法苑珠林 7

English (machine translation) 7

Language: English

7.1

Compiled by the śramaṇa Shi Daoshi of Ximing Temple

7.3

Category of Hells (This contains eight subdivisions)

Subdivision on Expounding the Meaning
Subdivision on Reconciling the Names
Subdivision on Receiving Retribution
Subdivision on Temporal Duration
Subdivision on the Overseers
Subdivision on the Royal Capital
Subdivision on Karmic Causes
Subdivision on Admonition

7.5

First Subdivision: Expounding the Meaning

7.6

Now, when discussing the dark anguish of the hells, it is singularly agonizing and poignant. Forests of knives tower toward the sun; peaks of swords pierce the sky. Boiling cauldrons surge with waves; blazing furnaces send up flames. Iron cities are barred by day; copper pillars burn by night. In such places, sinners are everywhere replete, agitated and distressed, crying out and wailing in sorrow. Hell-wardens with ox-heads and evil eyes bear ferocious teeth; long pitchforks prop up ribs, and livers and hearts are pounded in mortars. Fierce fires press against bodies, leaving flesh and skin thoroughly consumed; or again, heads are pounded and feet smashed, souls boiled and spirits cooked; gallbladders ripped and intestines drawn out, bodies butchered and flesh minced. How can such suffering be described or conceived? Thereupon they sink and float within boiling soup, or recline amid glowing coals. Flesh is stripped clean on the tips of halberds and swords; bones are crushed beside withered forms. How could one sleep peacefully upon an iron bed? How could one long adhere to a copper pillar? With fire carried in their eyes, tears cannot fall; with smoke held in their mouths, cries can hardly come forth. Such places are still among the lighter ones! Therefore, if amid cold ice one should happen to encounter a warm breeze, or amid coal fires should receive a cool breeze, that would count as joyous and cause for delight. But if one should happen to receive a body in Avīci, it is singular indeed: an agonizing iron wall eighty thousand yojanas across and long, explosive sounds that shock and terrify, stinking smoke billowing up. Like fish in an iron pan, fat and blood are scorched dry; within, there is not a moment of pleasure, for every condition encountered brings suffering. One cannot move or turn, bound exceedingly tight; traversing east to west, penetrating top to bottom. When this realm is burned by the fire of a kalpa, they are transferred to another world; when the kalpa in that other world ends, they return to this place. Circling around like this, they pass through immeasurable kalpas. We pray that they may cultivate merit and all repent; we pray that the boiling soup will become clear and transform into a lotus pond, the glowing coals turn fragrant and become a perfumed canopy, the lofty sword-trees become forests of gems, the luxuriant knife-mountains become Vulture Peak itself. May the copper pillars change color and forever stand as Dharma banners; may the iron nets alter their form to open up a Pure Land. May the ox-headed wardens throw down their blades and receive the Three Refuges; may the hell-wardens cast away their whips and keep the Five Precepts. May enemies be reconciled, showing no trace of anger; may creditors be joyful, harboring no look of wrath. May visitors who lost their heads be made whole through this; may men whose bones and sinews were pulverized be restored to wholeness thereby!

7.7

Second Subdivision: Reconciling the Names

7.8

Question: Why are they called 'hells'? Answer: According to the *Lokasthitābhidharma-śāstra*, the Sanskrit name is *niraya*. It is so called because there is no sport or amusement; because there is no joy or pleasure; because there is no leaving or escaping; because there is no merit; and because it is born into due to not abandoning evil karma. It is also said: among the desire realm, this destiny is the most inferior and is called the non-path. For these reasons, hell is called *niraya*. As stated in the *Vibhāṣā-śāstra*, it is named 'unfree,' meaning that the sinners are restrained by the hell-wardens (*apāma*) and cannot be free, hence the name 'hell'; it is also named 'unlovely and unpleasant,' hence 'hell.' Furthermore, *di* (earth) means bottom, referring to the lowest depth; among the ten thousand things, earth is at the very bottom, hence it is called 'bottom.' *Yu* (prison) means confinement, referring to being restrained and unable to be free, hence it is called 'earth-prison' (hell). Moreover, the name *nili* is a Sanskrit sound, which here means 'non-existent,' meaning that in that hell there is no beneficial purpose, hence it is called 'non-existent.' Question: There are many kinds of hells—some under the earth, some on the earth, and some in empty space; why are they all called 'earth-prisons' (hells)? Answer: In the old translations, the name 'earth-prison' was narrow in scope and confined in location, not encompassing those on earth or in space. Now, according to the newly translated sūtras and treatises, the correct sound of the Sanskrit text is *naraka*, or *nāraka*. This comprehensively includes all places and states of suffering, and is thus called *nāraka*. Hence the *New Vibhāṣā* states: 'Question: Why is that destiny called *nāraka*? Answer: Those sentient beings have no joy, no love, no savor, no benefit, and no joy or pleasure; therefore it is called *naraka*. Some say: because they formerly created, increased, and intensified exceedingly fierce evil bodily, vocal, and mental actions, going there and causing them to continue, it is called *nāraka*. Some say: because in that destiny they fall headlong, it is called *nāraka*.' As a verse says:

7.9

"Falling headlong into hell,
Feet above and head below,
Because of slandering the ṛṣis
Who delighted in quietude and cultivated austerities."

7.10

Some say: *nara* means human, and *ka* means evil; evil humans are born in that place, hence it is called *nāraka*. Question: Why is the lowest and largest one called *avīci* (uninterrupted)? Answer: That place constantly experiences painful feelings without any interval of joy or pleasure, hence it is called uninterrupted. Question: In the other hells, could there be song, dance, food, drink, and the experience of joyous fruition, such that they are not called uninterrupted? Answer: Although in the other hells there is no joyous fruition, there is an outflow of joy. As stated in the *Prajñapti-śāstra*, in the Saṃjīva (Reviving) Hell, sometimes a cool wind blows and their flesh and blood regenerate; sometimes a voice calls out, saying 'revive!', and those sentient beings suddenly come back to life. Only at such times, when flesh and blood regenerate and when they come back to life, do they temporarily give rise to joy that interrupts the painful sensations; therefore it is not called uninterrupted.

7.11

Third Subdivision: Receiving Retribution

7.12

As the *New Vibhāṣā-śāstra* says: Question: Where are the hells located? Answer: For the most part, beneath this Jambudvīpa. How are they arranged? Some say: Going down forty thousand yojanas from this continent reaches the bottom of the Avīci hell. The Avīci hell is twenty thousand yojanas in length, breadth, height, and depth. In the nineteen thousand yojanas next above, the other seven hells are established. That is, next above is the Hell of Extreme Heat (Pratāpana); next above is the Hell of Heat (Tāpana); next above is the Hell of Great Screaming (Mahāraurava); next above is the Hell of Screaming (Raurava); next above is the Hell of Crushing (Saṃghāta); next above is the Hell of Black Cords (Kālasūtra); next above is the Hell of Reviving (Saṃjīva). Each of these hells is ten thousand yojanas in length and breadth. In the remaining one thousand yojanas next above, five hundred yojanas are white clay, and five hundred yojanas are mud. Some say: Going down from this mud, there is the Avīci hell located in the center, and the other seven hells surround it all around, just as villages surround a great city. Question: If so, how can the explanation in the *Prajñapti-śāstra* be reconciled? As it says, Jambudvīpa has a circumference of six thousand and three and a half yojanas; the size of each hell is vast, so how can they be accommodated beneath this continent? Answer: This Jambudvīpa is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, like a heap of grain; therefore, it can accommodate them. For this reason, the scriptures say that the four great oceans become deeper the further one enters them. Furthermore, each great hell has sixteen adjuncts [utsada]: each has four gates, and outside each gate there are four adjuncts. First is the adjunct of burning embers, where burning embers submerge one to the knees. Second is the adjunct of corpse filth, which is filled with mud of corpse filth. Third is the adjunct of sharp blades, which has three further types: first is the road of knife blades, where knife blades are laid facing upward to form a path; second is the forest of sword leaves, where the leaves are purely sharp sword blades; third is the forest of iron thorns, where there are sharp iron thorns sixteen finger-breadths long. Although the three types, such as the road of knife blades, differ, they are identical in being iron forests, and are therefore subsumed as one adjunct. Fourth is the adjunct of the fiery river, which contains boiling saline water. Together with the main hell, they make seventeen. Thus, the eight great hells together with their retinue comprise one hundred and thirty-six places. Therefore, the scriptures say that there are one hundred and thirty-six narakas. Thus, the *Dīrgha-āgama* says: The great hells total eight in number. Each of these eight hells is surrounded by sixteen small hells, just as the four continents are surrounded by eighty thousand continents. Outside the eighty thousand continents there is also a great ocean; outside the ocean there is again a Great Vajra Mountain; outside that mountain there is another mountain also named Vajra (the *Loutan jing* calls them the Great Iron Enclosure Mountains). Between the two mountains, the majestic light of the sun and moon and the heavenly deities does not shine at all. The eight great hells are: first, Saṃjñā; second, Kālasūtra; third, Crushing; fourth, Screaming; fifth, Great Screaming; sixth, Burning; seventh, Great Burning; eighth, Avīci (the variations in names between the *Loutan jing* and other scriptures are merely due to differences in translation; their general sense is the same). Regarding the sixteen [subordinate hells] of the first, the Saṃjñā Hell: The sentient beings therein grow iron claws on their hands; turning on one another in wrath, they claw at each other, and flesh falls with each stroke of their hands. Thinking themselves to be dead, it is therefore named 'Saṃjñā' (Thought). Furthermore, the sentient beings therein harbor murderous thoughts; holding knives and swords in their hands, they chop and stab each other, skinning, flaying, and slicing so that their bodies are shattered upon the ground. Thinking they are dead, a cold wind blows and they immediately revive and rise again. They think to themselves: 'I have now revived.' Having endured retribution for a long time, they exit the Saṃjñā Hell, and in their panic, seeking salvation, without realizing it they suddenly arrive at the Black Sand Hell. A fierce hot wind suddenly arises, blowing burning black sand that clings to their bodies, burning through skin and penetrating bone. Flames ignite within their bodies, swirling round and round, scorching their bodies until rotten. Because their sins are not yet exhausted, they are kept from dying. Having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Black Sand Hell and arrive at the Boiling Excrement Hell. There, boiling excrement and iron pellets spontaneously fill the area ahead; wardens drive the sinners, forcing them to grasp the iron pellets, which burn their hands and bodies. They also force them to take them in their mouths, passing from throat to belly, penetrating all the way through, leaving nothing unscorched. There are iron-beaked worms that gnaw the flesh to the marrow. The bitter venom is boundless, but because their sins are not yet exhausted, they likewise cannot die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Boiling Excrement Hell and arrive at the Iron Nails Hell. The hell wardens throw them down face up on hot iron, stretch out their bodies, and drive nails into their hands and feet, driving a full five hundred nails throughout their entire bodies. Groaning in bitter venom, they still do not die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Iron Nails Hell and arrive at the Iron Hunger Hell. They are immediately thrown onto hot iron, and molten copper is poured into their mouths, passing from throat to belly, penetrating all the way through, leaving nothing unscorched. Because their remaining sins are not yet exhausted, they still do not die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Hunger Hell and arrive at the Thirst Hell. They are immediately thrown onto hot iron, and red-hot iron pellets are put into their mouths, burning their lips and tongues, penetrating all the way through, leaving nothing unscorched. Weeping in bitter agony, having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Thirst Hell and arrive at the Single Copper Cauldron Hell. With furious glares, the hell wardens seize the sinners by the feet and throw them headfirst into the cauldron. Surging with the boiling broth, they tumble up and down, their bodies decomposing and cooked through. All myriad sufferings come upon them, yet they are made not to die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Single Copper Cauldron and arrive at the Many Copper Cauldrons Hell. Seizing the sinners by the feet, they throw them headfirst into the cauldrons; surging with the boiling broth, tumbling up and down, their whole bodies decompose. Taking them with iron hooks, they cast them into other cauldrons. Crying out in bitter grief, they are made not to die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Many Copper Cauldrons Hell and arrive at the Stone Mill Hell. Seizing those sinners, they throw them down on hot stones, stretch out their hands and feet, and press great hot stones upon their bodies, turning and grinding them until bones and flesh are crushed to pulp. Searing in bitter pain, they are made not to die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Stone Mill Hell and arrive at the Pus and Blood Hell. Pus and blood boil and surge; the sinners run back and forth within it, scalded until their bodies, heads, and faces are rotten and ruined. Furthermore, they scoop up the pus and blood to eat, which burns all the way through. The bitter venom is unbearable, yet they are made not to die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they then exit the Pus and Blood Hell and arrive at the Measuring Fire Hell. There is a great blaze, its flames blazing intensely; they drive the sinners, making their hands hold hot iron peck-measures to measure the blaze. Scorching their entire bodies in burning, venomous pain, groaning and wailing, they are made not to die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they exit the Measuring Fire Hell and arrive at the Ash River Hell. It is five hundred yojanas in length, breadth, depth, and shallowness. The ash-broth surges and boils, its foul vapors billowing; swirling waves crash against one another with terrifying roars. From bottom to top, iron thorns crisscross. On the riverbanks is a forest of sword trees, whose branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits are all knives and swords. The sinners enter the river, rising and falling with the waves, churning and sinking; iron thorns pierce their bodies, penetrating through inside and out, pus and blood flowing forth. Sufferings are myriad, yet they are made not to die. Then they exit the Ash River onto the bank and arrive at the sword-tree forest. Cut and pierced by swords, their bodies are wounded and ruined. Furthermore, jackals and wolves come to bite the sinners, eating their flesh raw. Running up the sword trees, the sword blades at that time point downward; when climbing down the sword trees, the sword blades point upward. Hands raised are severed, feet stepping are cut off, and skin and flesh drop away, leaving only white bones held together by sinews. At that time, there are iron-beaked crows upon the sword trees that peck their heads and eat their brains. Crying out in bitter grief, they are made not to die. Returning into the Ash River, sinking with the waves, iron thorns pierce their bodies with myriad kinds of bitter venom; their skin and flesh rot away, pus and blood flowing out, with only white bones floating on the surface. A cold wind blows and they immediately rise up again. Drawn by their past retributions, without realizing it they suddenly arrive at the Iron Pellets Hell. There are red-hot iron pellets; hell demons drive them to grasp them, their hands and feet rotting away and their entire bodies catching fire. All myriad poisons come upon them, yet they are made not to die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they then exit the Iron Pellets Hell and arrive at the Adze and Axe Hell. Seizing these sinners, they throw them down on hot iron, and with hot iron adzes and axes, they chop off their hands, feet, ears, nose, tongue, and body. Crying out in bitter venom, they are still not allowed to die. Having endured retribution for a long time, they exit the Adze and Axe Hell and arrive at the Jackal and Wolf Hell. Packs of jackals and wolves vie to come and gnaw on them, their flesh falling away, bones wounded, pus and blood flowing forth. Sufferings are myriad, yet they are made not to die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they then exit the Jackal and Wolf Hell and arrive at the Sword Tree Hell. Entering that sword forest, a fierce wind arises, blowing the sword leaves down onto their bodies; heads, faces, and bodies are all wounded and ruined. There are iron-beaked crows that peck out both their eyes. Wailing in bitter pain, they are made not to die. Having endured suffering for a long time, they then exit the Sword Tree Hell and arrive at the Cold Ice Hell. A great cold wind blows upon their bodies; their entire bodies are frostbitten, skin and flesh falling away. Screaming in bitter venom, only then do their lives end. If one performs unwholesome deeds with the body, and likewise with speech and mind, one falls into this Saṃjñā Hell, bristling with horror and fear. The second, the Kālasūtra Great Hell, has sixteen small hells surrounding it on all sides, each five hundred yojanas in length and breadth. Why is it named Kālasūtra (Black Cords)? Those hell wardens seize those sinners, throw them down face up on hot iron, stretch out their bodies, and use hot iron cords to mark them straight. Then, using hot iron axes along the cord lines, they chop the sinners into hundreds and thousands of pieces. Furthermore, they use iron cords to mark them and saw them with saws. Furthermore, they suspend hot iron cords crisscrossing boundlessly, and drive the sinners to walk among the cords; a fierce foul wind suddenly arises, blowing the iron cords to entwine their bodies, burning through the skin, piercing the flesh, scorching the bones, and boiling the marrow. Sufferings are myriad, but because their remaining sins are not yet exhausted, they are made not to die. Therefore it is named Kālasūtra. Having endured suffering for a long time, they then exit the Kālasūtra Hell, reaching the Black Sand Hell and on through to the Cold Ice Hell, only after which does life end; it cannot be recounted in full. The endurance of painful suffering in the remaining sixteen hells follows the same method as before, yet the suffering endured is even heavier. Because of harboring evil intentions toward parents, the Buddha, and the Śrāvakas, one immediately falls into the Kālasūtra Hell; the pain and suffering cannot be calculated. The third, the Crushing Great Hell, also has sixteen small hells surrounding it, each five hundred yojanas in length and breadth. Why is it named Crushing? There are great stone mountains facing each other in pairs. When people enter between these mountains, the mountains spontaneously come together and crush their bodies, grinding flesh and bones to pulp, after which the mountains return to their original places. Sufferings are myriad, yet they are made not to die. Furthermore, there are great iron elephants with their whole bodies ablaze, bellowing as they charge, trampling the sinners and rolling over them, crushing their bodies to pulp with pus and blood flowing out; wailing in grief, they are made not to die. Furthermore, they seize the sinners, lay them on great stones, and crush them with great stones. Furthermore, they take the sinners, lay them on the ground, and pound them with iron pestles from feet to head, skin and flesh ground to pulp, pus and blood flowing forth. All myriad poisons come upon them, but because their remaining sins are not yet exhausted, they are made not to die. Therefore it is named Crushing. Having endured suffering for a long time, they then exit the Crushing Hell, reaching the Black Sand Hell and on through to the Cold Ice Hell, after which life ends. If one merely creates the three unwholesome karmas and does not cultivate the three wholesome practices, one immediately falls into the Crushing Hell; the pain and suffering cannot be calculated.

7.13

The fourth, the Screaming Great Hell, also has sixteen small hells surrounding it, each five hundred yojanas in length and breadth. Why is it named the Screaming Hell? The hell wardens seize the sinners and cast them into great cauldrons, or place them into great iron cauldrons, boiling the sinners in surging hot broth, who wail and scream in searing and acute suffering. Furthermore, they take those sinners, cast them onto great griddles, and repeatedly fry and sear them. Having endured suffering for a long time, they then exit Screaming, reaching the Black Sand Hell and on through to the Cold Ice Hell, only after which does life end. Because of committing various evil deeds harboring malice and rage, one falls into the Screaming Hell.

7.14

Fifth is the Great Wailing Hell (Mahāraurava). It is also surrounded by sixteen minor hells (their sizes being as previously described). Why is it called the Great Wailing Hell? The sinners are taken and put into great iron cauldrons, kept for a long time in iron pots where boiling water seethes to cook those sinners. They are also thrown onto great iron griddles and repeatedly roasted. They wail and cry out loudly in acrid, excruciating pain. Because the remainder of their sins is not yet exhausted, they are made not to die; hence it is called Great Wailing. Having suffered torment for a long time, they exit Great Wailing and proceed up to the Cold Ice Hell, only then reaching the end of their lives. It is from cultivating various wrong views, being ensnared by the net of craving, and committing base and vulgar deeds that one falls into the Great Wailing Hell.

7.15

Sixth is the Burning Hell (Tapana). It is also surrounded by sixteen minor hells (their sizes being as previously described). Why is it called Burning? The sinners are taken and placed within an iron city; that city is on fire, glowing red both inside and out, burning the sinners. They are also placed upon iron towers; those towers are on fire, glowing red both inside and out. They are also thrown into great iron kilns; those kilns are on fire, glowing red both inside and out, burning the sinners. Their skin and flesh are scorched and rotten, and ten thousand poisons arrive all at once. Because the remainder of their sins is not yet exhausted, they are made not to die; hence it is called Burning. Having suffered torment for a long time, they exit the Burning Hell and proceed up to the Cold Ice Hell, after which their lives end. It is on account of burning sentient beings that one falls into the Burning Hell, suffering this agony of burning through the long night.

7.16

Seventh is the Great Burning Hell (Pratāpana). It is also surrounded by sixteen minor hells (their sizes being as previously described). Why is it called the Great Burning Hell? It means taking the sinners and placing them within an iron city; that city is on fire, glowing red both inside and out, burning the sinners. Their skin and flesh are scorched and rotten, and ten thousand poisons arrive all at once. There are great fire pits with blazing flames; on both sides of these pits are great fiery mountains. Casting those sinners upon them, they impale them on iron forks and stand them upright in the midst of fire, kindling flames to burn them so that their skin and flesh are scorched and rotten. Because the remainder of their sins is not yet exhausted, they are made not to die. Having suffered torment for a long time, they exit Great Burning and proceed up to the Cold Ice [Hell], only then reaching the end of their lives. It is from abandoning karmic deeds of good fruition and committing manifold evil acts that one falls into the Great Burning Hell.

7.17

Eighth is the Uninterrupted Hell (Avīci). It is also surrounded by sixteen minor hells (their sizes being as previously described). Why is it named the Avīci Hell? Here it is translated as the Uninterrupted Hell. Why is it called Uninterrupted? The hell wardens seize those sinners and strip off their skins from foot to crown, then wrap the sinners' bodies in their own skins and place them upon fiery carts. The wheels grind them over the burning ground, turning back and forth; their bodies are pulverized and rotten, their skin and flesh sloughing off, with ten thousand poisons arriving all at once, yet they are made not to die. Furthermore, there is an iron city with fires arising on all four sides: eastern flames reach to the west, western flames reach to the east, and north, south, above, and below are likewise. The blazes surge and churn, leaving no empty space between. Racing east and west, their bodies are scorched and burned, their skin and flesh roasted and festered in acrid, agonizing pain, with ten thousand poisons arriving all at once. When the sinners have been inside for a long time, the gates finally open; those sinners rush and scurry toward them, flames bursting forth from all their limbs and joints. When they run and are about to reach the gates, the gates close of themselves. Because the remainder of their sins is not yet exhausted, they are made not to die. Moreover, whatever the sinners inside raise their eyes to see, they see only hideous forms; their ears hear only dreadful sounds; their noses smell only foul stenches; their bodies touch only agonizing pains; their minds think only of evil phenomena. In the space of a finger-snap, there is no time without torment; hence it is called the Uninterrupted Hell. Having suffered torment for a long time, they exit Avīci and proceed up to the Cold Ice Hell, only then reaching the end of their lives. It is due to deeds of grave sin, creating karma destined for the evil destinies, that one falls into the Uninterrupted Hell, receiving retribution beyond reckoning. These are called the eight great hells, each passing through sixteen [minor hells], with punishments received as described above.

7.18

Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Ocean of Samādhi of the Visualization of the Buddha says: As for the Avīci Hell, its length and breadth are exactly eight thousand yojanas. There are seven tiers of iron walls and seven layers of iron nets. There are eighteen compartments, encircled by seven tiers, all of which are forests of knives. There are also seven tiers of sword forests. At the four corners are four great copper hounds, forty yojanas broad and long, with eyes like flashing lightning, fangs like sword trees, teeth like knife mountains, and tongues like iron thorns. All the hairs on their bodies blaze with fierce fire, and their smoke is foul and stench-ridden. There are eighteen hell wardens with mouths like yakṣas, each having sixty-four eyes which scatter and shoot forth iron pellets. Their dog-like fangs protrude upward four yojanas high, and streams of fire flow from the tips of their fangs, burning iron carts in front. Flames, sharp blades, swords, and halberds shoot out from the wheel rims, burning the city of Avīci red like molten copper. The hell wardens have eight heads and sixty-four horns; fires blaze from the tips of their horns, the fires transforming into steel and further transforming into knife wheels. Wheel after wheel follows in succession among the flames, filling the city of Avīci. Inside the city are seven iron banners where fire surges as if boiling; molten iron flows and splatters, gushing out from the four gates. Above, there are eighteen cauldrons where boiling copper surges and overflows, filling the interior of the city. Between two compartments are eighty-four thousand great iron pythons, spitting venom into the fire, their bodies filling the inside of the city. Their roars and bellowings are like thunder shaking the heavens, raining down great iron pellets. Five hundred yakṣas and fifty billion worms, from the tips of their eighty-four thousand beaks, rain down streams of fire that pour down, filling the city of Avīci. When these worms descend, the fierce fires blaze tremendously, shining above the hell eighty-four thousand yojanas high, surging against the great ocean waters below the Mount of Scorching Inundation, piercing the bottom of the great ocean, shaped like a chariot wheel. If anyone has killed their father, harmed their mother, or reviled and disgraced their six relatives, at the time of their life's end, the copper hounds transform into eighteen carriages shaped like jeweled canopies; all the flames transform into jade maidens. Seeing them from afar, the sinner is pleased at heart and desires to go there. When the wind-knives dismember them and the urgent cold makes them cry out, they think, 'If only I could get good fire and settle upon the carriage!' Flaming fire warms them and they immediately die. Those who sit upon the golden carriages and gaze at the jade maidens find that the maidens all grasp iron axes to hack and sever their bodies. In the time it takes to bend or extend an arm, they plunge straight down into Avīci. From the upper compartments down, like a whirling fire wheel, they reach the lower compartments, their bodies trapped inside the compartments. The copper hounds roar loudly, gnawing on their bones and sucking their marrow. The rakṣasa hell wardens take great iron forks, spearing their heads to make them stand upright, their entire bodies covered in flames filling the Avīci Hell. King Yama proclaims in a loud voice, 'Deluded fool, seed of the hells! When you were in the world you were unfilial to your parents, perverse, arrogant, and without the Way. The place where you are now born is called the Avīci Hell!' Thus successively experiencing great torments, they are beyond complete description. One day and one night of receiving retribution in this hell is equal to sixty antarakalpas in Jambudvīpa. Such are the mahākalpas; those who have committed all five heinous sins undergo retribution for five kalpas. Furthermore, there are sentient beings who violate the four grave prohibitions, vainly consume the offerings of the faithful, slander [the teaching] with wrong views, fail to recognize cause and effect, sever the study of prajñā, defame the Buddhas of the ten directions, steal property of the Saṃgha, engage in unbridled licentiousness, or rape and violate pure-precepted nuns, sisters, and female relatives, committing manifold evils. When these sinners face the end of their lives, such sinners pass through eighty-four thousand mahākalpas, and then re-enter the eighteen compartments of the east, suffering agony as before; the south, west, and north are also like this. Their bodies fill the Avīci Hell, and their four limbs also fill the eighteen compartments. The Avīci Hell contains eighteen minor hells. Within the minor hells, each contains eighteen Cold Ice Hells, eighteen Darkness Hells, eighteen Minor Heat Hells, eighteen Knife Wheel Hells, eighteen Sword Wheel Hells, eighteen Fire Cart Hells, eighteen Boiling Excrement Hells, eighteen Boiling Cauldron Hells, eighteen Ash River Hells, fifty billion Sword Forest Hells, fifty billion Thorn Forest Hells, fifty billion Copper Pillar Hells, fifty billion Iron Machine Hells, fifty billion Iron Net Hells, eighteen Iron Cavern Hells, eighteen Iron Pellet Hells, eighteen Sharp Stone Hells, and eighteen Molten Copper Drinking Hells. Such are the eighteen hells contained within the great Avīci Hell. Within each single hell, there are distinct eighteen-compartment minor hells. Beginning from Cold Ice up to Molten Copper Drinking, in total there are one hundred and forty-two compartment hells. Each corresponds to different karmic actions created; yet, passing through these hells, one undergoes torment throughout them all.

7.19

Furthermore, the Qishi jing states: The Buddha told the bhikṣus: “In the great Avīci hell, there are also sixteen minor hells as attendants surrounding it, each five hundred yojanas wide. As for all the sentient beings who are born there, emerge, or dwell there, due to the fruit of their evil karma, hell wardens are naturally produced. Each grasps the bodies of those sentient beings in that hell with both hands and flings them down upon the blazing, hot iron ground. The flames shoot straight up, exclusively fierce and raging, with [the beings'] faces pressed against the ground. [The wardens] then take sharp knives, and from above the ankles, cut out their sinews and pull them with their hands, drawing them out continuously all the way to the sinews of the crown of the head, piercing through to their heart and marrow with agony difficult to describe. Having pulled them in this way, they hitch them to iron carts and make them gallop and run. Those carts are exceedingly hot, their radiant flames blazing fiercely. The paths on which they run are purely blazing, perilous roads of hot iron, where they go on and on, never pausing for an instant according to the hell wardens' intent. Whichever direction [the wardens] wish to go, they immediately go as they please. Wherever they go, the hell wardens drag them along, never releasing them. Wherever they pass, the sinners are melted down, with no flesh or blood remaining on their bodies. Whatever actions they performed in the past when they were humans or non-humans, they must experience it all. Due to the retribution for unwholesome deeds, a great mass of fire suddenly arises from the eastern direction, blazing red with extremely fierce flames, intensely radiant in every part. The southern, western, and northern directions, the four intermediate directions, above, and below are each likewise surrounded by great masses of fire, which gradually press close, inflicting all manner of bitter agony. From the eastern wall, a great flame shoots straight toward the western wall, stopping when it reaches it. From the western wall, a great radiant flame shoots straight toward the northern wall. From the northern wall, a great radiant flame shoots straight toward the southern wall. From below to above, and from above to below, intersecting horizontally and vertically, crossing and shooting upward and downward, the blazing radiant light is dazzling, with surging flames colliding with one another. At that time, the hell wardens take the sinners and hurl them into the six kinds of great masses of fire, until they undergo extreme, severe suffering, yet their lives do not end. Their unwholesome karma not yet finished and not yet exhausted, they endure it in full throughout that time. The sentient beings in this great Avīci hell, due to the karmic retribution of their unwholesome actions, after undergoing all manner of suffering for an immeasurable time on this long road, the four gates of the hell open again. When the gates open, the sentient beings, hearing the sound and seeing them open, run toward the gates, thinking: ‘We must surely escape now!’ When those people run swiftly like this, their bodies blaze even more fiercely, just as when a strong man holds a dry grass torch and runs against the wind: the torch, already alight, blazes even more vigorously. As those sentient beings run on and on, their bodies blaze even more intensely. When they wish to raise a foot, their flesh and blood scatter; when they wish to set down a foot, their flesh and blood regenerate. When they reach the hell gates, the gates close again. Unable to get out, their minds are bewildered and distracted. Falling face down on the ground, the skin of their bodies is completely burned; next, their flesh is burned; again, their bones are burned, piercing through to the marrow, with smoke and flames blazing through. The smoke billows and the flames blaze intensely; smoke and fire mingle, and the tormenting heat is redoubled. Those people undergo extreme, severe suffering therein; their evil karma not yet extinguished, they experience it all. In this great Avīci hell, at all times, there is not even a finger-snap of brief peace and happiness. In this manner, in succession, they fully endure this suffering.” The World-Honoured One told the bhikṣus, saying: “You should know that between those worlds there are separately ten hells. What are the ten? First, the Arbuda hell; second, the Nirarbuda hell; third, the Ahaha hell; fourth, the Hahava hell; fifth, the Aṭaṭa hell; sixth, the Saugandhika hell; seventh, the Utpala hell; eighth, the Padma hell; ninth, the Puṇḍarīka hell; tenth, the Kumuda hell. For what cause and reason is it called the Arbuda hell? The physical forms of these sentient beings are like foam bubbles; therefore, it is called the Arbuda hell. Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Nirarbuda hell? The physical forms of these sentient beings are like lumps of flesh; therefore, it is called the Nirarbuda hell. Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Ahaha hell? When these sentient beings are pressed by severe and acute suffering, they wail and say: ‘Ahaha, ahaha, such great suffering!’ This is called the Ahaha hell.

7.20

Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Hahava hell? When these sentient beings are pressed by the extreme suffering of that hell, they wail and say: ‘Hahava, hahava!’ Therefore, it is called the Hahava hell.

7.21

Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Aṭaṭa hell? Because extreme suffering and distress press closely upon their bodies, they can only utter the sound ‘Aṭaṭa, aṭaṭa’, yet the sound of their tongues cannot leave their mouths. Therefore, it is called the Aṭaṭa hell.

7.22

Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Saugandhika hell? In the hell of these sentient beings, the colour of the fierce flames is like the saugandhika flower. Therefore, it is called the Saugandhika hell.

7.23

Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Utpala hell? In the hell of these sentient beings, the colour of the fierce flames is like the utpala flower. Therefore, it is called the Utpala hell.

7.24

Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Kumuda hell? In the hell of these sentient beings, the colour of the fierce flames is like the kumuda flower. Therefore, it is called the Kumuda hell.

7.25

Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Puṇḍarīka hell? In the hell of these sentient beings, the colour of the fierce flames is like the puṇḍarīka flower. Therefore, it is called the Puṇḍarīka hell.

7.26

Furthermore, for what cause and reason is it called the Padma hell? In the hell of these sentient beings, the colour of the fierce flames is like the padma flower. Therefore, it is called the Padma hell.

7.27

Furthermore, the Sanfadu lun jing states: There are three kinds of hells: first, hot; second, cold; third, isolated. Regarding the hot hells, according to the Sarvāstivāda school, there are eight great hells. The first is Sañjīva (Reviving), also called ‘Reviving Again’; either the hell wardens cry out ‘Live!’, or a cold wind blows and revives them—although the two conditions differ, the revival is equal in kind, hence it is called the Sañjīva hell. The second is called the Kālasūtra (Black Ropes) hell, where they are first marked with ropes and then chopped with axes. The third is called the Saṃghāta (Crushing) hell, also called ‘Crowd-Colliding’, where two mountains close from below to crush the sinners. The fourth is called the Hahava hell, also called the Raurava (Wailing) hell, where hell wardens press and pursue them so that they run wailing and shrieking. The fifth is called Great Wailing, also called the Mahāraurava (Great Wailing) hell, where fires from the four elements arise and they have no road by which to flee; therefore, it is called the Mahāraurava hell. The sixth is called the Tapana (Heating) hell, also called ‘Burning’, where fiery iron encloses them closely and they suffer heat within it. The seventh is called the Pratāpana (Great Heating) hell, also called ‘Great Burning’, where mountain fires explode against one another, roasting and skewering the sinners. The eighth is called the Avīci (Non-Differentiating) hell, also called ‘Uninterrupted’; once cast into the fire of suffering, there is never any interval of joy; since the suffering is uninterrupted, what could there be to select or differentiate? These eight hells lie stacked one above the other in Jambudvīpa. According to the Sanfadu lun, the first two have overseers; the next three have few overseers; the last three have no overseers. However, taking these eight as the primary hells, each has sixteen surrounding enclosures; there are four on each side, four by four making sixteen in all, which together with the primary hell makes seventeen. Eight times seventeen makes a total of one hundred and thirty-six locations, wherein sinners suffer the torment of heat. Second, the cold hells are also eight in number. The first is named the Arbuda hell: because they are cut by bitter cold, fine blisters form on their flesh. The second is named the Nirarbuda hell: because cold winds blow upon them, blisters cover their entire bodies. The third is named the Aṭaṭa hell: because they cannot move their lips and can only move their tongues, they make this sound. The fourth is named the Apapa hell: because they cannot move their tongues and can only move their lips, they make this sound. The fifth is named the Hahava hell: because they can move neither lips nor tongues and only vibrate air within their throats, they make this sound. The sixth is named the Utpala hell: this is the blue lotus; the petals of this flower are slender, and because their flesh splits finely into a hue resembling this flower opening in the blazing sun, [it is so named]. The seventh is named the Padma hell: this is the red lotus; because their flesh splits open broadly resembling this flower blooming, [it is so named]. The eighth is named the Puṇḍarīka hell: this is the white lotus; because their bones split open resembling this flower blooming, [it is so named]. The first two take their names from physical characteristics; the next three take their names from vocal sounds; the last three take their names from the appearance of the sores. Therefore, the Kośa-śāstra states: ‘In these eight, sentient beings are pressed by extreme cold; these names are established on account of the transformations in their bodies, sounds, and sores.’ According to the Sanfadu lun, the first two allow crying out; the next three do not allow crying out; the last three make no crying out. These eight reside facing upward at the base of the Iron Ring Mountains between the continents; sinners suffer the pain of freezing cold therein. Third, regarding the isolated hells, according to the Sanfadu lun, they are also of three kinds: first, among mountains; second, among waters; third, in wildernesses. They suffer individual karmic retribution; here they should suffer a mixture of cold and heat. If one speaks of their lifespan retribution, their lives may be long or short.

7.28

Furthermore, the Lokasthitābhidharma-śāstra states: The World-Honoured One said that there is a great hell named Pitch Blackness. It exists on the outer perimeter of each and every world, completely without cover. The sentient beings within it cannot even see their own raised hands before their eyes. Although the sun and moon possess great majestic supernormal power, whatever light they have does not shine upon the forms there. When the Buddhas appear in the world, their great light shines everywhere, and only because of this light can they see one another. Dwelling between two mountain-worlds on the outer edge of the Iron Ring, it is called ‘Outside the Boundary’. This is a cold hell. Between the two mountains there are ten names: the first is named Arbuda, up to the tenth named Padma. Sentient beings there move horizontally, yet imagine themselves facing upward, like geckos. On the outer perimeter of the Iron Ring, they constantly move horizontally. Their bodily size is as large as an addha. Cut by the touch of the cold wind, their bodies burst open, like ripe melons. Just as when a bamboo forest is burned by a great fire, crackling sounds burst out ‘ṭa-ṭa’, so when these sentient beings are touched by the cold wind, the bursting sounds of their breaking bones crackle ‘ṭa-ṭa’, penetrating far into the distance. Because of this sound, they come to know one another. Sentient beings are born and undergo retribution within it. If sentient beings die in this realm, many are reborn there. The freezing ice hells lie outside the Iron Ring. If sentient beings in other worlds die and are destined to be born in the freezing ice hells, most are born outside the Iron Ring of those worlds. Between the two boundaries, at its narrowest point, it is eighty thousand yojanas wide; below, it is bottomless, and above, it has no cover. At its widest point, it is one hundred and sixty thousand yojanas wide.

7.29

Section 4: Durations of Time

7.30

As the Qishi jing states: The Buddha said: “Suppose there were a Kośalan bushel measure filled with twenty bushels of sesame seeds, heaped high and unlevelled. Suppose a man, whenever a full hundred years elapsed, were to remove one sesame seed; in this manner successively, whenever a full hundred years elapsed, he were to take another seed and cast it elsewhere. When he had cast out all the sesame seeds filling the twenty bushels, I say that their lifespan during that span of time would still not be exhausted. Let us calculate it provisionally with these numbers: a lifespan of twenty Arbudas equals one Nirarbuda lifespan; twenty Nirarbuda lifespans equal one Ahaha lifespan; twenty Ahaha lifespans equal one Hahava lifespan; twenty Hahava lifespans equal one Aṭaṭa lifespan; twenty Aṭaṭa lifespans equal one Saugandhika lifespan; twenty Saugandhika lifespans equal one Utpala lifespan; twenty Utpala lifespans equal one Kumuda lifespan; twenty Kumuda lifespans equal one Puṇḍarīka lifespan; twenty Puṇḍarīka lifespans equal one Padma lifespan; twenty Padma lifespans equal one antarakalpa.”

7.31

Furthermore, the Sūtra of the Bhikṣu Nāgasena’s Questions to the Buddha states: 'Just as fire in the human world is not as hot as the fire in Niraya, so too, if one takes a small stone and places it in worldly fire, it will not melt by nightfall; but if one takes a large boulder and places it in the fire of Niraya, it melts instantly. It is also like a person who commits evil and dies, remaining in Niraya for tens of millions of years without dying. It is also like great pythons, flood-dragons, and the like, which consume sand and stone as food and digest them immediately, whereas when a woman becomes pregnant and has a child in her belly, it does not dissolve. Both of these are due to the power of good and evil karma causing things to dissolve or not dissolve. A person’s good and evil deeds follow them just as a form’s shadow follows the body. When a person dies, only their physical body perishes, but their actions do not perish. It is like lighting a fire to write at night: the fire is extinguished, yet the characters remain; when fire is brought again later, they become visible. Actions done in this life come to fruition in future lives.'

7.32

Furthermore, in the Paduma Hell, the flames rage furiously. When a sinner is still one hundred yojanas away from this fire, the fire already scorches them. If they are sixty yojanas away, both ears of the sinner become deaf, hearing nothing. If they are fifty yojanas away from the fire, both eyes of the sinner become blind, seeing nothing at all. For example, because the monk Kokālika harbored an evil mind and slandered Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, when his body broke up at the end of his life, he fell into this Paduma Hell.

7.33

Furthermore, the Lokotpatti-sūtra says: 'Regarding the location of the Paduma Hell, if sentient beings are one hundred yojanas away from that place, the flames of that hell already reach them. If they are fifty yojanas away, the sentient beings living there are blinded by the smoke of that fire and have no eyes. If they are twenty-five yojanas away, the flesh and blood of the bodies of the sentient beings living there are scorched, burst, and scattered. This is because they gave rise to a defiled mind, a harmful mind, a venomous and evil mind, an unbeneficial mind, an uncompassionate mind, and an impure mind toward renunciants who practice the pure life; thus they personally suffer this calamity. Therefore, toward all who practice the pure life, one should give rise to compassionate bodily, verbal, and mental karma, thereby continually experiencing peace and joy.' At that time, the World-Honoured One spoke this gāthā:

7.34

"When people of the world live in this life, / an axe naturally grows upon their tongues; / speaking all manner of venom and malice, / they in turn bring ruin and harm upon themselves. / Those who should be praised are not extolled; / those who should not be praised are instead lauded. / This is called contention in the mouth; / because of this contention, they receive no joy. / If a man gains wealth through gambling, / that is but a minor contention in the world; / to raise a defiled mind against those of pure conduct— / this is called a great strife within the world. / For thirty-six hundred thousand Nirbudas, / and five Arbudas in the various hells, / one falls instead into the Paduma Hell, / having brought this about by slandering the noble ones, / because of evil committed through verbal and mental karma."

First 34 of 65 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

法苑珠林 — 道世, Classical Chinese