Niraya [BSk. niraya, nis+aya of i=to go asunder, to go to destruction, to die, cp. in meaning Vedic nirṛti. The popular etym. given by Dhammapāla at PvA 53 is "n' atthi ettha ayo sukhan ti"=there is no good; that given by Bdhgh at Vism 427 "n' atthi ettha assādasaññito ayo" (no refreshment)] purgatory, hell, a place of punishment & torture, where sin is atoned (i. e. kamma ripens=paccati, is literally boiled) by terrible ordeals (kāraṇāni) similar to & partly identical with those of Hades & Tartarus. There are a great number of hells, of which the most fearful is the Avīcimahāniraya (see Avīci). Names of other purgatories occur frequently in the Jātaka collection, e. g. Kākola vi.247; Khuradhāra v.269 sq.; Dhūma -- roruva v.271; Patāpana v.266, 271, 453; Paduma iv.245; Roruva iii.299; v.266; vi.237; Sanghāta v.266; Sañjīva ibid.; Sataporisa v.269; Sattisūla v.143. As the principal one n. is often mentioned with the other apāyas (states of suffering), viz. tiracchānayoni (animal world) & pittivisaya (the manes), e. g. at Nd1 489; Nd2 517, 550; Pv iv.11; ThA 282; PvA 27 sq. (see apāya). -- There is a great variety of qualifying adjectives connected with niraya, all of which abound in notions of fearful pain, awful misery & continuous suffering, e. g. kaṭuka, ghora, dāruṇa, bhayānaka, mahābhitāpa, sattussada etc. -- Descriptions of N. in glowing terms of frightfulness are freq. found from the earliest books down to the late Peta -- Vatthu, Pañcagati -- dīpana & Saddhammopāyana. Of these the foll. may be quoted as characteristic: S i.152 (10 nirayas); M iii.183; A i.141; Sn p. 126=A v.173; Nd1 404 sq.=Nd2 304iii.c; J iv.4 (Mittavindaka); Vv 52 (Revatī); Pv i.10; iii.10; iv.1; 7; DhA i.148. -- See on the whole subject, esp. L. Scherman, Materialen zur indischen Visionsliteratur, Leipzig 1792; & W. Stede, Die Gespenstergeschichten des Peta Vatthu, Leipzig 1914, pp. 33 -- 39. -- References: Vin i.227 (apāya duggati vinipāta niraya); D i.82, 107

(id.); Vin ii.198 (yo kho sanghaŋ bhindati kappaŋ nirayamhi paccati), 204; ii.203=It 86; D i.228 (+tiracchānayoni), 54 (read nirayasate for niriyasate); iii.111; S iv.126; v.356, 450; M i.73, 285, 308, 334; ii.86, 149, 186; iii.166, 203, 209; A iv.405; v.76, 182, 184; Sn 248 (patanti sattā nirayaŋ avaŋsirā), 333, 660 sq., 677 sq.; Dh 126, 140, 306, 311, 315; Th 1, 304 (adhammo nirayaŋ neti dhammo pāpeti suggatiŋ)=DhsA 38=DA i.99 =DhA i.22; Th 2, 456; It 12; J iv.463; Pug 60; Ps i.83 (Avīci˚); Vbh 86, 337; Vism 102; Miln 148; DhA i.22; iii.71; Sdhp 7, 285. -- See also nerayika.
   -- gāmin (adj.) leading to purgatory (magga) Sn 277; -- dukkha the pain of H. Sn 531; -- pāla a guardian of P., a devil A i.138, 141; M iii.179; Nd1 404; VvA 226. Names of guardians (after their complexion) e. g. Kāḷa (black) & Upakāḷa (blackish) J vi.248. -- bhaya the fear of P. J i.168; Vism 392; -- saŋvattanika conducive to P. Nd1 489.