法苑珠林 1.30

1.30

According to the Dīrghāgama-sūtra: What are the upper limits of the three calamities? When the calamity of fire arises, it reaches up to the Ābhāsvara Heaven as its limit. When the calamity of water arises, it reaches up to the Śubhakṛtsna Heaven as its limit. When the calamity of wind arises, it reaches up to the Bṛhatphala Heaven as its limit. When the three calamities are about to arise, the people of the world all practice the true Dharma; holding right views without error, they cultivate the ten wholesome actions. While they are practicing this Dharma, someone among them attains the second dhyāna, whereupon leaping into the air, he ascends into the empty sky. Abiding in the noble path, the heavenly path, and the brahma path, he loudly proclaims: 'Worthy ones, you should know that the joy of the second dhyāna without vitarka or vicāra is exceedingly pleasant!' People hear this voice and thereupon cultivate [the state] without vitarka or vicāra; when their bodies break up and their lives end, they are reborn in the Ābhāsvara Heaven. At that time, the beings in the hells, having exhausted their misdeeds and ended their lives, come to be reborn in the human realm; they again cultivate [the state] without vitarka or vicāra and succeed in being reborn in the Ābhāsvara Heaven. Animals, hungry ghosts, asuras, and even [the beings of] the six desires are all reborn in the Ābhāsvara Heaven. At that time, the hells are first depleted; next, animals are depleted; next, hungry ghosts, asuras, and even [the deities of the heaven of] Mastery over the Creations of Others are depleted; only then are humans depleted, leaving no remainder. When this world is destroyed, it becomes a calamity. Again, the Nyāyānusāra-śāstra states: When there is not a single sentient being left in the hells, at that time it is said that the hells are already destroyed. As for beings who are definitely destined to experience retribution in the hells, the power of their karma places them in the hells of other realms. By this one should know [that it is the same for] the animal and hungry-ghost destinies. At that time, there are no parasites within the bodies of humans, just like the body of a Buddha. When a person in this continent of the human realm spontaneously attains the first dhyāna without a teacher, he arises from dhyāna and proclaims: 'The joy and bliss born of detachment is exceedingly pleasant and exceedingly tranquil!' The other people hear this and all enter dhyāna; when their lives end, they all succeed in being reborn in the brahma world, up to the point where the sentient beings of this continent are completely depleted. This is called the destruction of the humans of Jambudvīpa. The eastern and western continents should be explained in the same way. When those of the northern continent end their lives, they are reborn in the heavens of the desire realm, because having dull faculties, they lack the detachment from desire. After being reborn in the heavens of the desire realm, dhyāna appears before them and they transformatively attain an exalted basis (āśraya); only then can they detach from desire. When there is not a single sentient being left in the human realm, at that time it is called the destruction of the human realm. If any single [being] among the six heavens of the desire realm spontaneously attains the first dhyāna, and so on up to all succeeding in being reborn in the brahma world, at that time it is called the destruction of the desire-realm heavens. When in this manner there is not a single sentient being in the desire realm, it is called the destruction of sentient beings in the desire realm. When any single sentient being in the brahma world spontaneously attains the second dhyāna without a teacher, he arises from that absorption (samādhi) and proclaims: 'The joy and bliss born of samādhi is exceedingly pleasant and exceedingly tranquil!' The other devas hear this and all enter that dhyāna; when their lives end, they all succeed in being reborn in the Ābhāsvara Heaven, up to the point where the sentient beings in the brahma world are completely depleted. This is called the destruction of the world of sentient beings (sattva-loka); only the receptacle world (bhājana-loka) remains, empty and vast. All the sentient beings in the worlds of other directions sense that the karma of this three-thousand-great-thousand world has been exhausted. Thereupon seven sun disks gradually appear here; the oceans dry up and all the mountains blaze, and the continents, islands, and the three disks all undergo burning. The wind blows the fierce flames to burn the heavenly palaces above, leaving not even ash or cinder behind in the brahma palaces. The flames of a given ground burn the palaces of that same ground; the calamity of another ground cannot destroy that of another. It is spoken of this way because one induces the other: the fire below, blown by the wind, burns the upper ground—that is, the fierce flames of the desire realm ascend, serving as the condition that induces the fire and flames of the form realm. The other calamities are also like this, as should be understood accordingly. Thus, starting with the hells and gradually decreasing until the receptacle world is exhausted, this is collectively called the kalpa of destruction. Again, the Sūtra on the Samādhi of the Contemplation of the Buddha says: The beginning and end of heaven and earth is called one kalpa. When the kalpa ends and is destroyed, the calamity of fire is about to arise: all the populace turn their backs on the right and incline toward the deviant, vying with one another to commit the ten unwholesome deeds. The heavens do not rain for a long time, and what has been planted does not grow. Relying on springs and water sources, up to the four great rushing rivers, all completely dry up. After a very long time, wind enters the bottom of the sea, takes the great city-wall of the sun, and sets it on its original path beside Mount Sumeru. (The Dīrghāgama-sūtra says: Long after that, a great black gale violently rises, blowing the seawater—eighty-four thousand yojanas deep—so that it parts into two sides, takes the sun's palace, and places it halfway up Mount Sumeru, forty-two thousand yojanas from the earth, settling it on the sun's path; so it continues up to seven suns being taken in sequence, the principle and operation being entirely the same. The Samyuktābhidharmahṛdaya-śāstra says: At the time of the kalpa's destruction, there are seven sun disks that stay and pass by Mount Yugaṃdhara; another says that one sun is divided into seven suns; another says that the suns emerge from below the Avīci Hell, brought about by the karmic power of sentient beings.) When the first sun appears, all vegetation and trees wither and fall at once. When the second sun appears, within the waters of the four great oceans from a hundred yojanas up to seven hundred yojanas, the water naturally dries up. When the third sun appears, the water of the four great oceans dries up successively from a thousand yojanas up to seven thousand yojanas. When the fourth sun appears, the four great oceans are only a thousand yojanas deep. When the fifth sun appears, the four great oceans, seven thousand yojanas in length and breadth, completely dry up. (The Dīrghāgama-sūtra says: After the fifth sun appears, the seawater subsequently becomes shallow, like water after a spring rain, or like water in a cow's footprint, until it dries up completely without even wetting a person's body.) When the sixth sun appears, smoke issues from the entire earth, which is sixty-eight thousand yojanas thick. From Mount Sumeru to the three-thousand-great-thousand worlds and the eight great hells, there are none that are not burned away, leaving nothing behind but smoke. When the people die, all who relied on Mount Sumeru and the six heavens of the desire realm die, and their palaces are left completely empty; all things are impermanent and cannot abide for long. When the seventh sun appears, the great earth and Mount Sumeru gradually crumble away for hundreds of thousands of yojanas, leaving nothing remaining whatsoever. The mountains all blaze fiercely, and the gems burst open; smoke and flames tremble, reaching up to the Brahmā Heaven. All the evil destinies are completely swept clean. Their sins having ended and their merit arriving, [beings] all gather in the fifteenth heaven above; below the fourteenth heaven, all is reduced to ash and soot. The newly born sons of heaven, having never seen this before, are universally filled with fear. The previously born sons of heaven each come to console them: 'Do not be afraid; it will never reach here!' When the people die, they are reborn in the Ābhāsvara Heaven, taking mindfulness as food, illuminating themselves with their own radiance, and flying by means of psychic powers; or they are reborn in other lands. If born in the hells, when their hell sins are ended, they are also reborn in the heavens; if their sins are not yet ended, they are transferred to other realms. There are no sun, moon, or stars, nor day or night; there is only a great darkness, which is called the fire kalpa. The karmic retribution of the fire calamity brings about this ruin and destruction. When the kalpa is about to form, the fire then naturally extinguishes, and great clouds again arise, gradually pouring down great rain with drops like axle-trees. At that time, in this three-thousand-great-thousand world, water fills everywhere, reaching up to the Brahmā Heaven. Therefore the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra states: Furthermore, due to the predominant power of the karma of sentient beings that can bring about destruction, and relying on the six kinds of things to be burned, six more sun disks appear successively. Compared with the original sun disk, the heat of those sun disks exceeds the former by four times; when all seven are formed, the heat increases sevenfold. What are called the six things to be burned? First, small and large ditches and ravines, which are dried up by the second sun disk. Second, small and large rivers, which are dried up by the third sun disk. Third, the great Lake Anavatapta, which is dried up by the fourth sun disk. Fourth, the great ocean, which is dried up by the fifth sun disk and a portion of the sixth. Fifth, Mount Sumeru and the great earth, because their substance is hard and solid, are burned by a portion of the sixth and by the seventh sun disk. These flames are fanned by the wind, blazing with increasing fury and reaching as far as the brahma world. After the world has been completely burned in this way, nothing—not even ash, soot, or any trace—can be found. From this point on, it is called the destruction of the receptacle world, which lasts for a full twenty antarakalpas; having been destroyed in this way, it again abides [in emptiness] for twenty antarakalpas.