法苑珠林 6.67

6.67

‘We dwell in this city / for hundreds of thousands of myriad years,
Yet we have not even heard the name of water, / how much less obtained any to drink!
Just like a forest of tāla trees / blazing and burned by fire,
We too are like this: / all our limbs are ablaze with fire.
Our hair is completely disheveled, / our bodies are broken and ruined.
Day and night we think of food and drink, / panicked, we run in the ten directions.
Pressed hard by hunger and thirst, / with open mouths we rush about seeking.
There is someone who follows holding a club, / pursuing and severely beating us;
Beaten, we cannot draw near. / We suffer this sorrow and distress.
How could we obtain water / to bestow with wisdom upon others?
In our previous lives, / we were stingy, greedy, and extremely jealous;
We never once gave to a single person / syrup, water, food, or drink.
Our own possessions we did not give to others, / and we restrained others so they would not give.
Due to such heavy karma, / we now suffer this torment.’