Sukeshi was the son of demon King Vidyutkeshi. He was a great devotee of
Lord Shiva. Being pleased by his devotion, Lord Shiva had blessed him
with invincibility and gifted him a city, which was situated in the sky.
Sukeshi was a virtuous and just king.
Once, he had gone into the Magadh forest where he found numerous sages
engrossed in meditation. After introducing himself to the sages, he
expressed his desire to know about the path that led to benediction. He
also wanted to know how a man could achieve respectability and
contentment in his life. The sages told him that a man could achieve
benediction only by following the path of Dharma. "A religious man
achieves both respectability and contentment", said the sages. Sukeshi
then asked them about the characteristics of Dharma. The sages revealed
to him that the deities engage themselves in religious activities like
Yagya, self-study, study of Vedas and worship of Lord Vishnu. So, all
these activities are the Dharma of the deities. "The Dharma of the
demons consists of negative qualities like jealousy etc. But they have
profound knowledge in policy matters and have great devotion towards
Shiva", said the sages. "The Siddha's Dharma is to engage himself in
activities like practice of Yoga, study of Vedas, self-realisation and
devotion to both Lord Vishnu and Shiva", said the sages. In this way,
the sages enlightened Sukeshi on the Dharma of different sections of
divine entities.
At last, Sukeshi requested the sages to tell something about the hell
(Narak). The sages replied that altogether there were 21 hells. The name
of the first hell is Raurav, which covers the area of 2000 Yojans. The
second hell Maharaurav is twice the area of Raurav. Similarly, the
names of the remaining hells are Taamistra, Andhataamistra, Kaalchakra,
Aprathisth, Ghatiyantra, Asipatravan, Taptakumbh, Kootshaalmali,
Karpatra, Swabhojan, Sandansh, Lohapind, Kalmasikta, Kshaarnadi,
Krimibhojan, Vaitarninadi, Shonitpayabhojan, Kshuraagradhaar,
Nishitachakra and Sanshoshan.