經律異相 50.11

50.11

Regarding the Sword-Wheel Hell: it is exactly fifty yojanas in length and breadth, entirely filled with sword trees. The quantity of trees is like rice, sesame, bamboo, and reeds. Each sword tree is forty yojanas high, with eighty-four thousand sword-wheels as leaves, eighty-four thousand sword-wheels as flowers, eighty-four thousand sword-wheels as fruits, and eighty-four thousand [streams of] boiling copper as branches. Because of delighting in killing without satiety, when such a sinner is on the verge of death, they contract a great fever and think: 'My body is now sometimes hot and sometimes cold; my whole body is stiff and hard, just like an iron anvil.' They then make a vow: 'If I obtain a vajra sword to cut away this ailment, the joy would be unspeakable.' At that time, the hell-warden transforms his body into the form of their parents or close friends, stands before the person, and tells them: 'I have a secret method matching what you desire, which I shall give to you.' The sinner says: 'Quickly, quickly, I wish to have it!' Their breath ceases, their life ends, and, like a galloping horse, they are born among the sword flowers. Immeasurable swords and knives scrape their bones and tear their flesh, shattering and falling into the void. There are also iron crows descending from the trees to gouge their eyes and peck their ears. A great rākṣasa holds an iron axe in his hand, splits their head, and extracts their brain. Iron dogs come and lick it. When they are dead, [the wardens] cry out, 'Live!' They drive them to climb the tree; before reaching the treetop, their body is shattered like dust. In one day and one night, their body is killed like dust, beyond reckoning. Because of the sin of killing people, they suffer such calamity for eighty trillion years, and are then born among animals. Their bodies constantly bear heavy loads, and upon dying their skin is flayed. After five hundred lifetimes, they are reborn among humans, poor, short-lived, sickly, and emaciated. After this has passed, they meet a good friend and arouse the bodhicitta.