradattupajivika-peta,
ii.   Khuppipasika-peta,
iii.  Nijjhamatanhika-peta, and
iv.  Kalakancika-peta.
 

The Paradattupajivika-peta, is an unhappy ghost who lives on the dakkhina or sacrificial gifts of others. It is because of this type of Peta that Buddhism encourages its followers to perform a dakkhina or merit-making by offering food, clothing, shelter, etc., to virtuous persons, such as a bhikkhu or a group of bhikkhus, and then to dedicate the merit acquired there from to deceased relatives.

This is done on the basis of the belief that if the deceased.relatives have attained the life of the Paradattupajivika-peta, their suffering, on the appreciation of the sacrifice done and dedicated to them, will be abolished and they will thereby attain to the plane of happiness. This belief is affirmed by many stories of the Peta which appear in the Petavatthu of the Pali Canon.

In one story, for instance, it is said that the Venerable Sariputta came across a female Peta appearing as an ugly, bony-thin and naked woman. The Elder questioned her and she replied that she was a Peta born in the Peta-world of suffering.

She reported that when she was a human being neither her father, mother nor relatives persuaded her to perform any good kamma like giving alms, observing precepts, etc. Because of lacking such meritorious deeds she was, after her human existence, consequently born as an unhappy Peta tortured by hunger and thirst for five hundred years.

She at last begged for help from the Venerable Sariputta. The Elder accepted her request and later offered a certain amount of food, a small piece of cloth, and water to one bhikkhu. He particularly dedicated that dakkhina to that Peta.

On appreciating the dakkhina specially consecrated to her, she immediately acquired food, clothes and other properties and became released from suffering. Having attained the state of a celestial being, she came and appeared before the Venerable Sariputta. Being unable to recognize her, the Elder asked her who she was. The devadhita (goddess) informed him and said that she had come to pay her homage to him.

The Peta in the above story was obviously a Paradattupajlvika-peta. It should be noted here that according to Buddhism only the Peta of this sort are able to enjoy the outcome of dakkhina dedicated by their relatives.  The Peta of other sorts are not affected by such a dedication.

The dakkhina will become fruitful to the Peta, however, only when three conditions are met. The three conditions are:
 

i.    The.dakkhina or sacrifice is given to a virtuous person,
ii.   The performer of the dakkhina dedicates it particularly to his deceased relative, and
iii.   His deceased relative has been born as a Paradattupajivika-peta and that Peta knows and
      appreciates that dakkhina particularly consecrated to him.
 

If any of these three conditions is lacking, the deceased relative will not be able to enjoy the outcome of the dakkhina. But whatever the case may be, the performer of the dakkhina will never be without the result of his meritorious action.

The second kind of Peta is the Khuppipasika-peta. This sort of Peta suffers from hunger and thirst. The dakkhina dedicated by relatives in the human world cannot bear fruit to one born as this kind of Peta. He will suffer in the Peta-realm as long as his evil kamma lasts.

The Peta of the third kind is the Nijjhamatanhika-peta. The suffering of this sort of Peta is caused by his own craving or tanha. It is said that fire burns in his mouth all the time and this results in his burning desire which can never be fulfilled. He will continue to suffer in the Peta-world unless and until his evil kamma performed in the past becomes exhausted.

The fourth kind of Peta is the Kalakancika-peta. It is explained that this sort of Peta has a body three leagues (yojana) tall. But his body appears to be like a dry leaf with only skin covering the skeleton; his eyes protrude like those of the crab and his mouth is extremely small.  He suffers from hunger and thirst like the other types of Peta.

The Paramatthajotika also mentions many other types of Peta, but after careful consideration we may conclude that the differences between the beings in the Peta-world are characteristically dependent on the particular nature of the evil kamma formerly performed by each Peta.

One Peta is always different from the others in the way and manner of suffering and this different is solely determined by one’s particular evil kamma. Another type of Peta which should also be mentioned here is the Vemanika-peta.

According to the Buddhist texts, at night this Peta appears as a god of the lower grade, enjoying the fruition of his previous good kamma in a celestial palace called vimana. But during the day his previous evil kamma forces him to leave his happy vimana and suffer its unhealthy result at a certain place until the end of the day when he then returns to his celestial residence.

His cycle of life will continue in this way unless and until his previous evil kamma has been recompensed. Since one half of his life is spent in happiness in the vimana and the other half in the painful experience of the Peta, hence he is called Vemanika-peta. We are told further that there is no certain limit or duration to existence in the realm of the Peta.

One may suffer in this miserable world for a very long period of time and another may exist there only for a number of days. This is because existence in the Peta-world is solely determined by evil kamma previously performed by each individual. In the human world one may pass away due to the expiration of life, but in the Peta-world the end of life occurs only with the exhaustion of evil kamma.  This realm is included in the plane of suffering or duggati because life there is dominated entirely by the sufference of pain and torture.
 

4. ASURAYONI OR THE BIRTH OF THE TITANS

The last sort of birth included in the plane of misery is birth as a Titan or Asura. The being called Asura here is to be distinguished from Deva-asura, Peta-asura and Niraya-asura, since not all of them are regarded as existing in the plane of misery.

Deva-asura is a class of god belonging to the same realm of Tavatimsa heaven. Vepacitti is said to be the king of this sort of Asura. Deva-asura is definitely not included in the type of being in the plane of misery. Only Peta-asura and Niraya-asura are accounted as beings of the Apaya-bhumi.

The Paramatthajotika says that the being which is called Asura or Asurakaya of the Apaya-bhumi is but the Kalakanci-peta, one of the four sorts of Peta we have already considered. These Kalakanci-peta have, like other sorts of Peta,  no particular place of their own; they live in the human world, i.e., in forests, in the sea, on islands, in valleys, etc.

The Niraya-asura is described as a type of hell creature. They have a particular realm of their own called Lokantarika-niraya. This Niraya is said to be situated between the three worlds - the human world, the ordinary hell world and the heaven world.

In between these three worlds there is a dark sea of acid water surrounded by rocky mountains. This sea is covered with eternal darkness; no ray of light can reach this place.  The creatures of the Lokantarika-niraya hang themselves on cliffs like bats. They are tortured by hunger and thirst as there is no food for them.

While moving along the cliff they sometimes come across each other.  Thinking that they have come across food, they jump upon each other and start fighting. As soon as they start fighting, they let loose their grip on the cliff and as a result they fall into the sea below and their bodies melt away just like salt melting away in water.

It is explained that the creatures of Lokantarika-niraya are called ‘Asura’ because their lives are contrary to the gods in the Tavatimsa heaven who are called ‘sura’, i.e., life in Lokantarika-niraya is entirely unpleasant while that of the Tavatiriisa gods is entirely pleasant. The reason why the Asura or Asurakaya is spoken of separately as another sort of being in the plane of misery is probably because this type of creature possesses special characteristics unlike other beings of the Peta world.

Now we have seen that in the Apaya-bhumi or the plane of misery there are four principal births: birth as a hell creature, as an animal, as a Peta or hungry ghost, and as an Asura or Titan. Among these four sorts of beings, the three principal births, namely, the birth of the hell creature, the Peta and the Asura, belong to what is called opapatika or spontaneous uprising.

The birth of animals varies from one type to another according to its kind, i.e., some kinds belong to the andaja -born from eggs, some belong to the jalabuja - born from a womb, and some belong to sansedaja born from moisture. All these four principal births are brought about entirely by evil kamma and hence they are regarded as miserable existences.
 

It is difficult to be born human.
It is difficult to conduct life as a human being.
Rare is the opportunity to hear the Dhamma.
Even more rare it the appearance of a Buddha.
 

‘ BUDDHA, THE  DHAMMAPADA’