法華傳記 9.26

9.26

潯陽江湖邊。有一客老女。不知何處人。亦失姓。耽魚肉不識因果。買賣魚鱗。貪收其利以存活。亦無他業。一生空過。失人間利。死至閻魔王所。王問。汝生人界修何善根。女默無言。王復問。汝全無善不。女憶知。昔求魚肉利出市。大雲頓興起。暴雨頻下。江湖滿水。不能往還。半日寄潮堂。聞講法華。此非大善耶。即以此答王。王言。甚微妙善。今放汝還人間。但汝罪業受苦處能見不。答未見。王召一人冥官。相共遣海畔。見海濱有百千捕魚人。皆以鐵繩束其頸。杻械枷鍱。纏絡其身。從空中大火輪下。當罪人頂。火論入身剎那燒盡。暫時死生三十餘返。各叫喚曰。痛哉。吾等昔恣殺生命。而活吾命受大苦。唱此言已僻地。眾多獄卒。手執釰刃割身肉。折骨破髓。各各食噉已。還吐骨肉活如本。如此罪人受苦處。無量無邊。冥官告女言。汝當往彼處可問作何業受此苦惱。忙怖不欲問。官即問。汝等作何罪業受此苦。罪人答曰。吾等愚癡。殺魚龜為食。買魚肉以求活利。以是因緣故受苦。如斯次第巡撿。有獄卒而無治罪人。即問。何故汝空手無治罪人。答潯陽江湖邊有老女。為治彼業而在此處。彼依聞法華故。免脫地獄。是以空手而坐。是時老女。舉聲唱如是言。南無妙法蓮華經。聞是語已。無量罪人。欻然不見。官及女還白王。王言。吾誤吾誤。遣汝使見受苦之人。彼聞妙法言。罪滅生天。汝還人間。告江頭人。以明善業果報（云云）老女得活。對江頭人說此事。親傳聞在實矣。

By the rivers and lakes of Xunyang, there was an old itinerant woman. None knew where she was from, and her surname was also lost. Addicted to fish and meat, she did not know cause and effect. Buying and selling fish, she coveted the profit to make a living; having no other occupation, her whole life passed in vain, forfeiting the benefits of human birth. When she died, she arrived at the court of King Yama. The king asked: "When you were born in the human realm, what wholesome roots did you cultivate?" The woman remained silent and said nothing. The king asked again: "Do you truly have no good deeds at all?" The woman recalled and knew: "Once, seeking profit from fish and meat, I went out to the market. Great clouds suddenly arose, a torrential storm poured down, and the rivers and lakes filled with water, so that I could not come or go. For half a day, I lodged in a shrine hall and heard an exposition of the Lotus Sūtra. Is this not a great good?" She answered the king with this. The king said: "This is an exceedingly subtle and wonderful good. Now I release you to return to the human realm. But can you see the places where those with sinful karma undergo suffering?" She answered: "I have not yet seen them." The king summoned an official of the underworld and sent them together to the seashore. She saw along the shore hundreds of thousands of fishermen, all with iron ropes binding their necks, and handcuffs, fetters, pillories, and irons entangled around their bodies. From mid-air, a great wheel of fire descended upon the heads of the sinners. The fire-wheel entered their bodies and in a kṣaṇa burned them entirely. In a short while, they died and were reborn more than thirty times. Each screamed out: "How agonizing! In the past we took life willfully to sustain our own lives, and now we suffer great agony!" Having cried out these words, they collapsed to the ground. Numerous hell-wardens, holding swords and blades in their hands, slashed the flesh of their bodies, broke their bones, and crushed their marrow. Having each eaten them, they vomited out the bones and flesh, and the sinners were revived as before. The places where such sinners underwent suffering were immeasurable and boundless. The underworld official said to the woman: "You should go to that place and ask what karma they committed to suffer this affliction." Terrified, she did not wish to ask. The official then asked: "What sinful karma did you commit to suffer this pain?" The sinners replied: "We were foolish; we killed fish and turtles for food, and bought fish and meat to seek profit for our livelihood. On account of these causes and conditions, we suffer this agony." Inspecting sequentially in this manner, there was a hell-warden who had no sinners to punish. The official then asked: "Why are your hands empty without any sinners to punish?" He replied: "By the rivers and lakes of Xunyang, there was an old woman; I am here to punish her karma. Because she heard the Lotus Sūtra, she was freed from hell, and therefore I sit with empty hands." At that moment, the old woman raised her voice and chanted these words: "Namo Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra!" Hearing these words, immeasurable sinners vanished in an instant. The official and the woman returned and reported to the king. The king said: "My mistake, my mistake! I sent you to let you see those undergoing suffering, but hearing the words of the Wonderful Dharma, their sins were extinguished and they were born in heaven. Return to the human realm and inform the people by the riverbank, so as to make clear the karmic retribution of wholesome deeds." (And so forth.) The old woman was revived, and recounted this matter to the people by the riverbank. What was directly heard and reported was indeed true.