[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Buddhist Sanskrit literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit) › [Āgama sūtras of the mainstream schools](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama) › [Mahākarmavibhaṅga](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga) › [ལས་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga*bo) › [The Exposition of Karma](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga*bo~en-84000) › 17 # ལས་རྣམ་པར་འབྱད་པ 17 The Exposition of Karma 17 - **Language:** English ### [17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga*bo~en-84000.17) thirty-two goddesses appeared, and so on as before, until¹⁸³ I saw a city enclosed by an iron wall and went inside. As soon as I stepped inside, the gates slammed shut. There,¹⁸⁴ too, I saw a man with a wheel made of¹⁸⁵ swords rotating above his head. And there and then the wheel was transferred to where I was standing nearby, onto my own head. Due to the ripening of the karmic fruit of my action of having desisted from leaving home by obeying my mother’s words four times and taking up the eight precepts, I enjoyed a personal heaven in four cities. Due to the ripening of the karmic fruit of my action of stepping on my mother’s head when setting out, a wheel made of sword blades is now rotating above and lacerating my head.” “ ‘Upon hearing this, Maitrāyajña thought, “I, too, have in the past carried out an action that is very similar to that one. I can see that the ripening of the karmic fruits of my own action is immanent!” “ ‘The hell being asked Maitrāyajña, “Where do you come from?” “ ‘And Maitrāyajña told his story: “In the Jambu continent there is a city called Tāmalipta.¹⁸⁶ I am from there. I, too, have done all those actions.” “ ‘ “It is true then!”¹⁸⁷ said the hell being. “I heard a voice coming from the sky that said, ‘The karmic fruit of your action is exhausted. One will come whose name is Maitrāyajña, the son of a sea merchant, who has committed an action similar to yours.’ ”¹⁸⁸ “ ‘Maitrāyajña asked, “What kind of food do you eat here?” “ ‘ “I eat the flesh, pus, and blood flowing from my own shredded head.”¹⁸⁹ Then this man died there. Maitrāyajña, terrified and distraught, made this aspiration¹⁹⁰ for the sake of his mother: “ ‘ “In all the countless worlds— From the Peak of Existence downward, from the Avīci hell upward— May the assemblies of gods, asuras, and mahoragas be happy, And may their suffering be taken on by me!”¹⁹¹ “ ‘With an earnest intention, - [Previous: 16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga*bo~en-84000.16) - [Next: 18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga*bo~en-84000.18) ## Linked texts (1) - [ལས་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga*bo.17) — Classical Tibetan --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga*bo~en-84000.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.mahakarmavibhanga*bo~en-84000.17) · Pramāṇa