法苑珠林 7.42

7.42

如起世經云。當閻浮洲南二鐵圍山外有閻摩王宮殿。住處縱廣正等六千由旬。七重牆壁。七重欄楯。七重鈴網。其外七重多羅行樹周匝圍繞。雜色可觀七寶所成。於其四方各有諸門。一一諸門皆有却敵樓櫓。臺殿園苑華池。有種種美菓彌滿。香風遠薰眾鳥和鳴。王以惡業不善果故。於夜三時及晝三時。自然有赤融銅汁在前出生。其王宮殿即變為鐵。五欲功德皆沒不現。王見此已怖畏不安諸毛皆竪。即便出外。若在宮外即走入內。時守獄者取閻摩王。高舉撲之置熱鐵地上。其地熾然極大猛盛光焰炎赫。撲令臥已即以鐵鉗開張其口。赤融銅汁寫置口中。時閻摩王被燒脣口。次燒其舌後燒咽喉。復燒大腸及小腸等。次第燋然。從下而出。爾時彼王作如是念。一切眾生以於往昔身作惡行口作惡行意作惡行。并餘眾生同作業者皆受此苦。願我從今捨此身已。更得身時。但於人間相逢受生。於如來法中當得信解剃除鬚髮著袈裟衣。得正信解從家出家。既出家已願得通證。生死已盡梵行已立。所應作者皆已作訖。更不復於後世受生。發如是等熏習善念。即於所住宮殿還成七寶。猶如諸天。五欲功德現前具足。以三業善便得快樂。又新婆沙論。問諸地獄卒為是有情數。為是非有情數耶。答若以鐵鎖繫縛初生地獄有情往琰摩王所者。是有情數。若以種種苦具於地獄中害有情者。是非有情數。贍部洲下有大地獄。贍部洲上亦有邊地獄。及獨地獄。或在谷中。或在山上。或在曠野。或在空中。於餘三洲唯有邊地獄獨地獄無大地獄。所以者何。唯贍部洲人造善猛利。彼作惡亦復猛利。非餘洲故。有說。北拘盧洲亦無邊地獄等。是受純淨業果處故。問若餘無大地獄者。彼諸有情造無間業斷善根等。當於何處受異熟耶。答即於此贍部洲下大地獄受。問地獄有情其形云何。答其形如人。問語言云何。答彼初生時皆作聖語。後受苦時雖出種種受苦痛聲。乃至無有一言可了。唯有斫刺破烈之聲。

As stated in the Lokotpatti-sūtra: 'South of Jambudvīpa, beyond the two Iron Cordon Mountains, lies the palace of King Yama. His residence is exactly six thousand yojanas in length and breadth, with seven tiers of walls, seven tiers of railings, and seven tiers of bell-nets; outside of these, it is surrounded all around by seven tiers of tāla trees, manifold in color and pleasing to behold, made of the seven treasures. On each of its four sides there are gates, and each gate has parapets, watchtowers, turrets, palaces, gardens, and blossom ponds, fully brimming with various delicious fruits. A fragrant breeze wafts far and wide, and flocks of birds sing in harmony. Because of the retribution of the king’s unwholesome karma, three times during the night and three times during the day, molten red copper naturally wells forth before him. His palace immediately turns to iron, and the virtues of the five desires all disappear and are unseen. Seeing this, the king is filled with terror and unease, and all his hairs stand on end; he immediately goes outside. If he is outside the palace, he runs inside. At that time, the hell wardens seize King Yama, lift him high, and hurl him onto the hot iron ground. The ground is blazing, extremely fierce, brilliant, and scorching. Having cast him down to lie there, they pry open his mouth with iron pincers and pour molten red copper into his mouth. King Yama’s lips and mouth are burned first, then his tongue is burned, then his throat is burned, and then his large intestine, small intestine, and so forth are successively scorched and burned, passing out from below. At that time, the king thinks: "Because all sentient beings in the past performed evil actions with their bodies, evil actions with their speech, and evil actions with their minds, they and all other sentient beings who engaged in the same karma suffer this pain. I pray that from now on, once I cast off this body and obtain another body, may I meet with rebirth only in the human realm; may I attain faith and understanding in the Tathāgata’s Dharma, shave my hair and beard, don the kāṣāya robes, attain right faith and understanding, and go forth from the household life to homelessness; and having gone forth, may I attain direct realization, so that birth and death are exhausted, the pure life is established, what was to be done has been done, and I will never again undergo rebirth in future lives!" Giving rise to such perfumed virtuous thoughts, the palace he resides in immediately reverts to the seven treasures, just like that of the devas; the virtues of the five desires manifest before him in full. Because of the goodness of his three modes of karma, he obtains joy.' Furthermore, the New Vibhāṣā asks: 'Are the hell wardens included among sentient beings, or are they not included among sentient beings?' The answer is: 'Those who bind with iron chains sentient beings newly born in the hells and lead them to King Yama are sentient beings. Those who harm sentient beings in the hells with various instruments of torture are not sentient beings. Below Jambudvīpa there is a great hell; above Jambudvīpa there are also peripheral hells and solitary hells, located in valleys, on mountains, in wildernesses, or in mid-air. In the other three continents, there are only peripheral hells and solitary hells, but no great hells. Why is this? It is only because the people of Jambudvīpa create good intensely and also create evil intensely, which is not the case in the other continents.' Some say: 'Uttarakuru also has no peripheral hells and the like, because it is a place where one only experiences the fruits of pure karma.' Question: 'If there are no great hells elsewhere, where do sentient beings [from there] who commit anantarya karma, sever roots of goodness, and so forth experience their fruition?' Answer: 'They experience it right in the great hells beneath this Jambudvīpa.' Question: 'What is the physical form of sentient beings in hell?' Answer: 'Their form is like that of humans.' Question: 'What is their speech like?' Answer: 'When they are first born, they all speak the noble tongue. Later, when they undergo suffering, although they utter various sounds of experiencing agonizing pain, not a single word can be comprehended; there are only sounds of hacking, piercing, breaking, and tearing.'