廣弘明集 27.138

27.138

萬法雖差功用不一。至於明昧相形。惟善惡二途而已。語善則人天勝果差別於目驗。述惡則三途劇苦皎然而非虛。而愚惑之夫好起疑異。多言人天是妄造地獄非實說。以不覩故。便不知推因以測果。由不了故。復不知驗果以尋因既因果未分空扇是非。疑途亂起明在何日。無論未來其事難了。但以即今善惡是驗冥漠非妄。夫有形則影現。有聲則響應。未見形存而影滅聲續而響乖。故知善惡相資亦復如是。幸各明信無厝疑心。何謂地獄。經中廣說。此洲地下八大地獄。最下阿鼻。四萬由旬。鐵城四周表裏火徹。銅狗黑蛇哮吼嚼咋。甚可怖畏。諸小獄者散在鐵圍山間海渚空野眾處。備受寒熱。難可具說。獄各有主。牛頭阿傍。其性殘虐無一慈忍。見受苦者。惟憂不苦。惟憂不毒。或問獄卒。眾生受苦甚可憐愍。而汝無慈常懷毒害。獄卒答曰。諸受苦者。由是不孝父母。謗佛法僧。罵辱親疎。毀陷一切。破壞和合。瞋恚殺害貪婬欺詐。邪命邪求及以邪見。憍慢懈怠放逸怨恨。迷沒聲色耽著酒食。犯所受戒不知慚愧。具足惡業。來此受苦。受苦既畢恒加諫喻。此是惡處今已得脫。勿復重來。然此眾生初無改悔。今日得出俄頃復來。勞我形力加毒於彼。今觀此輩既不修善。往趣泥洹則是無知。不識避苦。所以倍痛害之。何由得出慈忍。又經云。有十惡業殺生偷盜。能令眾生墮於地獄畜生餓鬼。無量劫數乃得為人。還受短命貧窮等報。又感外報棘刺沙礫水旱少味不如意等。且身口意此三發業之始。自作教人見作隨喜。此三成業之由。現報生報後報。此三感業之所。故論云。三三合九種。從三煩惱生。然前九位業通善惡。受三塗報惟在三毒。是故行人先須觀破。於此人身可有出理。

Although the myriad phenomena differ and their functions are not identical, when it comes to contrasting the light and the dark, there are only the two paths of good and evil. Speaking of good, the superior fruits of humans and devas are distinctly verified before our eyes; describing evil, the extreme sufferings of the three paths are manifest and not false. Yet foolish and deluded men are fond of giving rise to doubts and differences, often saying that humans and devas are fabricated fictions and that hells are not factual teachings. Because they do not see them, they do not know how to deduce the effect by inferring the cause; because they do not understand, they also do not know how to search out the cause by examining the effect. Since cause and effect are not distinguished, they vainly fan disputes of right and wrong; with paths of doubt arising in confusion, when will clarity arrive? Leaving aside the future, whose matters are hard to comprehend, taking only the present: good and evil are empirically verified, and the unseen world is not a fabrication. When there is a form, a shadow appears; when there is a sound, an echo responds. One has never seen the shadow vanish while the form remains, nor the echo fail while the sound continues. Thus we know that the mutual support of good and evil is also like this. May everyone clearly believe and harbor no doubtful mind. What is meant by hell? The sūtras explain it extensively: beneath this continent are eight great hells, the lowest being Avīci, forty thousand yojanas down. Iron ramparts enclose it on four sides, thoroughly penetrated by fire within and without. Copper dogs and black snakes roar, gnaw, and bite, exceedingly terrifying. The minor hells are scattered among the Iron Ring Mountains, on ocean islands, in barren wildernesses, and in various places; fully undergoing cold and heat, they are difficult to describe in full. Each hell has its warden, the ox-headed horse-faced minions (ābàng), whose nature is cruel and savage without a single trace of compassionate patience. Seeing those undergoing suffering, they only worry that it is not bitter enough, only worry that it is not venomous enough. Someone once asked a hell-warden: 'The suffering sentient beings undergo is exceedingly pitiable, yet you have no compassion and always harbor venomous malice.' The hell-warden answered: 'All those who undergo suffering are here because they were unfilial to their parents, slandered the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, reviled relatives and strangers, ruined and trapped everyone, broke the harmony [of the Saṅgha], were angry, killed, harmed, greedy, lustful, deceitful, had wrong livelihood, wrong seeking, and wrong views, were arrogant, indolent, unrestrained, resentful, lost and sunken in sounds and sights, indulged in wine and food, violated the precepts they received without knowing shame or remorse, and, endowed fully with evil karma, came here to undergo suffering. After their suffering was completed, we constantly exhorted them: "This is an evil place; you have now attained release, do not come again!" Yet these sentient beings initially have no repentance; today they manage to get out, and in a brief moment they return again, exhausting our physical strength to inflict venom upon them. Now observing this sort of people: since they do not cultivate good, going toward Nirvāṇa would be ignorance on their part; they do not know how to avoid suffering, and for that reason we redouble their pain and injury. How could compassionate patience arise from this?' Furthermore, a sūtra says: 'There are ten evil karmas, such as killing and stealing, that can cause sentient beings to fall into hells, animals, and hungry ghosts. Only after immeasurable kalpas do they attain human form, and again receive retribution such as short life and poverty. They also incur external retribution such as thorns, brambles, sand, gravel, floods, droughts, lack of flavors, and disagreeable conditions.' Moreover, body, speech, and mind—these three are the beginnings of generating karma. Doing it oneself, instructing others, and rejoicing at seeing it done—these three are the causes for completing karma. Retribution in the present life, retribution in the next life, and retribution in subsequent lives—these three are the sites of karmic consequence. Therefore a treatise says: 'The three sets of three combine into nine kinds, generated from the three afflictions.' However, the former nine categories of karma apply to both good and evil; receiving retribution in the three paths relies solely on the three poisons. For this reason, practitioners must first contemplate and break through them, so that in this human body there may be a principle of escape.