法苑珠林 69
English (machine translation) 69
- Language
- English
69.1
Compiled by the Śramaṇa Shi Daoshi of Ximing Temple
69.2
Chapter Seventy-Nine: Receiving Retribution (Containing twelve sections)
69.3
Section on Stating the Intent
Section on Citing Evidence
Section on Conception in the Womb
Section on the Intermediate State
Section on Retribution in the Present Life
Section on Retribution in the Next Life
Section on Retribution in Subsequent Lives
Section on Determinate Retribution
Section on Indeterminate Retribution
Section on Wholesome Retribution
Section on Unwholesome Retribution
Section on Dwelling Places
69.4
Section One: Stating the Intent
69.5
Now the functioning of wholesome and unwholesome karma is truly the omen of the three retributions; it is like the interdependence of form and shadow, an obvious proof of the six destinies. As for the three retributions: pleasing the ears and eyes of the queen of heaven, while turning back on the profound grace of the nine-colored [deer]; casting oneself alone to preserve the entire life of the king of beasts, while mutually undergoing the sharp cruelty of the five sufferings—these are retributions in the present life. Flocks sinking secretly into dark valleys, yet the spirit ascends the wheel and drifts unaltered; the body aching from the calamities and offenses of successive generations, oblivious to the prince losing his eyes—these are retributions in the next life. Outsiders indulging in harm through the state of neither perception nor non-perception and deluded regarding the Dharma, forever perplexed regarding beginning and end; becoming a winged, ferocious wildcat, flying and sinking while suffering distress beyond calculation—these are retributions in subsequent lives. The profound mirror gazes upon the streams of beings drowned and lost across the three ages, deeply mindful of the burdens of future transformations and frail bodies, causing them to awaken to the chambers of the Four Truths and the Threefold Clarity, and enabling them to emerge from the darkness of the three retributions and five sufferings.
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Section Two: Citing Evidence
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As the Upāsakaśīla-sūtra states, the Buddha said: "Good sons, when sentient beings perform karma, there are four kinds. The first is retribution in the present life (committing extreme wholesome or unwholesome karma in this present body and receiving it in this very body; this is called retribution in the present life). The second is retribution in the next life (creating karma in this present body and receiving it in the immediately subsequent life; this is called retribution in the next life). The third is retribution in subsequent lives (creating karma in this present body, not receiving it in the immediately subsequent life, but receiving it in the second or third rebirth onwards; this is called retribution in subsequent lives). The fourth is absence of retribution (such as indeterminate karma and the like). This karma with absence of retribution further has four kinds: First, determinate in time but indeterminate in retribution (this is definitely unchangeable across the three times, but because the karma can be transformed, the retribution is indeterminate). Second, determinate in retribution but indeterminate in time (because the karmic force is fixed, the retribution cannot be altered, yet because the time can be transformed, the time is indeterminate). Third, determinate in both time and retribution (because the karma is fixed, the time it induces is also fixed). Fourth, indeterminate in both time and retribution (because the karma is not determinate, both time and retribution are also indeterminate). In performing karma, sentient beings have the complete and the incomplete. If one reflects first and acts afterward, it is called completely performed. If one does not reflect beforehand but directly acts, it is called incompletely performed. There are further those whose performance is incomplete in that, having performed the karma, the karmic fruit is indeterminate. There are further those whose performance is complete in that, having performed the karma, they are certain to receive retribution. There are further those whose performance is incomplete in that, although the retribution is fixed, the timing is indeterminate. There are further those whose performance is complete in that both time and retribution are fixed. There are further those whose performance is incomplete in that they uphold the precepts and have right view. There are further those whose performance is complete in that they violate the precepts and have wrong view. There are further those whose performance is incomplete in that they give rise to repentance at the three times. There are further those whose performance is complete in that they do not repent at the three times. As it is with evil, so it is with good."
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Section Three: Conception in the Womb
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As the Samantapāsādikā states: When a woman is about to conceive, the monthly flower water emerges. 'Flower water' is a name for blood. When she is about to conceive, a mass of blood forms at the place of the fetal womb, which bursts naturally after seven days and flows out from there. If the flow of blood does not cease, the male semen does not remain, but flows out together with it. If it has completely flowed out, the male semen returns to that place, and thereafter the fetus is formed. Therefore, after the blood is exhausted and the male semen is able to remain, there is immediately conception. Furthermore, a woman conceives through seven circumstances: first, mutual contact; second, taking garments; third, emission of semen; fourth, stroking with the hand; fifth, seeing forms; sixth, hearing sounds; seventh, smelling fragrance. Question: What is meant by conceiving through mutual contact? Answer: When a woman's monthly flow arises and she takes delight in a man, if the man touches her body with his body, lustful attachment arises immediately and she conceives. Question: What is meant by conceiving through taking garments? Answer: As when Udāyin and his wife left the household life, their sensual desires did not cease and they questioned each other; when lustful semen stained the garment, the nun took and licked it, and further took and placed it inside her organ, whereupon she conceived. Question: What is meant by conceiving through emission of semen? Answer: As when the doe-mother smelled the semen of a practitioner of the Way, drank it with a mind of desire, and consequently conceived and gave birth to the doe-child practitioner of the Way. Question: What is meant by conceiving through stroking with the hand? Answer: As when the parents of the Bodhisattva Śyāma were both blind, and Śakra, knowing this from afar, descended to their abode; because the couple had both left the household life for the Way and would not engage in sexual intercourse, he stroked below the navel with his hand, whereupon she conceived and gave birth to Śyāma. Question: What is meant by conceiving through seeing forms? Answer: There was a woman whose monthly flower water had formed, but unable to unite with a man, her lustful desire became extremely intense and she only gazed at a man; like palace women who are also like this, she immediately conceived. Question: What is meant by conceiving through hearing sounds? Answer: Like egrets, which are all female without males: when the spring season arrives, the yang qi begins to spread, and thunder first sounds; the female egret single-mindedly hears the sound and immediately conceives. Hens also, upon hearing the sound of a rooster, can likewise conceive. Question: What is meant by conceiving through smelling fragrance? Answer: As the Qin cow-mother merely smelled the scent of a bull calf and likewise became pregnant with a calf.
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Furthermore, the Ekottarika-āgama says: At that time, the World-Honoured One addressed the monks: 'There are three causes and conditions through which consciousness comes to take conception in the womb: First, the mother has desire, the father has desire, and the parents come together in one place; yet if the consciousness from without should not yet approach, conception does not take place. If the consciousness approaches, but the parents do not come together, conception likewise does not take place. Second, if the mother has no desire while the father's desire is intense, and the mother is not earnest, conception does not take place. Third, if the parents come together in one place, and the mother's desire is blazing while the father is not earnest, conception does not take place. Furthermore, there are three [other] types: First, if the parents come together in one place, but the father suffers from a wind disease and the mother from a cold disease, conception does not take place. Second, if the mother suffers from a wind disease and the father from a cold disease, conception does not take place. Third, if the father's body has an excess of water humours while the mother has no such ailment, conception does not take place. Furthermore, there are three types: First, if the parents come together in one place, but the father's bodily signs indicate offspring while the mother's bodily signs indicate no offspring, conception does not take place. Second, if the mother's bodily signs indicate offspring while the father's bodily signs indicate no offspring, conception does not take place. Third, if both parents' bodily signs indicate no offspring, conception does not take place. Furthermore, there are three types: First, if at times the conscious spirit approaches the womb, but the father is away on a journey and not present, conception does not take place. Second, if at times the parents ought to come together in one place, yet the mother is away on a distant journey and not present, conception does not take place. Third, if the parents both come together and do not travel, then conception takes place. Furthermore, there are three types: First, if at times the parents ought to come together in one place, but the father's body suffers from severe illness, then when the conscious spirit comes to approach, conception does not take place. Second, if the mother's body suffers from severe illness, conception does not take place. Third, if both parents' bodies fall ill, conception does not take place. If the parents have no ailments, the conscious spirit comes to approach, and both parents have bodily signs indicating offspring, then conception does take place.'
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Furthermore, the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says: 'Moreover, there are eight distinct stages of this embryo. What are the eight? They are the stage of the kalala, the stage of the arbuda, the stage of the peśī, the stage of the ghana, the stage of the praśākhā, the stage of hair and nails, the stage of the faculties, and the stage of bodily form. When it has congealed and within is thin, it is called kalala. When inside and outside it is like curd and has not yet reached the stage of flesh, it is called arbuda. When it has already become flesh yet remains exceedingly soft, it is called peśī. When it has become solid and thick, slightly capable of enduring touch, it is called ghana. When this mass of flesh expands and the signs of limbs and bodily parts appear, it is called praśākhā. After this, when hair and nails appear, it is named after this stage. After this, when the eye and other faculties arise, it is called the stage of the faculties. After this, when their bodily bases are distinctly manifested, it is called the stage of bodily form.'
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'Furthermore, within the womb, either due to the power of past karma or due to the power of the mother not avoiding uneven [conditions], which generates an accordant wind, this embryo is made to be born with abnormalities in hair, colour, skin, and other limbs. As for the abnormal birth of hair, this is caused by bad and unwholesome karma done in past lives that can induce this, as well as by the mother often consuming tastes such as ash and salt in her drinking or eating, which causes this embryo's hair to be sparse and few. As for the abnormal birth of colour, this is caused by past karmic causes as explained before, and due to present conditions such as the mother frequenting smoke and heat, which causes the embryo to be born with a dark complexion. Moreover, if the mother frequents extremely cold rooms and the like, this causes the embryo to be born extremely pale. Moreover, because the mother eats much hot food, this causes the embryo to be born extremely red. As for the abnormal birth of skin, this is caused by past karmic causes as explained before, and due to present conditions such as the mother frequently engaging in sexual desire, which causes the embryo to be born with foul skin such as scabies, tinea, or leprosy. As for the abnormal birth of limbs, this is caused by past karmic causes as explained before, and due to present conditions such as the mother frequently running and leaping, and not avoiding uneven [conditions], which causes the embryo to be born with missing or defective faculties and limbs. Furthermore, if the embryo is to become female, it abides in the mother's right flank, leaning against the backbone and facing the belly; if it is to become male, it abides in the mother's left flank, leaning against the belly and facing the backbone. Furthermore, when this embryo is fully formed, the mother cannot bear this heavy womb; internal winds then arise, producing great pain and distress. Moreover, aroused by this embryo's karmic retribution, the wind of the birth part arises, causing the head to point downward and the feet upward. Wrapped in the amniotic membrane, it approaches the birth canal. When it is actually coming out, the amniotic membrane then tears and separates under the two armpits. When it emerges from the birth canal, this is called the stage of actual birth. After birth, it gradually comes into contact with the contacts of the birth part, namely eye-contact up to mind-contact.'
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Section 4: The Intermediate State
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As the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra says: 'There are seventeen kinds of intermediate existence (antarābhava). You should maintain mindfulness and practice the path of cessation. If gods or humans be mindful of this path, they will ultimately never fear harm inflicted by the messengers of Yama. What are the seventeen intermediate existences?
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'First: if one dies among humans and is born in the heavens, one sees the intermediate existence with signs of bliss, like a white fine cloth hanging and about to fall, delicate, soft, white, and pure. One further sees parks, groves, and flower ponds, hears singing, dancing, and laughter, and subsequently smells various fragrances. Harmonised with delicate touches of all kinds of immeasurable blissful objects, one is immediately born in heaven. Because of wholesome karma, one presently obtains heavenly bliss, smiling, joyous, and with a serene complexion. Though relatives and brothers weep, lament, and wail, because of the wholesome signs one neither hears nor sees them, nor does one's mind think of them. At the time of approaching death, the place of bliss where one is first born resembles a heavenly body, just as an impression is formed from a seal. Seeing the supreme heavenly realm, one instantly conceives an object of attachment and therefore takes a heavenly body. This is called the first intermediate existence of being born.'
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'As for the second intermediate existence: if a person of Jambudvīpa ends their life to be born in Uttarakuru, they see the delightful colour of a fine, soft red cloth. They instantly conceive a greedy mind, grasp it with their hands, and raise their hands to gather it in, like gathering empty space; the relatives say that both hands are grasping at empty space. There is also a wind blowing: if this sick person is in the cold of winter, a warm wind comes to blow on them, removing their suffering from cold; if in the heat of summer, a cool wind comes to blow on them, removing the sweltering steam and making their heart joyful. Because the mind is focused on this, they do not hear the sounds of wailing and weeping. If their mind is stirred and agitated, and they hear those sorrowful sounds, the wind blows them to be born in a different place; therefore, when relatives weep and wail at the point of death, it is a very great hindrance. If there is no hindrance, they are born in Uttarakuru. In the intermediate stage, wholesome signs appear in succession: they see a pond of blue lotuses, filled with wild geese, ducks, and mandarin ducks. They immediately run toward it, enter into it to play, and wish to enter the mother's womb. Coming out from the flower pond, they walk upon the dry land and see their parents united in lustful defilement. Due to the impurity, with inverted perception they see their father's body to be a gander and the mother to be a goose. If to be born as a male, he sees his own body as a gander; if to be born as a female, she sees her own body as a goose. If to be born as a male, an obstruction arises toward the father, and desire arises toward the mother; if to be born as a female, desire arises toward the father, and an obstruction arises toward the mother. This is called the second intermediate existence of being born in Uttarakuru.'
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'As for the third intermediate existence: if one dies in Jambudvīpa to be born in Aparagodānīya, then signs appear. At the time of approaching death, one sees houses that are entirely yellow, like the colour of gold, pervasive like clouds. One sees in empty space the sign of a yellow fine cloth and raises one's hands to gather it in; relatives and brothers say that the sick person is grasping at empty space with both hands. When this person's lifespan is about to end, they see their body as an ox and see herds of cattle, just as seen in a dream. If to take birth as a male, he sees his parents united in practicing impurity; he sees himself as a human body with many houses and residences, and sees his father's form like a bull. Pushing aside his father, he unites with the mother. If to be born as a female, she sees her own body like a cow and thinks: "Why is that bull united with her and not facing me?" Having thought this, she takes a female body. This is called the third intermediate existence of being born in Aparagodānīya.'
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'As for the fourth intermediate existence: if a person of Jambudvīpa ends their life to be born in the realm of Pūrvavideha, then signs appear. They see the sign of a blue fine cloth; all is blue, completely covering empty space. They see their houses all like empty space; fearing that the blue cloth will fall, they raise their hands to ward it off. The relatives say that they are warding off empty space as their life ends. They see the intermediate existence as having the form of a horse. They see their father like a stallion and the mother like a mare, the parents uniting in passionate defilement. If to be born as a male, he thinks: "I should unite with this mare." If to be born as a female, she sees her own body in the form of a mare and thinks: "Why does such a stallion not unite with me?" Having thought this, she immediately takes a female body. This is called the fourth intermediate existence of being born in Pūrvavideha.'
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'As for the fifth intermediate existence: when a person of Uttarakuru is approaching the end of life, they see signs of upward movement. If by the power of great karma their mind is self-mastered to be born in heaven, they grasp at empty space with their hands, just as seen in a dream: fine flowers and exquisite fragrances, supreme colours, with fragrance in hand. Seeing the flowers, desire arises: "Now that I see this tree, I shall climb it." Having thought this, they immediately climb the great tree, which is actually climbing Mount Sumeru. Seeing the heavenly world adorned with flowers and fruits, [they think:] "I shall wander there." This is called the fifth intermediate existence of an inferior rebirth for a person of Uttarakuru.'
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'As for the sixth intermediate existence: if a person of Uttarakuru, due to middling karma, wishes to be born in the heavens when approaching the end of life, then signs appear. They see a lotus pond that is exceedingly delightful, adorned with swarms of bees, all fragrant. Climbing onto this lotus, in an instant they fly through empty space as if in a dream, to be born in the heavens, thinking: "I shall now go to the supreme lotus pond." This is called the sixth intermediate existence of a middling rebirth for a person of Uttarakuru.'
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'As for the seventh intermediate existence: for a person of Uttarakuru, due to superior karma, to be born in the Hall of Good Dharma of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven and the like, when approaching the end of life they see an exquisitely supreme hall, wonderfully adorned. That person then ascends to the supreme hall and is born in this palace as a deva. This is called the seventh intermediate existence of a person of Uttarakuru being born in the heavens, taking a superior rebirth.'
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'As for the eighth intermediate existence: when a person of Uttarakuru is approaching the end of life, signs appear. They see parks, groves, and places of recreation, fragrant, pure, and delightful; smelling them brings joy and pleasure, without much suffering or distress, and their mind is not turbid. With a pure mind they immediately ascend to a palace, seeing hosts of devas wandering through empty space, as if in a dream. The Trāyastriṃśa Heaven is supreme and delightful, fully endowed with all five desires. Dying from Uttarakuru, they are born among these devas. This is called the eighth intermediate existence of the signs at death of a person of Uttarakuru being born in this heavenly realm through habituated recreation.'
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'As for the ninth intermediate existence: if a person of Aparagodānīya ends their life to be born in heaven, there are two kinds of karma. What are the two? The first is residual karma, and the second is productive karma for being born in the heavens. When that person is approaching the end of life, signs appear: due to wholesome karma, when on the verge of relinquishing life, their breath is neither choked nor turbid, the pulse does not fail, and all the faculties are clear and pure. They see a great body of water whose temperature is well regulated, flowing smoothly and widely, and they float to the other shore. Having reached the other shore, they see heavenly maidens, foremost in beauty, variously adorned, playing, laughing, singing, and dancing. Having seen them, a lustful mind seeks intimacy, and stepping forward to embrace a woman, they are immediately born in heaven, experiencing heavenly bliss as in a dream; the intermediate existence is then extinguished. This is called the ninth intermediate existence.' (For people of Aparagodānīya, rebirth has three grades, yet superior, middling, and inferior karma share the same single radiance and the like, forming a uniform intermediate existence, all resembling one another, unlike the distinct signs of the three kinds of rebirth for people of Uttarakuru.)
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Regarding the tenth intermediate existence: When a person of Pūrvavideha approaches the end of life, they see the signs of death; they see their own karma, or they see the karma of others; or they see palace halls exquisitely adorned, and joy arises in their mind. Wishing to approach and take rebirth, they see outside the palace halls numerous maidservants singing, chanting, and making merry together with men. In the intermediate existence, they form this thought: 'I wish to join in their play.' They immediately enter the throng of revellers, and as if awakening from sleep, they are instantly reborn in heaven. This is called the tenth intermediate existence.
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Regarding the eleventh intermediate existence: When the evil karma of hungry ghosts is exhausted, they receive the remaining wholesome karma. The wholesome karma previously performed in other realms is like their parents; when they are about to be reborn in heaven, signs appear. If one dies among the hungry ghosts and is about to be reborn in heaven, while among the hungry ghosts hunger and thirst burn their body, and they constantly crave food and drink and constantly yearn for liquids; yet when they are about to die, these thoughts no longer arise. Their former cravings are all extinguished, and no evil karma approaches them. Although they see food and drink, they only look with their eyes as a person sees in a dream, neither eating nor drinking. Seeing the delightful heavens, they run towards them, and upon arriving there, they are instantly reborn in heaven. This is called the eleventh intermediate existence.
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Regarding the twelfth intermediate existence: Because of ignorance, beings receive animal bodies of immeasurable varieties, receiving bodies of birth and death for hundreds of thousands of koṭis of times, falling into the hells, hungry ghosts, and animals, transmigrating in the world without end. Through residual wholesome karma, dying among animals, they are reborn in two heavenly realms: either in the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings or in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. When the painful retribution in the evil realm of animals is about to end and they are about to attain release, signs appear. When approaching the end of life, they see light appear. Through residual wholesome karma, their ignorant mind becomes faint and slight, or seeing a place of pleasure, they run towards it as if seen in a dream. Running towards it, they are instantly reborn in heaven. This is called the twelfth intermediate existence.
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Regarding the thirteenth intermediate existence: For beings in the hells, it is rare and difficult to be reborn in heaven. When the conditions of residual wholesome deeds ripen like karma, this person in hell, because their karma is exhausted, is about to attain release; as they approach the end of life in this hell, signs appear. When life is about to end, if the hell wardens hurl them into a cauldron, they vanish like water foam and do not arise again; if struck with cudgels, they die immediately upon being struck and do not arise again; if placed in iron chests, they die immediately upon being placed therein and do not arise again; if placed in the River of Ashes, they dissolve immediately upon entering and do not arise again; if struck with iron rods, they die immediately upon being struck, perishing without arising again; if eaten by iron birds, they do not arise again after being eaten; if devoured by ferocious beasts, they do not arise again after being devoured. When this hell being's evil karma is exhausted, after death they no longer see the hell wardens of Yama, just as when the oil and wick are exhausted there is no longer the action of the lamp. The signs of intermediate existence in hell do not appear; suddenly, in the empty sky, they see supreme song, dance, and revelry, and fragrant breezes touch their body so that they experience supreme bliss. Wishing to approach the existence of rebirth, they are reborn either in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three or in the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings. This is called the thirteenth intermediate existence.
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Regarding the fourteenth intermediate existence: When one dies among humans and is to be reborn again among humans, signs appear. When approaching death, they see such signs: they see a great stone mountain looming over their body like a shadow. At that time, the person thinks: 'This mountain may fall upon my body.' Therefore, they move their hands wishing to ward off this mountain. Relatives, seeing this, think they are grasping at empty space. Having seen this, they further see this mountain appear like white cotton. Reaching onto this cotton, they then see red cotton. Gradually approaching death, they again see light; they see their parents united in sexual desire and give rise to inverted thoughts. If to be born as a male, he sees himself coupling with the mother and considers the father an obstacle; if to be born as a female, she sees herself coupling with the father and considers the mother an obstacle. At that very moment, the intermediate existence is destroyed and the rebirth-existence immediately arises, just as when a seal makes an imprint: the seal is broken and the inscription is formed. This is called the fourteenth intermediate existence of dying among humans and returning to birth among humans.
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Regarding the fifteenth intermediate existence: When dying in heaven and returning to birth in heaven, there is no suffering. Unlike other devaputras who, at the time of death, suffer the pain of separation from loved ones and fall into the hells, hungry ghosts, or animals, such a devaputra does not lose the ornaments of their own body, nor does another deva occupy their original seat; they are reborn in a superior heaven. If, after dying in the Heaven of the Four Kings, one is reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three with delightful and superior signs, this is called the fifteenth intermediate existence's path of succession.
69.30
Regarding the sixteenth intermediate existence's path of succession: If one dies in a higher heaven and is reborn in a lower heaven, seeing its lotus flowers, gardens, and flowing ponds, they are all inferior. Having seen these forms, suffering from hunger and thirst arises; thirsting and yearning to obtain them, one goes there and is reborn. Thus, although both are rebirths in heaven, there are two kinds of intermediate existence and two kinds of signs of birth. This is called the sixteenth intermediate existence's path of succession.
69.31
Regarding the seventeenth intermediate existence's path of succession: If a person of Pūrvavideha is to be born in Godānīya, what signs are there? If a person of Godānīya is to be born in Pūrvavideha, what signs are there again? When the people of these two continents are mutually reborn into each other, it is always with one and the same sign: when approaching the end of life, they see a dark cave, and within this cave is red lightning hanging down like a banner, either red or white. The person, seeing it, reaches out with their hands to grasp it; the present existence is destroyed, and catching the banner with their hands and climbing along it in succession, they enter this cave and take an intermediate existence body. Approaching the rebirth-existence, the manner of taking rebirth is also as previously explained: either seeing two cattle or seeing two horses coupling in attachment, lustful desire arises in them. Once lustful desire arises, they immediately receive the rebirth-existence. This is called the seventeenth intermediate existence.
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Section 5: Retribution in the Present Life
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The Sūtra on the Sevenfold Practice of Immediate Retribution Spoken by the Buddha states: At that time, the World-Honoured One told the monks, 'There are seven kinds of persons who should be served and revered; they are the unsurpassed field of merit for the world. What are the seven kinds of persons? First, those who practice benevolence; second, those who practice compassion; third, those who practice sympathetic joy; fourth, those who practice equanimity; fifth, those who practice emptiness; sixth, those who practice signlessness; seventh, those who practice wishlessness. If there are sentient beings who practice these seven dharmas, they will obtain their fruit of retribution in the present life.' Ānanda said to the Buddha, 'Why do you not speak of srotaāpannas, sakṛdāgāmins, anāgāmins, arhats, or pratyekabuddhas, but instead speak of these seven matters?' The World-Honoured One told him, 'The practice of the seven persons who practice benevolence is equal to that of srotaāpannas up to the Buddhas, yet their circumstances are different. Although making offerings to srotaāpannas and the like does not bring retribution in the present, those who make offerings to these persons will obtain retribution in the present life. Therefore, Ānanda, you should diligently and vigorously accomplish the seven dharmas.' Furthermore, the Saṃyuktaratnapiṭaka-sūtra states: Formerly, in the country of Gandhāra, there was a slaughterer leading five hundred calves whom he intended to castrate completely. At that time, a palace eunuch ransomed the cattle with gold coins and released them as a herd. Due to this cause and condition, he obtained full male faculties in his present body. Returning to the royal palace, he sent someone to announce, 'So-and-so is outside.' The king said, 'He is a member of my household who comes and goes as he pleases and has never needed to be announced. Why is it so now?' The king immediately summoned him and asked the reason. He answered the king, saying, 'Just now I saw a slaughterer leading five hundred calves, intending to mutilate them. Your servant ransomed and released them. Due to this cause and condition, my body was made whole; therefore I did not dare enter.' When the king heard this, he was amazed and delighted, and gave rise to deep faith and reverence toward the Buddha's Dharma. Now, if the flower-like nascent retribution brought about is like this, how much more immeasurable must the full karmic fruit be!
69.34
Furthermore, the New Vibhāṣā-śāstra states: In the past, there was a cattle slaughterer driving cattle along a road. The men were many and their provisions were exhausted; they were hungry, thirsty, hot, and exhausted. Resting, they conferred: 'These herds of cattle are not our own property anyway; we should cut out their tongues to relieve our hunger and emptiness.' They immediately rubbed salt on the cattle's mouths. The cattle, craving the salty taste, stuck out their tongues to lick it, whereupon they used sharp knives to cut them off all at once, roasted them over fire, and ate them together. After eating, they went to the water to wash and rinse, and together chewed willow twigs to clean their teeth. Having finished, they split the twigs to scrape their tongues. By the power of evil karma, all the men's tongues, like rotten fruit, fell out all at once. (These are all retributions in the present life, because the karma was heavy.)
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Section 6: Retribution in the Next Life
69.36
As the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra states: 'Good man, when a person relinquishes life and suffers great agony, surrounded by relatives wailing and lamenting, that person is terrified and knows not where to turn for refuge. Although possessing the five sense faculties, they have no awareness; their limbs tremble and cannot support themselves; their body becomes hollow and cold, and the bodily warmth is about to depart. They see the signs of retribution for the good and evil previously cultivated, just as when the sun is about to set, the shadows of mountains, hills, and mounds appear moving to the east, with no reason to go west. Sentient beings' karmic fruits are also like this: when this aggregate ceases, that aggregate continues to arise, just as when a lamp is lit darkness ceases, and when a lamp goes out darkness arises. Good man, it is like a wax seal stamping clay: when the seal contacts the clay, the seal is destroyed and the inscription is formed. Yet this wax seal does not transform to remain in the clay, nor does the inscription emerge from the clay or come from elsewhere; rather, it is through the conditions of the seal that this inscription arises. When the present aggregates cease, the aggregates of the intermediate existence arise. These present aggregates never transform into the five aggregates of the intermediate existence, nor do the five aggregates of the intermediate existence arise of themselves or come from elsewhere; it is because of the present aggregates that the aggregates of the intermediate existence arise. Just as a seal stamps clay, the seal is destroyed and the inscription is formed; though their names do not differ, their times are distinct. Therefore I say that the five aggregates of the intermediate existence are not visible to the physical eye or the divine eye.
69.37
In this intermediate existence there are three kinds of food: first, food of volition; second, food of contact; third, food of mental intention. There are two kinds of intermediate existence: first, the fruit of wholesome karma; second, the fruit of unwholesome karma. Due to wholesome karma, one obtains wholesome thought and investigation; due to unwholesome karma, one obtains unwholesome thought and investigation. When father and mother unite in sexual intercourse, following the karmic causes and conditions one moves toward the place of taking rebirth. One generates lust toward the mother and anger toward the father; when the father's semen is discharged, one thinks it is one's own, and seeing it, one's mind rejoices and gives rise to pleasure. Due to these three kinds of affliction as conditions, the aggregates of the intermediate existence are destroyed and the subsequent five aggregates arise. Just as a seal stamps clay, the seal is destroyed and the inscription is formed. At the time of birth, the sense faculties may be complete or incomplete. Those whose faculties are complete see forms and give rise to craving; because craving arises, it is called desire. Giving rise to craving through delusion is called ignorance. Due to the two conditions of craving-desire and ignorance, the realms perceived are all inverted.'
69.38
Furthermore, the Yogācārabhūmi-sūtra states: When a person's conduct is mixed, sometimes good and sometimes evil, and they are due to reach the human realm, if the parents unite and the seminal essence is discharged at the proper time, the child to be born approaches. If the mother's womb is open and unobstructed, and her mind is joyful and free of depraved thoughts, it is then pliant and capable of receiving the child. If the seminal essence is neither too clear nor too thick, of moderate temperament and not overly strong, neither putrid nor red or black, not intermingled with wind, cold, or various toxins, and distinct from urine, the spirit destined to be born arises immediately. Supposing it is a male child who has not yet united with a woman, his five desires penetrate, and the male adoringly conceives desire toward the woman. When the father's semen descends, the spirit rejoices, thinking, 'This is my place!' At that moment, it abandons the five skandhas of the intermediate existence (antarābhava) and enters the womb. The parents' essences having united, being now in the womb, it leaps with double delight: this is the form skandha (rūpa-skandha). The moment of rejoicing is the feeling skandha (vedanā-skandha). Thinking upon the essence is the perception skandha (saṃjñā-skandha). Entering the womb by reason of past sins and merits is the karmic formations skandha (saṃskāra-skandha). The spirit dwelling within the womb is the consciousness skandha (vijñāna-skandha). Such a combination is called the five skandhas. While in the womb, it immediately obtains two sense-faculties: the mind-faculty (manindriya) and the body-faculty (kāyindriya). Up to the seventh day, it abides within without increasing or decreasing. By the second seventh day, the embryo alters slightly, like thin curd. By the third seventh day, it resembles unripened curd. By the fourth seventh day, the essence coagulates like ripe curd. By the fifth seventh day, the embryonic essence transforms, like raw butter. By the sixth seventh day, it changes into something like a fleshy polyp. By the seventh seventh day, it turns into something like a lump of flesh. By the eighth seventh day, it hardens like unbaked brick. By the ninth seventh day, it transforms into five vesicles: the two elbows, the two thighs, and the head and neck emerge from it. By the tenth seventh day, there are another five vesicles: the two wrists, the two ankles, and the head arises. By the eleventh seventh day, twenty-four vesicles continuously emerge: the ten fingers, the ten toes, and the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth emerge from it. By the twelfth seventh day, these vesicle-forms gradually reach completion. By the thirteenth seventh day, the form of the belly appears. By the fourteenth seventh day, the liver, lungs, heart, spleen, and kidneys are generated. By the fifteenth seventh day, the large intestine is generated. By the sixteenth seventh day, the small intestine is generated. By the seventeenth seventh day, the belly-cavity is formed. By the eighteenth seventh day, the stomach and the bowels arise from these two places. By the nineteenth seventh day, the thighs, shank-bones, palms, soles, and the sinews connecting the arm-joints are generated. By the twentieth seventh day, the bodily forms of the pudenda, navel, breasts, chin, and neck are generated. By the twenty-first seventh day, the bones of the body are partitioned, each as appropriate: two bones in the head, thirty-two bones attached to the mouth, seven bones attached to the neck, two bones attached to the thighs, two bones attached to the elbows, four bones attached to the arms, twelve bones attached to the chest, eighteen bones attached to the back, two bones attached to the pelvis, four bones attached to the knees, forty bones attached to the feet. There are further minute bones, totaling one hundred and eight, fully integrated with the flesh of the body. Eighteen bones are attached to the two flanks, and two bones attached to the shoulders. In this way, there are three hundred bones of the body in all, linked together. These bones are soft, like newly sprouted gourds. By the twenty-second seventh day, the bones harden slightly, like unripe gourds. By the twenty-third seventh day, the bones become still harder, like walnuts. These three hundred bones are each linked together: the foot bones attach to the feet, the knee bones attach to the knees; likewise, the shank bones, thigh bones, pelvic bones, vertebrae, chest bones, rib bones, shoulder bones, neck bones, chin bones, arm, wrist, hand, and foot bones each link to one another. This collection of bones is like an illusory apparition, raised and moved according to the blowing of the winds. By the twenty-fourth seventh day, one hundred sinews are generated, connecting to the body. By the twenty-fifth seventh day, seven thousand vessels are generated, but not yet complete. By the twenty-sixth seventh day, all the vessels permeate throughout, fully complete, like the holes in a lotus root. By the twenty-seventh seventh day, three hundred and sixty-three sinews are all completed. By the twenty-eighth seventh day, the flesh begins to grow. By the twenty-ninth seventh day, the muscles and flesh thicken slightly. By the thirtieth seventh day, the appearance of skin barely emerges. By the thirty-first seventh day, the skin grows thicker and firmer. By the thirty-second seventh day, the epidermis becomes complete. By the thirty-third seventh day, the ears, nose, lips, fingers, and knee-joints are completed. By the thirty-fourth seventh day, nine hundred and ninety thousand pores for hair are generated, but not yet complete. By the thirty-fifth seventh day, the hair pores are fully complete. By the thirty-sixth seventh day, the nails begin to form. By the thirty-seventh seventh day, various winds arise within the mother's belly, opening the child's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Some winds arise to dye its hair, making it either handsome or ugly. Other winds arise to form its complexion, making it white, red, or black, fair or foul—all due to past deeds. During these seven days, wind, cold, and heat arise, and urination and defecation open up. By the thirty-eighth seventh day, natural winds arise within the mother's belly in accordance with its past actions. For one with good deeds in past lives, a fragrant wind arises, pleasant to its body and mind, soft and unblemished, aligning its bones and joints to make it handsome, so that none will fail to love and respect it. For one with evil deeds in past lives, a foul wind arises, making the body uncomfortable and displeasing to the mind, blowing upon its bones and joints so that they become bent, crooked, and deformed, even rendering it impotent, despised by others. This is the thirty-eighth seventh day. In nine months less four days, the child's body and joints become fully formed into a human being. The child's body has two components: one component comes from the father, and one component comes from the mother. All the body's hair, cheeks, eyes, tongue, throat, heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, intestines, blood, and soft parts come from the mother; the rest—the nails, teeth, bones, joints, marrow, brain, sinews, vessels, and hard parts—come from the father. The child in the mother's womb is situated below the stomach and above the bowels. If it is a boy, his back faces outward and his face inward, in her left flank; if it is a girl, her back faces the mother and her face outward, in the right flank. It dwells in a painful, foul, and impure place, soaked in filth, all its joints contracted and unable to stretch, residing in a leather bag wrapped in abdominal netting, smeared with visceral blood, confined in cramped quarters, reliant upon feces and urine—such is its defilement. During the remaining four days of these nine months, if one has good deeds from past lives, on the first day and the later day thoughts arise in the mind, saying: 'I am in a park or pleasure-terrace; I am in heaven.' For one whose deeds are evil, it thinks it is in hell, a worldly prison; by the third day it becomes sorrowful and unhappy. When the fourth day arrives, winds arise within the mother's belly, moving up and down, turning the child's body upside down so that its head faces the birth canal. For one with merit, its mind thinks at that time: 'I am jumping into a bath, playing in the water, as if falling onto a high bed in a place of flowers and fragrance.' For one without merit, the thought arises: 'I am falling from a mountain, plunging into an embankment, a ditch, a pit, or a cesspool, or into the thorns and nets of hell, or among the swords and halberds in a rocky wasteland,' full of grief and distress. The retributions of good and evil differ in this manner. Once the child is born and falls to the ground, blown by external winds, touched by women's hands, and washed with warm water, it is oppressed by agonizing pain, just like an excruciating illness. Because of this suffering and fear of death, delusion arises; therefore it is confused and bewildered, not recognizing whence it came or whither it goes. Born in a foul place of blood and loathsome discharges on the ground, demons and spirits come to afflict it, epilepsy and malignant forces strike it, contact with corpses touches it, and sorcery and mad ghosts each lie in wait to assault it. Just as when a piece of meat falls at a crossroads, crows, kites, eagles, and wolves each come to fight over it, so too do various evil specters and ghosts surround the child, seeking an opportunity to seize it. If one possesses past good deeds and virtues, the evil spirits cannot gain an advantage. When the child has grown and is nourished with balls of food, just as it acquires the energy of grains, eighty kinds of worms are generated within its body: two kinds at the hair roots, one named 'Tongue-piercer' and the second 'Double-piercer'; three kinds in the head, named 'Firm', 'Wounder', and 'Destroyer'; one kind in the brain; two kinds on the surface of the brain, the first named 'Spider', the second 'Perturber', and the third 'Confuser'; two kinds on the forehead, the first named 'Lowly' and the second 'Rotten'; two kinds in the eyes, the first named 'Piercer' and the second 'Double-piercer'; two kinds in the ears, the first named 'Taste-knower' and the second 'Taste-revealer'; two kinds at the root of the ears, the first named 'Red' and the second 'Red Again'; two kinds in the nose, the first named 'Fat' and the second 'Fat Again'; two kinds in the mouth, the first named 'Shaker' and the second 'Agitator'; two kinds in the teeth, the first named 'Vicious' and the second 'Fierce'; three kinds at the root of the teeth, named 'Gasping', 'Resting', and 'Snapping-destroyer'; one kind on the tongue, named 'Sweetness'; one kind at the root of the tongue, named 'Pliant'; one kind on the upper palate, named 'Coming-and-Going'; one kind in the gullet, named 'Coughing-throat'; two kinds in the pupils, the first named 'Raw' and the second 'Unripe'; two kinds on the shoulders, the first named 'Hanging' and the second 'Hanging Again'; one kind on the arm, named 'Standing-still'; one kind on the hand, named 'Circling'; two kinds on the chest, the first named 'Forehead-pit' and the second 'Vast-universal'; one kind at the heart, named 'Mottled'; one kind on the breasts, named 'Child-manifest'; one kind at the navel, named 'Encircler'; two kinds on the flanks, the first named 'Moon' and the second 'Moon-face'; two kinds on the spine, the first named 'Moon-traveler' and the second 'Moon-appearance'; one kind between the backbones, named 'Abundant-peace'; one kind under the skin, named 'Tiger-claw'; two kinds in the flesh, the first named 'Skin-consumer' and the second 'Pounding-burner'; four kinds in the bones, the first named 'Utter-poison', the second 'Habitual-poison', the third 'Fine-bone', and the fourth 'Mixed-poison'; five kinds in the marrow, the first named 'Murderer', the second 'Non-killer', the third 'Breaker', the fourth 'Mixed-skeleton', and the fifth 'White-bone'; two kinds in the intestines, the first named 'Dung-beetle' and the second 'Beetle-beak'; two kinds in the small intestines, the first named 'Offspring' and the second 'Offspring Again'; one kind in the liver, named 'Silver-snarl'; one kind in the stomach, named 'Envious-gatherer'; one kind in the bowels, named 'Deep-sigh'; one kind in the rectum, named 'Heavy-body'; three kinds in the feces, the first named 'Sinew', the second 'Eye-knot', and the third 'Eye-plaited-hair'; two kinds in the buttocks, the first named 'Flowing-down' and the second 'Flowing-down Again'; five kinds in the bladder, the first named 'Clan', the second 'Evil-race', the third 'Sleeping-waking', the fourth 'Then-waking', and the fifth 'Juice-protector'; one kind on the thigh, named 'Beating-branch'; one kind on the knee, named 'Manifest-wound'; one kind on the calf, named 'Iron-beak'; one kind on the toes, named 'Burning-blaze'; and one kind on the sole of the foot, named 'Skin-eater'. These are the eighty kinds of worms that dwell in a single body, consuming the physical form day and night.
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- 法苑珠林 — 道世, Classical Chinese