ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 12.7

12.7

“After he said this, he led the man to the royal palace and had him legally convicted. Then he brought him back to his own house, where he beat him with a strip of wet leather, bound him tightly, and broke all his ribs, which was enough to cause his death.

“The man’s son was not home, so the petty official commandeered not only the possessions of the house but the man’s wife as well. ‘It’s for your sake that I committed all these misdeeds, my dear,’ he told her. ‘So I am the man of the house now, and you are my wife.’

“To this the lay vow holder’s wife replied, ‘How can we be together when I haven’t even performed the ritual veneration of my husband’s remains? First let me venerate his remains for a time. After that, lord, I shall do as you please.’

“No sooner was this said than the petty official bore the lay vow holder’s remains to the charnel ground and incinerated them. As he sat there with his back to her, the woman leapt into the burning fire and died on the spot. At this the petty official began to brood, thinking, ‘Such wrongs I have committed, one after the other! Meeting that woman was of no benefit. Not only did I commit such senseless acts, but now she’s gone.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that petty official then is none other than this sea creature. The act of beating the lay vow holder with a wet strip of leather and causing his death ripened such that the petty official took rebirth as a hell being, where he underwent the sufferings of the hell beings for thousands upon thousands of years. When he died, he transmigrated and took rebirth among the animals, dying from among the animals only to transmigrate and take birth among the animals again. Such are his sufferings.”

Then Venerable Maudgalyāyana inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, when will this being