法苑珠林 26.18

26.18

'Karma can adorn the body, / following along as one takes rebirth everywhere. / It is unfailing like a contract deed; / karma is like a debtor. / Your present birth in heaven / is due to the karma of the five precepts; / falling as a monkey in your former life / arose from breaking the precepts. / Upholding precepts is a ladder to heaven; / breaking precepts leads to caldrons of boiling water. / I see the person who upholds precepts: / their body is adorned with radiance; / [they abide in] wonderful terraces and pavilions of seven treasures, / with devas as their attendants, / various jewels as beds and curtains, / and mani flowers and necklaces; / meeting future Buddhas, / enjoying themselves as they speak the supreme Dharma. / I see the person who breaks precepts: / falling into Niraya, / iron plows plow their tongue, / they lie on iron beds, / molten copper flows on four sides, / burning and boiling, destroying their body; / or they abide in the mountain of knives, / the forest of swords, and boiling excrement, / the river of ashes, and the hell of cold ice, / swallowing iron pellets and drinking molten copper. / Sufferings such as these / are constantly their bodily necklaces. / If you wish to escape the many tribulations / and not fall into the three evil destinies, / but wander the path of heaven / and transcend to attain nirvāṇa, / you should diligently uphold the pure precepts, / practice dāna, and cultivate a pure livelihood.'