Dighanikaya 23.413

23.413

Uddisitvāti tesaṃ attānañca paṭisāmitabhaṇḍakañca dassetvā, sampaṭicchāpetvāti attho. Vippalapantassāti ‘‘putto me, dhītā me, dhanaṃ me’’ti vividhaṃ palapantassa. Nirayapālesūti niraye kammakāraṇikasattesu. Ye pana ‘‘kammameva kammakāraṇaṃ karoti, natthi nirayapālā’’ti vadanti. Te ‘‘tamenaṃ, bhikkhave, nirayapālā’’ti devadūtasuttaṃ paṭibāhanti. Manussaloke rājakulesu kāraṇikamanussā viya hi niraye nirayapālā honti.

"Having designated": having shown them both oneself and the goods stored away, having made them receive [them] is the meaning. "To one lamenting": to one lamenting in various ways, "My son! My daughter! My wealth!" "Among the wardens of hell": among the beings who inflict torture in hell. There are those, however, who say: "Kamma alone inflicts torture; there are no wardens of hell." They contradict the Devadūtasutta: "Him, bhikkhus, the wardens of hell…" For just as there are torturers in royal courts in the human realm, so too there are wardens of hell in hell.