諸經要集 18.71

18.71

As the Qishi jing states: The Buddha told the bhikṣus, “There are three divine messengers in the world. What are the three? First, old age; second, sickness; third, death. There are people who are indolent in the evil conduct of the three karmas. When the body breaks up and life ends, they are born in the hells. The wardens of the hells then come immediately and drive those beings before King Yama, reporting, ‘Great King, when these beings were formerly in the human world, they indulged in heedlessness and unwholesome actions of the three karmas. Now they have come and been born here. We only pray that the Great King will skillfully instruct and admonish them.’ The king asks the wrongdoer, ‘When you were formerly in the human world, did the first divine messenger not skillfully instruct and admonish you, skillfully reproaching you? Could you not have seen him appear?’ [The wrongdoer] answers, ‘Great Deva, truly I did not see him.’ The king tells him again, ‘Could you not have seen, when having a human body, whether as a woman or as a man, the signs of decrepitude and old age appearing: teeth falling out, hair turning white, skin loose and wrinkled, dark liver spots all over the body like sesame seeds, shoulders stooped and back bent, walking with a limp, the feet not supporting the body, tilting to left and right, neck thin and skin baggy, hanging down loose on both sides like a cow's dewlap, lips and mouth dry, throat and tongue parched, body frail and feeble, breath and strength faint, panting with a wheezing sound like the pulling of a saw, leaning forward as if to fall, walking relying on a cane, prime of life declined and lost, bones and flesh wasted away, emaciated and decrepit, heading on the road toward the next life, movements sluggish, no longer having the form of vigour, even body and mind constantly trembling, and all limbs exhausted and hard to manage? Did you see it or not?’ He answers, ‘Great Deva, truly I saw it.’ Then the king tells him, ‘You foolish person, without wisdom! In former days, having seen such appearances, why did you not reflect thus: “I now fully possess such a nature of old age and have not managed to escape it; I ought to perform wholesome karma so that throughout the long night I may attain benefit, peace, and happiness”? That person answers again, ‘Great Deva, truly I did not reflect thus, because my mind was unrestrained and I acted with heedlessness.’ The king tells him again, ‘You foolish person, you did not cultivate wholesome karma; you must fully receive the punishment for heedlessness. This retribution of suffering was not made by another; it is your own karma now gathering back for you to receive this retribution.’”