釋氏要覽 2.364

2.364

The Lishi lun states: "The Sanskrit sound is niraya; this is translated as 'without joy or pleasure'." The Vibhāṣā-śāstra states: "Niraka; in Qin speech, it means 'place of no going'." The Mahāvibhāṣā-śāstra states: "Naraka; this is translated as 'unpleasant'. The treatise asks: 'Why is it named naraka?' The answer: 'Because it is where beings of naraka go; because those [suffering] narakas are within it, it is called naraka. Because those sentient beings have no delight, no love, no flavor, no benefit, and no joy or pleasure, they are called narakas.' What is nowadays called 'earth-prison' (diyu): 'earth' means the bottom of the earth, below, meaning the very lowest among all things; 'prison' means confinement, meaning they are bound and confined without autonomy. The Sanfa duren jing states: "There are three kinds of hells: first, the hot, of which there are eighteen places; second, the cold, of which there are eighteen places (these are the fundamental hells); third, the peripheral, also called the lightly bound, and also called the solitary hells; these have three distinctions: first, among mountains; second, in water; third, in wilderness."