Dharma Torch

Translated by the Tripiṭaka Master Guṇabhadra from Khotan Country of the Song Dynasty

Heard like this:

When the Buddha was residing in the country of Kapilavastu along with twelve hundred and fifty bhikṣus, all together dwelling in the Śākya’s monastery, and as the fasting days in September had come to an end, the Buddha came out from the chamber and, along with his disciples, journeyed toward the Jeta Grove in the Garden of Anāthapiṇḍada in the country of Śrāvastī. Between these two countries, there stood a great tree called the Nyagrodha tree. This tree reached a height of six miles, and its branches and leaves covered an area of eighteen miles. The fruits that grew on this tree were exceedingly abundant. When eaten, they were fragrant and sweet, their taste like honey. The ripe fruits that had fallen to the ground, when consumed by the people, would cure their illnesses and make their eyes bright and clear. The Buddha thus sat beneath this tree, and the bhikṣus gathered the ripe fruits from the ground to eat.

The Buddha said to Ānanda: “I see that all beings in heaven and on earth each have their own karmic conditions from past lives.”

Ānanda then came forward, paid homage to the Buddha, knelt down and asked the Buddha: “What kind of karmic conditions are these? All these disciples wish to know. Please expound and explain, to enlighten and transform those who do not understand.”

The Buddha then said to Ānanda: “Excellent, excellent! Those who delight in hearing should listen attentively!”

The Buddha said: “If a person cultivates blessings, then it is like this tree. Its seed was but a single fruit pit, yet it gradually grew, and in the end, it brought forth immeasurable benefit.

Those who can become kings and ministers, possessing high status and great power, are such because they paid reverence to the Three Jewels.

Those who are great and wealthy householders—this comes from the practice of giving.

Those who live long without illness and whose bodies are strong and vigorous—this is because they upheld precepts.

Those who are upright in appearance, fair-skinned and luminous in complexion, with graceful movement, fragrant breath, and a lovable presence that delights all who see them—this is the result of practicing patience.

Those who are diligent in cultivating and not lazy, who delight in planting blessings and virtues—this comes from cultivating vigor.

Those whose character is calm and not impetuous, who speak and act with care and deliberation—this is the result of cultivating meditative concentration.

Those who are capable and intelligent, who understand principles and penetrate the profound Dharma, who can eloquently explain subtle doctrines in such a way that even foolish people can understand—when others hear them speak, they seek further teachings, accept their words, cherish their words, and spread them widely—this ability comes from cultivating wisdom.

Those who speak with a clear and resonant voice—this comes from singing praises of the Three Jewels.

Those who are clean, pure, and free from illness—this comes from having a compassionate heart and not striking others with sticks or similar objects in past lives.

Those who are tall and large in stature—this is due to having shown respect to others in previous lives.

Those who are short and small—this is due to having looked down on others with arrogance in past lives.

Those who are ugly—this is due to having been fond of anger and resentment in past lives.

Those who are ignorant and know nothing—this is due to having disliked learning or asking others in past lives.

Those who are born foolish—this is due to having disliked teaching others in past lives.

Those who are mute—this is due to having slandered others in past lives.

Those who are deaf or blind—this is due to having neither read the scriptures nor listened to teachings in past lives.

Those who are born as slaves—this is due to having owed debts and not repaid them in past lives.

Those of lowly status—this is due to not having paid reverence to the Three Jewels in past lives.

Those who are both ugly and dark in complexion—this is due to having obstructed the light before the Buddha in past lives.

To be born in a country where people go naked is the result of being improperly dressed in temples and monasteries in past lives.

To be born in the land of horse-hoofed people is the result of having worn wooden clogs and making noise while walking before the Buddha in a past life.

To be born in a land where people have holes through their chests is due to giving with regret and stinginess when practicing charity in past lives.

To be reborn as a person among antelopes, deer, elks, or musk deer is the result of having delighted in frightening and terrifying sentient beings in past lives.

To be born into the dragon species is the result of having been flirtatious and frivolous toward others in past lives.

To have toxic, malignant ulcers on the body that never heal is due to having delighted in whipping sentient beings in previous lives.

One who is loved by all upon being seen—this is due to having felt joyful and delighted upon seeing others in past lives.

One who is disliked by all upon being seen—this is due to having worn a scowling face when seeing others in past lives.

One who is seized by the authorities, imprisoned, shackled with handcuffs and fetters—this is due to having confined sentient beings in cages and caused them suffering and dissatisfaction in past lives.

One who is born with a cleft lip—this is due to having fished in past lives, causing fish to lose their lips and mouths.

Those who dislike hearing kind and wholesome speech, who are noisy and disruptive, disturbing others listening to Dharma talks—such people in the future will be reborn as dogs with large and droopy ears.

Those who hear the Buddha Dharma but do not believe in their hearts—these will be reborn among donkeys and horses.

Those who are greedy and stingy, who eat alone and do not share—these will fall into the realm of hungry ghosts. When they are later reborn as humans, they will be poor and hungry, without sufficient clothing to cover themselves.

Those who eat fine food themselves but give others foul food—such people will fall into the realm of pigs or dung beetles.

Those who rob and plunder the possessions of others will be reborn as sheep, having their skin flayed alive by humans.

Those who delight in killing will be reborn as aquatic insects, living in water and dying within a single day.

Those who delight in stealing others’ property will be reborn as oxen or horses or as slaves to repay the karmic debt of theft.

Those who commit adultery with other people’s wives will fall into hell after death. Men will embrace red-hot copper pillars, and women will lie upon blazing iron beds. Later, they will be reborn as chickens and ducks.

Those who lie and spread the faults of others—after death, they will fall into hell, where molten copper will be poured into their mouths, their tongues pulled out, and oxen will plow across their tongues. Thereafter, they will be reborn as owls and parrots—birds with unpleasant voices. When people hear their cries, they feel fear and speak of ghostly misfortunes and calamities, cursing such birds to die.

Those who like to drink alcohol and, after getting drunk, commit thirty-six types of offenses—such people in the future will fall into the boiling feces hell, and afterward will be reborn as orangutans. When reborn as humans, they will be extremely stupid and stubborn, knowing nothing at all.
Husbands and wives who are not harmonious, who constantly fight and argue, drive each other away—these will be reborn as doves and pigeons.

Those who covet the strength of others will be reborn among herds of elephants.

Officials and magistrates who live on public funds and abuse their power by punishing the innocent, beating people with whips and canes, forcibly expelling them, binding them with fetters and chains, leaving them with no means of appeal—these people, after death, fall into hell and their consciousness endures unbearable suffering. After billions of years, they are then reborn as water buffaloes. Their noses and mouths are pierced, and they are used to pull carts and ships, beaten with sticks and lashed with whips, repaying the karmic sins of their past.

Those who are unclean were reborn from pigs.

Those who are greedy, stingy, and lack integrity were reborn from dogs.

Those who are fierce, violent, and stubborn were reborn from sheep.

Those who are restless, impulsive, and impatient were reborn from macaques.

Those who emit a fishy and foul stench were reborn from fish and turtles.

Those who are cruel and malicious were reborn from poisonous snakes.

Those who love fine food and delight in killing sentient beings without compassion were reborn from jackals, foxes, and hawks.

Those who die in the womb, or shortly after birth, or die young and then fall into the Three Evil Realms for countless kalpas—these are people who in past lives loved to hunt and shoot animals, to burn forests and mountains, to destroy animal eggs, and to fish and net aquatic creatures. These people killed sentient beings, lusting after their flesh, desiring their skins and furs, and thus received the retribution of short life.

Falling into the Three Evil Realms, countless tens of millions of kalpas will pass without end. One must be cautious—be cautious!”

The Buddha said: “Whenever one performs meritorious deeds, one must personally burn incense, partake in vegetarian meals, and recite sūtras. One must not commission others to do meritorious deeds while failing to offer them sustenance or make aspirations oneself. It is like inviting others to eat while not eating oneself—how can one possibly be full and free from hunger? Burning incense and making prostrations can lead to Sarvajña and gather all thoughts and intentions into one. Lighting lamps brings wisdom and, ultimately, the attainment of the Threefold Knowledge, with no obstructions at all. Burning incense, eating vegetarian food, reading sūtras, and giving dakṣiṇā as part of daily practice brings blessings—devas and divine beings will assist such a person, while malevolent ghosts and demonic spirits will keep far away, not daring to come near or inflict harm.

Those who are indolent and spend their days in ease and comfort without the intention to diligently cultivate the path—when one day they fall ill or encounter inauspicious events and only then think of burning incense and worshipping the Buddha, saying it is to create merit—then the devas will not descend. And so, the demons dare to draw near and cause all kinds of strange and disruptive phenomena. Therefore, one must diligently cultivate the path.

Karmic retribution—whether of sins or blessings—follows a person just like a shadow follows the body. The cultivation of merit is like planting seeds, and the fruits we harvest are as abundant as those of the Nyagrodha tree. When planting a tree, how many seeds are planted?”

Ānanda knelt, joined his palms, and replied to the Buddha: “Only a single seed is planted, but once it gradually grows, it produces a harvest of countless seeds.”

The Buddha told Ānanda: “To give just once and receive ten thousandfold in return—this is not a falsehood in the slightest.”

The Buddha then spoke a verse:

“The wise delight in giving, and heavenly beings naturally protect them.

Give one thing—receive ten thousandfold, live in peace and long life attained.

The virtuous giver today gains blessings beyond all measure.

In future, they will realize Buddhahood, and liberate countless beings in all directions.”

The Buddha told Ānanda: “Worldly people are ignorant and unaware; they only view all things with the physical eyes bound to birth and death, and cannot perceive the karmic results of sin and blessing. But I observe through the eye of the path, and see clearly the karmic retributions of beings over innumerable kalpas up to the present—just as clearly as one sees a precious crystal in the palm of one’s hand, transparent both inside and out, with no obscuration or doubt.”

Ānanda then adjusted his robe, paid homage to the Buddha, and said to the Buddha: “What should be the name of this Dharma teaching you have spoken?”

The Buddha told Ānanda: “This sūtra is called The Karmic Retributions and Circulations of the Five Realms of Existence. If there is a virtuous man or virtuous woman who can recite and widely propagate this sūtra, the merit will be immeasurable. They will be able to behold the one thousand Buddhas of the Auspicious kalpa and follow and make offerings to the thousand Buddhas of the Auspicious kalpa. They will not fall into the Three Evil Realms, nor be born in the eight inopportune states, and will attain the Samādhi of No Conception.”

When the Buddha had finished speaking this sūtra, five hundred bhikṣus eliminated their outflows and attained liberation of mind. At that time, the devas, nāgas, and spirits assembled beneath the tree, along with twelve thousand pure-faith male lay practitioners and six thousand pure-faith female lay practitioners—all set upon the path of cultivation. After paying homage to the Buddha, they each departed in their own direction.