Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

H ELLS
not simply ground to bits, but every component of the
body (skin, bone, marrow, muscle, sinew, pus, blood,
etc.) is discussed. Although Buddhist ethics are
founded on nonkilling, Buddhist accounts of the underworld
dwell on the violence meted out to average
sentient beings. Alongside this graphic interest in the
use of force, there is an equally strong comic strain.
Many stories of Buddhist near-death experience involve
mistaken identity, in which the protagonist is erroneously
sentenced to someone else’s punishment.
Even austere philosophical sources list the cold hells,
three of which are named onomatopoetically after the
sounds of chattering teeth: Atata, Hahava, Huhuva.
Attitudes toward hells
Buddhists take a wide range of attitudes toward the
hells. Like most teachings, the hells can be regarded as
an expedient device, an effective way of motivating
people to follow the Buddhist PATH. The hells have also
been interpreted as psychological metaphors, as summations
of the state of mind one engenders by doing
EVIL. While certainly authentic, these two interpretations
do not exhaust Buddhist views of hell.
Tours of hell are found throughout Buddhist cultures.
MAHAMAUDGALYAYANA, one of the DISCIPLES OF
THE BUDDHA who was most skilled in supernatural powers,
was especially famous for his travels up and down
the cosmic ladder. His tours of the underworld are recounted
in sources ranging from Mulasarvastivada
mythology of the first few centuries C.E., to the
MAHAVASTU (Great Story) in the fifth century, to popular
literature in China, Tibet, Japan, Korea, and Thailand.
Judging from the narratives of delok storytellers
in Tibet, the hells are one of the most frequent destinations
of modern spirit-mediums as well.
The hells supply a rich fund of mythology for Buddhist
preachers. Dharma talks use the tortures of hell
to spark reflection on the law of karma and to encourage
ethical action. Stories of what happens after
death replay the process of warning, reflection, and
conversion. Some tales portray the lord of the underworld,
King Yama, questioning the dead about the
“three messengers” (old age, sickness, and death) they
have seen while alive. Most people ignore these signs
of impermanence, perpetuating egocentrism and evil
deeds. Under Yama’s questioning after death, people
who awaken to the perils of attachment can be released
from suffering.
Many saviors are paired with King Yama’s unbending
administration of impersonal law. Bodhisattvas like
The Hell of Shrieking Sounds. (Japanese painting, Kamakura period,
ca. 1200.) © Seattle Art Museum/Corbis. Reproduced by
permission.
Ksitigarbha (Chinese, Dizang; Japanese, Jizo) and
Avalokiteśvara (Chinese, Guanyin; Japanese, Kannon)
specialize in rescuing sentient beings from the torments
of hell. Visions of the hell regions are also supposed
to motivate believers. NAGARJUNA’s Dazhidu lun
(Commentary on the Great Perfection of Wisdom) discusses
the hells under the category of “vigor” (vlrya),
one of the virtues of the bodhisattva. Reflecting on the
pain people experience in the hells, the bodhisattva is
supposed to develop greater energy. Surveying the underworld
makes the bodhisattva think, “The causes of
this painful karma are created through ignorance and
the passions. I must be vigorous in cultivating the six
perfections and amassing virtue. I will eliminate the
sufferings of sentient beings in the five paths, give rise
to great compassion, and augment my vigor” (Dazhidu
lun, Mahaprajñaparamita śastra, trans. Kumarajva
(350–413), T1509:25.177c).
See also: Icchantika
Bibliography
Feer, Leon. “L’enfer indien.” Journal Asiatique, ser. 8, 20
(September–October 1892): 185–232; ser. 9, 1 (January–
February 1893): 112–151.
Kloetzli, Randy. Buddhist Cosmology, from Single World System
to Pure Land: Science and Theology in the Images of Motion
and Light. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1983.
La Vallée Poussin, Louis de. Abidharmakośabhasyam, Vol. 2., tr.
Leo Pruden. Berkeley, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1988.
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