House of Clay

Realm of punishment described in a
verse in the Rg Veda (7.89), the earliest
Hindu religious text. As described in this
verse, the House of Clay is a place to
which evildoers—particularly those
guilty of speaking falsely—will be sent
by the god Varuna, who is considered
the guardian of righteousness and cosmic order (rta).
As its name indicates, the House of
Clay is a gloomy and joyless place. What
is notable in the original verse is the lack
of any notion of reincarnation (samsara), which later became a central
Indian assumption. At the time it was
seen as an undesirable and permanent
state after death.