Janaka Maharaja's Visit to Hell Janaka Maharaja is the father of Sita and a great devotee of Lord Ramachandra. It is described in Śrīmad Bhagavatam (6.3.20) that he is one of the twelve great authorities on religious principles in this universe. The following story from Padma Purāņa (pātālakhanda 18.31-77) of how Janaka Maharaja once visited hell illustrates the supreme potency of the holy name and the association with saintly persons. Lord Ananta Sesa once narrated a wonderful account of how King Janaka visited the abode of Yamaraja. After a long life, Janaka Maharaja gave up his body through the process of yoga. A divine airplane decorated with many bells descended and Janaka Maharaja boarded it. On the way the air-plane came near to the abode of Yamaraja, the lord of death. There, sinners were suffering pun-ishment in millions of hells. When the wind that had touched the body of Janaka came to them they felt great joy and their misery disappeared. Then those persons, oppressed b...