經律異相 50.25

50.25

The Drinking Molten Copper Hell: there are one thousand two hundred kinds of variegated copper carts, and on each copper cart are six thousand copper pellets. Because of stinginess, greed, jealousy, wrong views, and evil talk, refusing to give to parents, wife, children, relatives, and all others, giving rise to stinginess and jealousy in their mind, so that seeing others obtain gain is like an arrow piercing their heart—when such sinners are about to die, they suffer much illness, emaciation, delirium, and sleep-talking. At that time, a hell warden transforms into a copper cart laden with fruit and comes to the sinner's place. Having obtained it, they rejoice and think: 'Obtaining these delicious fruits completely suits my wish!' When breath ceases and life ends, they are born upon the copper cart, and soon go to be born among copper mountains. The copper carts twist their necks, and the hell wardens pry open their mouths with pincers, forcing them to drink molten copper. Fainting and dazed, they collapse to the ground crying, 'Hungry! Hungry!' Immediately the hell wardens tear their mouths open and place copper and iron pellets in their mouths. They swallow eighteen pellets; joint by joint they blaze with fire as they run east and west. After seven days they finally die. The hell wardens cry out: 'In your former life, you flattered, held wrong views, and were stingy, greedy, and jealous; for this reason you receive the retribution of iron pellets. Or you once left the household life, violated minor precepts, went long without repenting, and uselessly consumed the gifts of the faithful; for this reason you eat iron pellets.' This person's retribution lasts for hundreds of millions of years without knowing water or grain. When their punishment is finished, they return to birth among humans, and for five hundred lives their speech will be stammering and indistinct, unable to express themselves. Due to past habituation, after eating they chew clods of earth. After this passes, they meet a good friend and give rise to the bodhicitta (Extracted from Fascicle 5 of the *Sūtra on the Samādhi of the Contemplation of the Buddha*).