“If the mind at the causal ground is untrue, the resultant fruition will be twisted and deviant. Those who speak expedient false speech will also reap the retribution of false speech. Hence, those who have uttered expedient false speech must purify themselves through repentance. Through the mental power of sincere repentance and the Buddha’s power gained from reciting the Buddha’s name, the unwholesome causes will be thoroughly cleansed and eliminated; otherwise, distorted karmic retribution is inevitable. One reaps retribution corresponding to the mental state with which one spoke expedient false speech. There are many hells for those guilty of false speech. Let me take you to visit a relatively new hell of false speech. Ayù, come with me!”
“Many thanks, Magistrate!” We set off following the Magistrate and swiftly arrived at a hellish realm. The Magistrate explained, “This is the northern quarter of the netherworld. All hells within this domain pertain to the hells of false speech.”
Wow! Once again an enormously vast expanse. Its limits lay beyond my perception. This was an expanded addition; it was truly inconceivable.
The Magistrate said, “Ayù, you shall visit just one of these false speech hells for now. We will arrange a suitable time for you to tour the others later.”
“Gratitude to you, Magistrate!” The temperature here is extremely frigid. I struggle to adapt. Even the vast temperature differences between north and south in the human world during winter have never troubled me, yet the cold in this hell is unbearable. I need to recite the Buddha’s name right away to adjust my mental power and endure this bitterly frigid hellish environment.
The Magistrate said, “The temperature here is minus one hundred and fifty degrees Celsius. This new section of the false speech hell was first constructed in the mortal year 2000. Where we stand now is the Cold Ice, Tongue‑Pulling and Body‑Shattering Hell, the most punitive among the false speech hells. It is a place of extreme cold and excruciating torment. In the old Ten‑Halls district in the southern part of the netherworld lies an older false speech hell, where condemned souls endure lesser degrees of suffering. Alas, morality has decayed in the human world, and human minds have grown corrupt. Many condemned souls are imprisoned here. In their earthly lives, their false speech led others to abandon the pure path of self‑cultivation. Deceived by their lies, those misled beings wandered astray, degenerated in conduct, indulged the five desires, and lived a life of drunken oblivion. These souls severed others’ wisdom‑life while alive. Upon death, they fell into the Cold Ice, Tongue‑Pulling and Body‑Shattering Hell as karmic retribution. Ayù, you shall observe this hell first.”
As all know full well, hell is defined by ceaseless wails, cries of agony and horrifying shrieks. Yet here, the bitter cold seemed to slow down time and space, and everything unfolded in sluggish motion.
“The Cold Ice, Tongue‑Pulling and Body‑Shattering Hell” — these large bronze‑colored characters came into view. The gateway to this hell looked remarkably modern. Upon seeing us approach, the yakshas at the gate bowed reverently to the Magistrate and opened the entrance for us to pass through.
This hell was immense. I saw innumerable beings enduring tormenting karmic punishments within it. To the left, a group of condemned souls suffered nearly identical retributions. Numerous computers used as instruments of torture filled this hell. Fully automated, these devices launched torture instruments to hunt down the condemned souls, striking every target with perfect, unfailing accuracy, never missing a single soul. Mechanisms were also embedded in the hell’s walls and ceilings, from which torture implements flew forth. This was a modern‑style hell. Apart from dealing wrathfully with the condemned souls who attempted to evade punishment, yakshas were kept busy operating these many computers to afflict the condemned. The condemned souls here truly endured boundless sufferings. They had to face not only ferocious yakshas but also the merciless computer-based instruments of torture. This hell held vast numbers of condemned souls and computers, yet comparatively few yakshas. Let us first observe the two souls by the wall, one male and one female, undergoing identical karmic retribution.
The female condemned soul began to tremble slightly from the bitter cold. She endured terrible suffering and struggled to rise from the ground with extremely sluggish movements, finally regaining a semblance of normal form. Right then, a ferocious yaksha stabbed her in the back with a spear. Screaming in agony, she was impaled and dragged by the yaksha toward a desktop‑style torture console. Instantly, two snakes burst forth from its screen: one black, one red. Fiercely they lunged at the soul’s mouth. The red snake ripped open her lips, while the black snake seized her tongue, tore it off and cast it onto the ground. Then the tongue flew precisely back into her mangled, blood‑stained mouth.