法苑珠林 69.5

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.