“Most religious cosmologies include the existence of hells somewhere in the universe, and Buddhism is no exception. "Hell" is a translation of the Indic word naraka (or niraya), "devoid of happiness." The hells are mentioned in a large number of Buddhist sūtras, either as a single entity, as in the Verses on the Law (Dhammapada, 4th-3d century B.C.E.), or as a system of individually named hells, as in the Abhidharma commentaries (very early Buddhist writings). They were certainly not systematized into an elaborate structure such as we see in the Abhidharmakośa for a very long time.” HellBuddhist Cosmology Book:Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins Source: Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins