法華傳記 9.26

9.26

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.