Heaven, Hell and Payment Methods

Last week of January appears to throw interesting news all-round. As we are still in the last week of January this year, we have to make do with a couple of fantastic news items that surfaced in the last week of January in the earlier years. The real connection between audits and surfacing of these news items is not yet known, but let us all be assured that research is in progress and results may be out in the last week of January. Month of the publication of results is known, but year is not yet revealed. 

The first such item came up in June, 2023 though the actual event culminated on 22nd January, 2022. The case was widely reported by the mainstream media in India and BBC did it for rest of the world. A man by name Ankush Dutta, hailing from North East India, checked into a 5-Star  Roseate Hotel near the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on 30th May, 2019. He stayed in the hotel for two years, 603 days to be exact. He checked out on 22nd January, 2022. There is nothing special in this except that it was an unusually long stay at the hotel. It made news because he did not pay even a paisa or a dime though he had run up bills amounting to Rs. 58 lacs or USD 70,000. 

It came to the knowledge of the top management of the hotel through an audit report in June, 2023. The audit report used the usual language while reporting the issue. It said that "the bills were forged, deleted, added and falsified with a large number of entries in the account of the guest in the Opera Software system of the hotel". The hotel rules required that as soon as the dues of a guest crossed Rupees 50,000 he would be pushed for payments. Somehow dues of this man were always missing in the amounts due reports presented to the top management. The management doubted collusion by staff of the hotel and filed a police complaint.

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Then there was another case in January, 2024. A woman, Jhansi Rani Samuel from Andhra Pradesh, registered as a guest on January 30, 2024 at the 5-Star Pullman Hotel in Aerocity, Delhi. It was told that her husband was a doctor in New York, USA. She stayed for only 15 days. She used the Spa facility at the hotel with a counterfeit Identity Card as Isha Dave. Hotel bill was Rupees 5,88,176 and the Spa bill was Rupees 2,11,708 thus totalling Rupees 7,99,884, only sixteen rupees short of eight lakh rupees mark. 

She showed payments made to the hotel on the bank's App and checked out. During subsequent reconciliation of accounts, it was found that the payments shown to have been made on the bank's App never reached the hotel accounts!

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It is common knowledge that though the entire hotel may be given a particular rating, say 5-Star, the room tariffs vary according to the area of the different rooms, amenities in them as well as usage of other additional facilities provided in the hotel complex. Certain facilities are common to all while some others are optional. The more luxuries you use, the more you pay. The more you eat and drink, the more you are charged. So, guests staying there for the same period pay different amounts in bills. Conversely, guests going there with the same amount of money in their pockets or purse can stay for different periods depending on the facilities they use. 

We have many descriptions in our ancient texts about the varied luxurious facilities one can enjoy in the Heaven. A common belief we derive from those descriptions is that the Heavens (may be one Heaven, but different types of rooms!) are much more luxurious than the Star hotels we have on this earth. This being the case, it will be interesting to think of the method of payments there as against paying the star hotels on earth. Also, possibilities of escaping payments after enjoying the luxuries like the two adventurous guests we saw in the Delhi hotels.

One cannot just talk of Heaven and get away with it. There is as well as Hell to pay. Therefore, it becomes necessary to think of payment methods in Hell as well. Surely, the tariffs must be different in Hell also. For example, charges for getting fried for one hour in 200 degree Celsius hot oil cannot be the same as being fried for four hours in 400 degree Celsius hot oil. 

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Our ancient texts have given very clear details about the systems of payments in Heaven as well as Hell. In fact, Hell complex has seven different levels. "Garuda Purana" exclusively deals with the systems in Hell, though there are many other references in numerous other texts as well. The many amenities available in Heaven as well systems of payment in Heaven is available in similar numerous texts.

In a way, though none of us have been to either destination in our present lives so far, we can confidently talk about payments systems in both, as the details are available in plenty as also in clear terms.  

Modren man may pride himself as being an inventor of many payment methods. Starting from barter system, coins, currency notes and then progressing to credit/debit/pre-paid cards and other electronic payments etc. But ancient times had even more authentic and fool-proof payment systems in both these destinations. What is even more interesting is that there is no possibility of escaping payment like the two guests at the Delhi hotels. 

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Entry into Heaven is strictly regulated through Pre-paid cards. Other payment methods like credit cards or EMI methods are strictly prohibited. Chapter 9 Verse 21 of Bhagavad Gita clearly enunciates the principle "Ksheene Punye Martyalokam विशन्ति"  ("क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति") (ಕ್ಷೀಣೇ ಪುಣ್ಯೇ ಮರ್ತ್ಯಲೋಕ0 ವಿಶಂತಿ), meaning that entry into Heaven is based on pre-earned punya-basis and once the punya is exhausted there is automatic checkout with free and immediate transportation back to the mortal earth. There is no system of using a facility, running a bill and then making or escaping payment. 

A guest has to pre-load the card with punya points while living on earth. Higher the points earned and loaded, better facilities can be utilised and the stay can also be longer. 

All entry points for various facilities there have automatic entry gate machines that deduct the payable punya from the prepaid punya card and allow entry only thereafter. Thus there is no possibility of colluding with the staff there and managing to escape with non-payment or under-payment. There is also no escape until the next audit and managing to move far away before the audit reports are out. Very efficient system indeed!

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What is the system of payments in Hell? System in Hell is even more efficient than Heaven. Garuda Purana exclusively gives even minute details. It is like buying pre-paid coupons for purchasing items in a regulated shop. The system mandates that once the coupon is purchased it cannot be lost, torn and thrown or transferred to someone else. The item, facility or amenity cannot be refused or escaped. The coupon sticks to the earner/purchaser and goes away only after 100 per cent utilisation. 

Even thinking of any attempt to escape by colluding with the staff there will automatically generate additional coupons making additional usage compulsory. The final exit is only after clearance by the audit department there. There is a system of Concurrent Audit in use and there is no time lag between availing of facilities and audit sometime thereafter.

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What about those who do not believing in existence of Heaven or Hell? There appears to be another system of "On-location Programs" on earth itself. As this piece has become quite lengthy, let us consider it in detail at some other time.