法苑珠林 70.7

70.7

復有一鬼。白目連言。我身常如塊肉。無有手脚眼耳鼻等。常為蟲鳥所食。罪苦難堪。何因緣故爾。答言。汝前世時。常與他藥墮他兒胎。是故受如此罪。此是華報。地獄苦果方在後身。又緣其殺生貪害滋多。以滋多故。便無義讓。而行劫盜。今身偷盜不與而取。死即當墮鐵窟地獄。於遐劫中受諸苦惱。受苦既畢墮畜生中。身常負重驅蹙捶打。無有餘息所食之味。唯以水草。處此之中無量生死。以本因緣。若遇微善劣復人身。常為僕隷。驅策走使。不得自在。償債未畢。不得聞法。緣此受苦輪迴無窮。當知此苦皆緣偷盜。

Furthermore, there was a ghost who said to Maudgalyāyana: "My body is constantly like a lump of meat, without hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose, or the like. It is constantly eaten by worms and birds, an unbearable suffering for my sins. What was the cause of this?" [Maudgalyāyana] answered: "In your previous life, you constantly gave medicine to others to abort their fetuses. Therefore you receive such punishment. This is [only] the preliminary blossom of retribution; the bitter fruit of hell lies yet in your future lives." Moreover, because of killing living beings, greed and harm increase; and because they increase, one lacks righteousness and yielding, and so commits robbery. If in one's present life one steals and takes what is not given, upon death one will fall into the Hell of Iron Caverns, undergoing various pains and afflictions for distant kalpas. Once this suffering has ended, one falls among animals, one's body constantly bearing heavy burdens, driven, harassed, and beaten, without any rest, and one's food consisting solely of water and grass. Remaining within this state through immeasurable births and deaths, by the original cause, if one encounters slight goodness, one may barely regain a human body, but constantly as a servant or slave, driven and ordered about, unable to obtain autonomy. Before the debt is repaid, one cannot hear the Dharma, and because of this suffers endless transmigration. One should know that this suffering is entirely due to stealing.