तप्तकाञ्चनपुष्पां च वैडूर्यप्रवरच्छदाम्।
द्रक्ष्यसे शाल्मलीं तीक्ष्णामायसैः कण्टकैश्चिताम्॥
tapta-kāñcana-puṣpāṁ ca vaiḍūrya-pravara-cchadām
drakṣyase śālmalīṁ tīkṣṇām āyasaiḥ kaṇṭakaiś citām
tapta-kāñcana-puṣpām = which bears extremely hot flowers of heated gold; ca = and; vaiḍūrya-pravara-chadām = leaves of excellent cat’s eye gems; drakṣyase = you will see; śālmalīm = silk-cotton tree; tīkṣṇām = a sharp; āyasaiḥ = of steel; kaṇṭakaiḥ = with thorns; citām = and which bristle.
You will see a sharp silk-cotton tree which bears extremely hot flowers of gold and leaves of excellent cat’s eye gems and which bristles with thorns of steel.
1 Śrī Govindarāja’s remark, “Rāvaṇa would have to see such a tree before embracing it,” therefore means “Rāvaṇa would be made to hang on such a tree and he would be pulled down forcibly in such a manner that the thorns very severely tear his body.”
2 Pada-ratnāvalī: sarvābhigamaḥ sarvābhiḥ strībhiḥ kṛta-saurataḥ saṁvādābhāve ’pi balād gamanam abhigamaḥ. Rāvaṇa had forcibly kidnapped unwilling females of several different higher species, arrested them in Laṅkā until they consented to his desires and then enjoyed them. He was fit to be punished in Vajra-kaṇṭaka-śālmalī. One might object that Rāvaṇa could enjoy the females only after they consented to his carnal desires and so he was fit to be punished in Taptasūrmi. Taptasūrmi is a hell where men and women who indulge in sex with an unworthy member of the opposite sex are punished by being made to embrace red-hot iron forms of the opposite sex. In response, it can be pointed out that the females kidnapped by Rāvaṇa were not voluntarily in an extra-marital affair with him. They were kidnapped and arrested until they would consent to Rāvaṇa’s advances. Taptasūrmi is the destination for those who have voluntarily entered into extra-marital relationships. Therefore, Śrī Sītā stated that Rāvaṇa was destined to go to Vajra-kaṇṭaka-śālmalī. See the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas’ commentaries on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.26.20.
3 The process of atonement will only work if it is executed with a repentant heart as stated in Yājñavalkya-smṛti 3.223: prāyaścittam akurvāṇāḥ pāpeṣu niratā narāḥ / apaścāt-tāpinaḥ kaṣṭān nirayān yānti dāruṇān.
Those who covet others’ wives experience a unique hell as pointed out in this verse.
“The silk-cotton tree” referred to here is a post in the shape of a silk-cotton tree in Yamaloka to be embraced by those who have had relationships with women other than their wives. It has golden flowers and leaves made of cat’s eye gems that are so hot that they are about to melt.
Rāvaṇa would have to see such a tree before embracing it.
NOTE. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.26.22 notes:
yas tv iha vai sarvābhigamas tam amutra niraye vartamānaṁ vajrakaṇṭaka-śālmalīm āropya niṣkarṣanti.
A person who indulges in sex indiscriminately—even with animals—is taken after death to the hell known as Vajrakaṇṭaka-śālmalī. In this hell there is a silk-cotton tree full of thorns as strong as thunderbolts. The agents of Yamarāja hang the sinful man on that tree and pull him down forcibly so that the thorns very severely tear his body.1
Śrī Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha has remarked in his commentary to the above Bhāgavatam verse that “a person who indulges in sex indiscriminately” refers to one who engages in sexual activity with females forcibly, even without engaging in a conversation [with them and so on].2
The following should also be noted:
There is a system in the varṇāśrama institution by which before death one has to undergo the process of atonement for his sinful activities. One who is always engaged in sinful activities must utilize the process of atonement called the prāyaścitta. Without doing so, one surely will be transferred to hellish planets to undergo miserable lives as the result of sinful activities. (Bhagavad-gītā 1.43 purport)
But Rāvaṇa didn’t atone for his sins and therefore Mother Sītā informs him that he is destined to go to hell.3