ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 12.19

12.19

Venerable Nandaka inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, it has always been my custom to wander from time to time among the hell beings, to wander among the anguished spirits, to wander among the animals, to wander among the humans, and to wander among the gods.

“When I return I relate to people how the hell beings suffer through being cut up, hacked apart, beaten, roasted, and so on. When I return I also relate to people how the anguished spirits suffer through hunger, thirst, being burned, being incinerated, being cooked, and so on; how animals suffer as they eat one another; how human beings suffer through striving, anger, and exhaustion; and how the gods suffer through dying, falling, disintegrating, and decaying. Because of this, the people who hear me are filled with sorrow, and from this sorrow they go on to achieve great things.

“Lord, after preparing to wander among the anguished spirits, I disappeared from Śrāvastī and stood on the seashore. There, Lord, I saw an anguished spirit that was completely naked and covered only by the hair of her head. She was covered in flames like a burning log, and completely blind. Worms poured forth from her nose and mouth, and she reeked with a stench that could be smelled for many yojanas. She ran all about, but mottled blue dogs bit her wherever she went. This caused her dreadful suffering and extreme, excruciating, unbearable agony, and she cried out loudly as she ran all about.

“Lord, what action did this anguished spirit take that ripened into her meeting with such suffering?”

“Nandaka,” the Blessed One explained, “that anguished spirit committed nonvirtuous actions over and over again.