諸經要集 18.40

18.40

As the *Lokotpatti-sūtra* states: Due south of the continent of Jambudvīpa, outside the two Iron Encircling Mountains, is the dwelling place and palace of King Yama. It is sixty yojanas in length and breadth. There are seven tiers of walls, seven tiers of railings, and seven tiers of bell nets; outside them are seven tiers of palm trees, encircling it all around with variegated and delightful sights, made of the seven treasures. On its four sides there are various gates. Every single gate has parapets, watchtowers, terraces, halls, parks, and lotus ponds. There are various trees laden with delicious fruits, fragrant winds wafting far away, and birds singing in harmony. However, as an unwholesome result of the king's evil karma, at three times during the night and three times during the day, red molten copper naturally wells up before him. The king's palace immediately turns into iron, and the merits of the five desires all submerge and vanish. Seeing this, the king is terrified and uneasy, his hairs standing on end, and he immediately runs outside. If he is outside the palace, he runs inside. At that time, the hell wardens seize King Yama, lift him high, and slam him down onto the burning iron ground. That ground is blazing, intensely fierce with dazzling flames. Having slammed him down to lie there, they pry open his mouth with iron tongs and pour molten copper into his mouth. At that time, King Yama's lips and mouth are burned, next his tongue is burned, then his throat is burned, and then his large intestine and small intestine are burned, all consecutively scorched until [the copper] exits from below. At that time, the king thinks: 'Because in the past all sentient beings performed evil deeds of body, evil deeds of speech, and evil deeds of mind, together with other sentient beings who engaged in the same karma, they all experience this suffering. May I, from now on, having discarded this body, when I obtain another body, meet and be born together in the human realm! In the Dharma of the Tathāgata, may I obtain faith and understanding, shave off my hair and beard, don the kāṣāya robe, attain right faith and understanding, and go forth from home to homelessness! Having gone forth, may I personally attain direct realization: birth and death exhausted, pure conduct established, what had to be done accomplished, no longer subject to future rebirth!' When he gives rise to such perfumed wholesome thoughts, the palace where he dwells instantly becomes seven treasures again, just like that of the devas, and the merits of the five desires appear completely before him. Through the good of the three karmas, he immediately attains joy and happiness (just as in the *Dīrghāgama-sūtra*, the king also suffers at three times, the general meaning being the same as in this sūtra).