法苑珠林 20.75

20.75

唐左監門校尉馮翊李山龍。以武德中暴亡。而心上不冷如掌許。家人未忍殯斂。至七日而蘇。自說云。當死時被冥收錄至一官曹。廳事甚宏壯廣大。庭內有囚數千人。或枷鎖。或杻械。皆北面立滿庭中。吏將山龍至廳下。天官坐高床。侍衛如王者。山龍問吏。此何官。吏曰。是王也。山龍前至階下。王問。汝生平作何福業。山龍對曰。鄉人每設齋講。常施物同之。王曰。汝身作何善業。山龍曰。誦法華經兩卷。王曰。大善。可昇階。既昇。廳上東北間有一高座如講座者。王指座謂山龍曰。可昇此座誦經。山龍奉命至側。王即起立曰。請法師昇座。山龍昇座訖。王乃向之而坐。山龍開經曰。妙法蓮華經序品第一。王曰。請法師下。山龍即下座復立階下。顧庭內囚已盡無一人在者。王謂山龍曰。君誦經之福非唯自利。乃令庭內眾囚皆以聞經獲免。豈不善哉。今放君還去。山龍拜辭。行數十步王復呼還。謂吏曰。可將此人歷觀諸獄。吏即將山龍東行百餘步見一鐵城甚廣大。上屋覆其城。城傍多有小窓。或大如小盆。或如盂盌。見諸男女從地飛入窓中即不復出。山龍怪問。吏曰。此是大地獄。中多有分隔罪計各異。此諸人者。各隨本業赴獄受罪耳。山龍聞之悲懼稱南無佛。請吏求出。至院門見一大鑊火猛湯沸。傍有二人坐睡。山龍問之。二人曰。我罪報入此鑊湯。蒙賢者稱南無佛。故獄中諸罪人皆得一日休息疲睡耳。山龍又稱南無佛。吏謂山龍曰。官府數移改。今王放君去。可白王請抄。若不爾恐他官不知。復追錄君。山龍即謁王請抄。王命紙書一行字付吏曰。為取五道等署。吏受命將山龍更歷兩曹。各廳事侍衛亦如此。王之遣吏皆取其官署。各書一行訖付山龍。龍持出至門。有三人謂山龍曰。王放君去。可不少多乞遣我等。山龍未言。吏謂山龍曰。王放君不由彼。然彼三人者。是前收錄君使。一人是繩主。當以赤繩縛君者。一人是棒主。當以棒擊君頭者。一是袋主。當以袋歙君氣者。見君得還故乞物耳。山龍惶懼謝三人曰。愚不識公。請至家備物。但不知何處送之。三人曰。於水邊若樹下燒之。山龍諾。吏送歸家。見親眷正哭經營殯具。山龍入室屍傍即蘇。後日剪紙作錢帛并酒食。自送於水邊燒之。忽見三人來謝曰。蒙君不失信重相贈遺愧荷。言畢不見。山龍自向總持寺主說。寺主傳向臨說（右一驗出冥報記也）。

During the Wude era of the Tang dynasty, Li Shanlong, a Commandant of the Left Gate Guard from Fengyi, died suddenly. However, an area over his heart about the size of a palm remained warm, so his family could not bear to encoffin him. After seven days, he revived. He himself recounted: When he died, he was arrested by the netherworld authorities and brought to an official department. The hall was exceedingly grand and vast. In the courtyard were several thousand prisoners, some in cangues and chains, others in fetters and manacles, all facing north and filling the yard. An officer brought Shanlong before the hall. The celestial official sat upon a high dais, his guards and attendants like those of a king. Shanlong asked the officer, 'What official is this?' The officer said, 'He is the King.' Shanlong stepped forward to the foot of the stairs. The King asked, 'What meritorious karma have you performed during your life?' Shanlong replied, 'Whenever fellow villagers arranged vegetarian feasts and lectures, I always contributed goods to join them.' The King said, 'What wholesome karma have you yourself practiced?' Shanlong said, 'I recited two fascicles of the Lotus Sūtra.' The King said, 'Very good! You may ascend the steps.' After he ascended, in the northeast corner of the hall there was a high seat like a preaching seat. The King pointed to the seat and said to Shanlong, 'You may ascend this seat and recite the scripture.' Shanlong complied with the order and went to its side. The King immediately stood up and said, 'I invite the Dharma Master to mount the seat.' After Shanlong mounted the seat, the King turned toward him and sat down. Shanlong opened the scripture and said, 'The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wondrous Dharma, "Introductory Chapter One".' The King said, 'I invite the Dharma Master to descend.' Shanlong at once descended from the seat and stood again at the foot of the steps. Looking back into the courtyard, the prisoners were completely gone, with not a single person remaining. The King said to Shanlong, 'The merit of your recitation of the scripture has not only benefited yourself, but has also caused all the prisoners in the courtyard to obtain release through hearing the scripture. Is that not excellent? Now I release you to return.' Shanlong bowed in farewell. Having walked several tens of paces, the King called him back and said to the officer, 'You may take this man on a tour of the various hells.' The officer then took Shanlong eastward for over a hundred paces, where they saw an iron city of vast proportions. A roof covered the city above. Along the sides of the city were numerous small windows, some as large as small basins, others like bowls. He saw men and women flying from the ground into the windows, never to emerge again. Shanlong was astonished and asked about it. The officer said, 'This is the Great Hell. Within it are many partitions, each with different reckonings of guilt. These people each plunge into hell to suffer punishment according to their own original karma.' Hearing this, Shanlong was filled with sorrow and fear; chanting 'Homage to the Buddha', he begged the officer to seek a way out. Arriving at the courtyard gate, he saw a great cauldron of boiling soup with fierce flames. Beside it sat two men asleep. Shanlong asked them about it. The two men said, 'For our retributive punishment, we were to enter this boiling soup. Thanks to the virtuous gentleman chanting "Homage to the Buddha", all the sinners in this hell have gained a day of rest to sleep off their exhaustion.' Shanlong again chanted 'Homage to the Buddha'. The officer said to Shanlong, 'Government offices frequently make transfers and revisions. Now that the King has released you to go, you should address the King and request a clearance slip. If not, I fear other officials, being unaware of it, will pursue and arrest you again.' Shanlong immediately had an audience with the King to request a clearance slip. The King ordered a single line of characters written on paper and handed it to the officer, saying, 'Obtain the signatures of the Five Paths and the others for him.' Receiving the command, the officer took Shanlong to visit two more departments; each hall and its guards were just like this one. The King's dispatched officer obtained the signatures of those official departments, and after each had written a line, they gave it to Shanlong. Holding it, Shanlong went out to the gate. Three men said to Shanlong, 'The King has released you; can you not give us a little something?' Before Shanlong could speak, the officer said to Shanlong, 'The King's release of you had nothing to do with them. However, those three men were the envoys who arrested you before. One is the master of the rope, who was to bind you with a red rope; one is the master of the club, who was to strike your head with a club; one is the master of the sack, who was to gather your breath into a sack. Seeing that you have been allowed to return, they are merely begging for goods.' Terrified, Shanlong apologized to the three men, saying, 'In my ignorance, I did not recognize you, gentlemen. Please let me prepare goods upon reaching home, but I do not know where to deliver them.' The three men said, 'Burn them by the water's edge or under a tree.' Shanlong agreed. The officer escorted him home, where he saw his relatives weeping and preparing funeral articles. Shanlong entered the room, went beside the corpse, and immediately revived. The following day, he cut paper to make money and silk, and with wine and food, personally delivered them to the water's edge and burned them. Suddenly he saw the three men arrive to thank him, saying, 'We are deeply indebted and grateful to you for keeping your word and generously bestowing gifts upon us.' With these words, they vanished. Shanlong personally told this to the abbot of Zongchi Temple, and the abbot passed it on to Lin. (The above one case of verification is from the Mingbao ji).