佛說觀佛三昧海經 5.28

5.28

The Buddha said to Ānanda: "What is called the Iron Net Hell? As for the Iron Net Hell: there are eighty-nine layers of iron nets. Within each net are ten billion iron needles; on each iron needle are placed five trigger-mechanisms. In the world there are false and deceitful sentient beings who, with deviant and flattering minds, bewitch and confuse people; harbouring slander and malice in their minds, they think evil thoughts day and night, bringing evil thoughts to completion moment by moment. When such a person's retribution for their sins arrives and their life is about to end, their body becomes intensely itchy, and they immediately form this thought: 'If only I could get a bundle of needles to pierce and prick the itch-mites, would that not be delightful!' While they are having this thought, the hell-warden rākṣasas transform into a good physician who, holding sharp needles in hand, proclaims: 'I shall treat your illness!' The sinner's heart is gladdened. Their breath ceases, their life ends, and they are born within the iron nets. Crawling with their body underneath, all the triggers move, and immeasurable needles shoot into their pores. Tossing and turning amidst the iron nets in this way, they die in a kṣaṇa and are reborn in a kṣaṇa. When their retribution is complete, they are born in a borderland, a place devoid of the Buddha's Dharma, where they do not even hear worldly good words spoken, much less the true Dharma. Although born among humans, they are subsumed under the three evil destinies; after innumerable kalpas have passed, they meet a kalyāṇamitra, yet although they get to hear the Dharma, their mind does not understand it."