觀眾生業緣品第三
Chapter 3: Observing the Karmic Conditions of Sentient Beings
爾時，佛母摩耶夫人，恭敬合掌，問地藏菩薩言：「聖者！閻浮眾生，造業差別，所受報應，其事云何？」
At that time, the Buddha's mother, Lady Maya, reverently placed her palms together and asked Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva: "Holy One! How do the beings of Jambudvipa, according to the different karma they create, receive their corresponding retributions?"
地藏答言：「千萬世界，乃及國土，或有地獄，或無地獄，或有女人，或無女人，或有佛法，或無佛法，乃至聲聞、辟支佛，亦復如是。非但地獄，罪報一等。」摩耶夫人重白菩薩：「且願聞於閻浮罪報，所感惡趣。」地藏答言：「聖母！唯願聽受，我麁說之。」佛母白言：「願聖者說。」
Ksitigarbha replied, "In countless worlds and lands, there are some with hells and some without hells; some with women and some without women; some with the Buddha Dharma and some without the Buddha Dharma. It is the same even with Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas. It is not only the karmic retribution of hells that varies in degree."
Māyā-devi again addressed the Bodhisattva, saying, "I wish to hear about the evil destinies brought about by sinful retribution in Jambudvīpa."
Ksitigarbha replied, "Holy Mother, I pray you listen as I speak of it in brief."
The Buddha’s mother said, "I pray the Holy One will speak."
爾時，地藏菩薩白聖母言：「南閻浮提罪報，名號如是：若有眾生，不孝父母，或至殺害，當墮無間地獄，千萬億劫，求出無期。若有眾生，出佛身血，毀謗三寶，不敬尊經，亦當墮於無間地獄，千萬億劫，求出無期。若有眾生，侵損常住，點污僧尼，或伽藍內，恣行淫欲，或殺或害，如是等輩，當墮無間地獄，千萬億劫，求出無期。若有眾生，偽作沙門，心非沙門，破用常住，欺誑白衣，違背戒律，種種造惡，如是等輩，當墮無間地獄，千萬億劫，求出無期。若有眾生，偷竊常住財物穀米、飲食衣服，乃至一物不與取者，當墮無間地獄，千萬億劫，求出無期。」
At that time, Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha addressed the Holy Mother, saying: "The retributions for offenses in Jambudvīpa are as follows:
If there are beings who are unfilial toward their parents, or even commit murder against them, they shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and for millions of kalpas seek escape without finding it.
If there are beings who shed the blood of a Buddha, slander the Three Jewels, or show disrespect to the sacred scriptures, they too shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and for millions of kalpas seek escape without finding it.
If there are beings who encroach upon or damage the property of the permanent monastic community, defile monks or nuns, or within the monastery grounds indulge in sexual desire, or commit killing or harm—such persons shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and for millions of kalpas seek escape without finding it.
If there are beings who falsely wear the robes of a śramaṇa while their hearts are not those of a śramaṇa, who misuse the property of the permanent community, deceive lay devotees, violate the precepts, and commit all manner of evils—such persons shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and for millions of kalpas seek escape without finding it.
If there are beings who steal the wealth, grain, food, drink, clothing, or any other belongings of the permanent community, taking what is not given—they shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and for millions of kalpas seek escape without finding it."
地藏白言：「聖母！若有眾生，作如是罪，當墮五無間地獄，求暫停苦，一念不得。」
Ksitigarbha replied, "Holy Mother, if there are beings who commit such sins, they shall fall into the Avīci Hell of the Five Uninterrupted Torments. Even for a single thought-moment, they cannot obtain respite from their suffering."
摩耶夫人重白地藏菩薩言：「云何名為無間地獄？」
Lady Maya asked Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva again, "What is meant by the Avici Hell?"
地藏白言：「聖母！諸有地獄，在大鐵圍山之內。其大地獄，有一十八所。次有五百，名號各別。次有千百，名字亦別。無間獄者，其獄城，周匝八萬餘里，其城純鐵，高一萬里，城上火聚，少有空缺。其獄城中，諸獄相連，名號各別。
Ksitigarbha replied, "Holy Mother, all the hells are located within the Great Iron Mountain Range. Among them, there are eighteen major hells. Below these, there are five hundred others, each with its own name. Further down, there are hundreds and thousands more, each with distinct names as well.
As for the Avīci Hell, its city walls extend over eighty thousand miles in circumference. The walls are made entirely of iron, reaching a height of ten thousand miles, with flames covering the top, leaving almost no gaps. Within this hell-city, numerous hells are interconnected, each bearing a different name."
「獨有一獄，名曰無間。其獄周匝萬八千里，獄墻高一千里，悉是鐵為，上火徹下，下火徹上，鐵蛇鐵狗，吐火馳逐，獄墻之上，東西而走。獄中有床，遍滿萬里。一人受罪，自見其身，遍臥滿床。千萬人受罪，亦各自見，身滿床上。眾業所感，獲報如是。又諸罪人，備受眾苦。千百夜叉，及以惡鬼，口牙如劍，眼如電光，手復銅爪，拖拽罪人。復有夜叉，執大鐵戟，中罪人身，或中口鼻，或中腹背，拋空翻接，或置床上。復有鐵鷹，啗罪人目。復有鐵蛇，繳罪人頸。百肢節內，悉下長釘，拔舌耕犁，抽腸剉斬，洋銅灌口，熱鐵纏身。萬死千生，業感如是。動經億劫，求出無期。此界壞時，寄生他界。他界次壞，轉寄他方。他方壞時，展轉相寄。此界成後，還復而來。無間罪報，其事如是。
There is one particular hell, called the Uninterrupted Hell. This hell spans a circumference of eighteen thousand miles, with walls one thousand miles high, all made of iron. Fire blazes from the top to the bottom, and from the bottom to the top. Iron snakes and iron dogs spew fire as they chase and run across the walls from east to west. Within the hell are beds, covering ten thousand miles. When one person undergoes punishment, they see their own body lying across every bed. When millions of people undergo punishment, each also sees their own body filling every bed. This is the retribution received due to the collective karma.
Moreover, all the sinners suffer numerous torments. Hundreds and thousands of yakshas and evil spirits, with teeth like swords, eyes like lightning, and hands of bronze claws, drag the sinners along. There are also yakshas holding large iron halberds, piercing the sinners' bodies—through the mouth, nose, abdomen, or back—tossing them into the air and catching them, or placing them on the beds. There are iron hawks that peck out the sinners' eyes. There are iron snakes that coil around the sinners' necks. Long nails are driven into every joint of their limbs. Their tongues are pulled out and plowed, their intestines are drawn out and chopped, molten copper is poured into their mouths, and red-hot iron is wrapped around their bodies. They die ten thousand times and are reborn a thousand times—such is the retribution of karma. For eons upon eons, they seek escape but find no end. When this world perishes, they are reborn in another world. When that world perishes in turn, they are transferred to another realm. When that realm perishes, they are passed on again. When this world is formed anew, they return once more. Such is the nature of the retribution in the Uninterrupted Hell.
「又五事業感，故稱無間。何等為五？一者，日夜受罪，以至劫數，無時間絕，故稱無間。二者，一人亦滿，多人亦滿，故稱無間。三者，罪器叉棒，鷹蛇狼犬，碓磨鋸鑿，剉斫鑊湯，鐵網鐵繩，鐵驢鐵馬，生革絡首，熱鐵澆身，飢吞鐵丸，渴飲鐵汁。從年竟劫，數那由他，苦楚相連，更無間斷，故稱無間。四者，不問男子女人，羗胡夷狄，老幼貴賤，或龍或神，或天或鬼，罪行業感，悉同受之，故稱無間。五者，若墮此獄，從初入時，至百千劫，一日一夜，萬死萬生。求一念間，暫住不得。除非業盡，方得受生。以此連綿，故稱無間。」
Furthermore, there are five kinds of causes and effects that give rise to suffering, which is why it is called the Avīci Hell. What are these five? First, beings suffer day and night, for countless eons, without a moment's respite—hence the name Avīci. Second, whether one person or many are there, the suffering is equally full and unending—hence the name Avīci. Third, the instruments of torment—iron forks and clubs, hawks, snakes, wolves, and dogs, mortars and pestles, saws and chisels, grinding, chopping, boiling cauldrons, iron nets and ropes, iron donkeys and horses, raw hides binding the head, molten iron poured over the body, hunger forcing the swallowing of iron pellets, thirst driving the drinking of molten iron—these sufferings continue from year to eon, for countless ages, linked together without interruption—hence the name Avīci. Fourth, regardless of whether one is male or female, from any tribe or land, young or old, noble or commoner, dragon, spirit, god, or ghost—all who have created the causes through their actions will experience the same suffering—hence the name Avīci. Fifth, once fallen into this hell, from the moment of entry until hundreds of thousands of eons have passed, within a single day and night, one dies and is reborn ten thousand times. Not even a single moment of rest can be found. Only when one's karmic retribution is exhausted can one be reborn elsewhere. Because of this unbroken continuity, it is called the Avīci Hell.
地藏菩薩白聖母言：「無間地獄，麁說如是。若廣說地獄罪器等名，及諸苦事，一劫之中，求說不盡。」
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva replied to the Holy Mother, "This is but a brief description of the Avici Hell. If one were to speak in detail of the names of the instruments of punishment and the various torments found there, even an entire kalpa would not suffice to exhaust the telling."
摩耶夫人聞已，愁憂合掌，頂禮而退。
Hearing this, Queen Maya clasped her hands in sorrow, bowed in reverence, and withdrew.