www.ijellh.com 257 A Comparative Study of Ved Vyasa’s Garuda Purana and Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno” in The Divine Comedy Surya Simon Research Scholar Kerala India Abstract Religions and cultures across the globe believe in the idea of divine judgement resulting in punishment or eternal life after death. The Book of the Dead belonging to the ancient Greeks contains two hundred spells and illustrations that are believed to help the dead journey through the perils of the „Netherworld 1 ‟, a place where all souls go after death, and face judgements based on their earthly doings 2 . The African folks also believe in the afterlife which is associated with the „already‟ and „not yet‟ of one‟s actions and how it affects the afterlife of an individual 3 . Likewise, many religions and cultures believe in the afterlife where an individual is judged based on earthly actions which results in reincarnation or paradise or damnation. The researcher attempts to study the similarities and differences in the ideas of punishments portrayed in Ved Vyasa‟s Garuda Purana and Dante Alighieri‟s “Inferno” in The Divine Comedy . The researcher intends to study the types of punishments depicted in both works and on what basis the punishments are decided. Detailed textual analyses have helped to understand the conceptual mirroring of both works to comprehend the similarities and the contextual mirroring in the works to understand the differences in ideas. Key Words: History, Religion, Hindu, Christian, Bhagavad Gita, Bible, Puranas,Narakas,Hell, Justice, Dharma, Punishments, Judgement Day 1 Penglase, Charles. Greek Myths And Mesopotamia. London: Routledge, 1997. Print. 2 Journey Through The Afterlife ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. 1st ed. The British Museum, 2015. Web. 7 Sept. 2015. 3 BAKO, NGARNDEYE. ESCHATOLOGY IN AFRICAN FOLK RELIGION. 1st ed. South Africa: N.p., 2009. Print.