Overview
The lower realms (apāya) are the states of loss into which beings are reborn through unwholesome kamma. The Ratana Sutta says that the noble disciple who has the attainment of vision (dassanasampadā), and who will not take an eighth existence, is “freed from the four lower realms” (catūhapāyehi ca vippamutto), and the Khuddakapāṭha-aṭṭhakathā names the four: “the four lower realms are hell, the animal realm, the realm of ghosts and the asura host” (cattāro apāyā nāma nirayatiracchānapettivisayaasurakāyā).
The suttas often describe rebirth after death in “a state of loss, a bad destination, the nether world, hell” (apāyaṃ duggatiṃ vinipātaṃ nirayaṃ). The Visuddhimagga and the Samantapāsādikā first take all four words as names for hell, and then, as an alternative (atha vā), as the four lower realms: apāya shows the animal realm, duggati the realm of ghosts, vinipāta the asura host, and niraya hell itself.
The List
- Niraya - Hell: “a place without any enjoyment” (natthi ettha assādasaññito ayoti nirayo), of many kinds, such as Avīci.
- Tiracchānayoni - The animal realm: a state of loss because it is apart from a good destination, but not called a bad destination, since powerful beings such as nāga kings are born there.
- Pettivisaya - The realm of ghosts (peta): both a state of loss and a bad destination, since it is a destination of suffering; ghosts of great power even have mansions.
- Asurakāya - The asura host (asura): called vinipāta, “the nether world”, because it has fallen away from all prosperity. In the Pāthika Sutta (DN 24) the lowest of them are named the Kālakañcika asuras (kālakañcikā nāma asurā sabbanihīno asurakāyo).
Quote
Catūhapāyehi ca vippamutto, chaccābhiṭhānāni abhabba kātuṃ; Idampi saṅghe ratanaṃ paṇītaṃ, etena saccena suvatthi hotu.
He is also fully freed from the four states of woe, and therefore, incapable of committing the six major wrongdoings. This precious jewel is the Saṅgha. By this asseveration of the truth may there be happiness.— Khuddakapāṭha (Khp 6, Ratana Sutta; also Sn 2.1) · TPR
Textual References
- Canonical: Ratana Sutta (Khp 6; Suttanipāta 2.1, v. 234) – The noble disciple is freed from the four lower realms.
- Canonical: Saṅgīti Sutta (DN 33, D-iii 1620–1623) – The first four of the nine inopportune times for the holy life are rebirth in hell, the animal realm, the realm of ghosts and the asura host.
- Commentary: Paramatthajotikā (Khuddakapāṭha-aṭṭhakathā, Pj-i 885) – Names the four lower realms.
- Commentary: Visuddhimagga (Vism-ii 232–233) and Samantapāsādikā (Sp-i 723–724) – Explain apāyaṃ duggatiṃ vinipātaṃ nirayaṃ as the four lower realms.
- See also: The 5 Destinations of Rebirth (pañca gatiyo, MN 12): hell, the animal realm, the realm of ghosts, human beings and devas.