藥師經疏 1.14

1.14

Sūtra: “These [beings] ... shall fall into the hells.” / Fourth, regarding “due to these faults, they shall fall into the hells”: Chapter 11 of the Abhidharmakośa states: “The Sanskrit sound is naraka; here [in Chinese] it is translated as 'place of no pleasure' (不可樂處). Yet this 'place of no pleasure' is the prison itself. It lies twenty thousand yojanas beneath the earth. There are three kinds of hells: first, hot; second, cold; third, isolated (pratyeka). / The hot hells are eight: first, Saṃjīva (Reviving); second, Kālasūtra (Black Rope); third, Saṃghāta (Crushing); fourth, Raurava (Weeping); fifth, Mahāraurava (Great Weeping); sixth, Tapana (Heating); seventh, Pratāpana (Great Heating); eighth, Avīci (Uninterrupted). These eight are situated layered one beneath the other under Jambudvīpa. The first two have wardens (principal punishers); the next three have few wardens; the last three have no wardens. These eight are the root [hells]. Each and every one has sixteen annexes (utsada), four on each side. / First is the annex of hot embers (aṅgāra-utsada). In this annex, hot embers submerge one to the knees; when sentient beings wander through it, no sooner do they step down than their skin, flesh, and blood are scorched, rotten, and drop off; when they lift their feet, [the flesh] regrows, restored to what it was before. / Second is the annex of corpse filth (kuṇapa-utsada). In this annex, corpse filth and mud fill the interior, wherein there are many nyakuṭa (?) worms with points as sharp as needles, white-bodied with black heads; when sentient beings wander through it, all are bored through by these worms, which pierce the bone and suck and devour the marrow. / Third is the annex of blade edges (kṣuradhāra-utsada). In this annex there are further three kinds: first, the road of knife blades, wherein upturned knife blades form the great road; when sentient beings wander through it, no sooner do they step down than their skin, flesh, and blood are cut to pieces and drop off; when they lift their feet, [the flesh] regrows, restored to what it was before. Second, the forest of sword leaves (asipattravana), wherein this forest has exclusively sharp sword blades for leaves; when sentient beings wander through it and the wind blows, the leaves drop, cutting and piercing limbs and trunks so that bones and flesh fall apart, and wild birds and rushing dogs tear and pull them apart to devour them. Third, the forest of iron thorns (ayaḥśālmalīvana), wherein on this forest there are sharp iron thorns sixteen finger-widths long; when sentient beings are forced to climb up and down the trees, the sharp points of these thorns pierce them from below and above as they go up and down; iron-beaked birds peck into sentient beings' pupils, liver, and heart, competing to eat them. Although the three kinds such as the knife-blade road are distinct, because the iron weapons are the same, they are subsumed under one annex. / Fourth is the annex of the fierce river (vaitaraṇī-utsada). The measure of this annex is vast, filled inside with boiling brine; when sentient beings enter it, they either float or sink, go against the current or follow it, drift horizontally or whirl around; being suppressed and boiled, their bones and flesh are boiled to mush. Just as when a great cauldron is filled with lye and hemp, rice, and the like are placed within, with fierce fire burning beneath so that the hemp and the rest swirl up and down within, the whole mass boiling to mush—so it is with sentient beings. Even if they wish to flee, on both banks there are hell wardens holding knives and spears in their hands who fend them off and force them back, with no way to get out. This river is like a moat. / The first three are like gardens. These are called 'annexes' (utsada, 'augmented') because they are places where punishment and harm are intensified. Four sides total sixteen; together with the root [hell] they make seventeen. Eight times seventeen makes one hundred and thirty-six places where sinners undergo the suffering of hot torment. / The cold hells are eight: first, Arbuda: pressed by the suffering of cold, the flesh breaks out into blisters. Second, Nirarbuda: blown by the cold wind, the entire body becomes covered with blisters. Third, Aṭaṭa: because the lips cannot move and only the tongue can move, one makes this sound. Fourth, Hahava: because the tongue cannot move and only the lips can move, one makes this sound. Fifth, Huhuva: because neither lips nor tongue can move, one trembles and exhales, thus making this sound. Sixth, Utpala: this is the blue lotus; the fine cracks in the flesh resemble this flower opening. Seventh, Padma: this is the red lotus; because of the flesh's large cracks, it resembles this flower opening. Eighth, Puṇḍarīka: this is the white lotus; because of the cracks down to the white bone, it resembles this flower opening. / The first two receive their names from bodily signs; the next three receive their names from vocal signs; the last three receive their names from sore signs. Furthermore, the first two cry out clearly; the next three cry out unclearly; the last three do not cry out. These eight reside facing upward at the bottom of Mount Cakravāḍa between the four continents. Sinners undergo the suffering of freezing cold within them. / The isolated hells (pratyekanaraka) are three: first, in the mountains; second, on the waters; third, in the wilderness; they undergo the retribution of individual karma, experiencing a mixture of cold and heat.”