一切經音義 6.152

6.152

地獄: Pronounced 虐 + 錄 fanqie. The Ji Jiu Zhang says: “Gaoyao first instituted prisons; the name of a minister of Yao.” The Yupian says: “The place where prisoners are bound; hence called 獄.” Du Yu's commentary on the Zhouli says: “Disputes over wealth are called 訟; disputes over crime are called 獄.” The Fengsu tong says: “The Three Kings instituted prisons: Xia called it Xiatai, Yin called it Youli, and Zhou called it Lingyu. From the Qin and Han onward, they have universally been named 獄.” The Shuowen says: “獄 means firm (確); 確 is pronounced 苦 + 角 fanqie. The character 獄 is formed from 犾 (pronounced 魚 + 斤 fanqie), two dogs biting each other, with 言 in the center, which means litigation; an ideogram; the two dogs are what guard it.” When the sūtras speak of ‘hells’ (地獄), they refer to the places of dark imprisonment under the unseen magistracy; because they are located beneath the world, they are called ‘earth-prisons’ (地獄). Consider the verse in the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya: / ‘Twenty thousand [yojanas] below this, / Deep and vast all around, is Avīci; / Above it are the seven narakas (捺 pronounced 奴 + 割 fanqie); / The eight secondary [hells] each number sixteen: / That is, the burning embers (塘 pronounced 唐; 煨 pronounced 烏 + 雷 fanqie), corpse mud, / Razor-blade mountain, and boiling river; / These additions each reside in their four directions. / The remaining eight are the cold hells.’ / These are all names of the great hells.