The Magistrate bowed to pay homage to the Heavenly Emperor, and I knelt upon the hall floor, bowing my head before him. At that moment, the Heavenly Emperor spoke in a voice filled with compassion: “Rise, Shangguan Yuhua. You wish to ask my thoughts regarding the compilation of The Inexorable Nether Laws commissioned by the nether authorities, do you not?”
The hues of the Heavenly Emperor’s robes shifted continuously. They had just shimmered with seven colors, yet now they transformed into white, cream, pale green and golden yellow. Seamless heavenly robes spared endless time spent cutting and sewing, and their hues could shift at will—truly inconceivable!
I said: “That is precisely my wish. This humble mortal woman seeks to inquire of Your Majesty the reason behind the writing of The Inexorable Nether Laws.”
The Heavenly Emperor sighed and said, “Among all living beings of the human realm and the three lower realms, only a tiny fraction are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from other lands who descend to the mortal realms by their original vows to teach and transform the suffering beings karmically connected to them. All other sentient beings below the heavenly realm are my subjects. Once they fall into the human realm, their dispositions become tainted as they transmigrate through human lives. The farther they drift from the heaven realm, the fewer can return to their homeland in the heaven realm. The countless harmful thoughts and intentions emitted daily by sentient beings in the mortal world have severely damaged the dwelling environment of the heavens, and dimmed the radiance of my palaces. In recent years, human minds have undergone abrupt, drastic changes. People disregard the law of karma and take sexual misconduct as something fashionable. This has generated an extremely vicious cloud of lust that surges straight upward to the firmament, like a sharp blade, with poisonous clouds shrouding the heavenly realm. If things continue like this, before long all human beings will fall into the hells.
“While I was pondering how to resolve this great catastrophe for humanity, Great Emperor Fengdu sent an urgent official document from the netherworld to submit a request to me for instructions. It stated that hell was already overcrowded and had suffered an extreme shortage of staff. The hells keep expanding constantly to this day. Therefore, the netherworld resolved to reveal heavenly secrets on a grand scale. It sought a suitable mortal from the human realm to tour the hells and then compose a book titled The Inexorable Nether Laws, to be circulated among mankind, with the goal of restoring the moral order and purifying people’s minds. I then beseeched the Buddha, whose blessings and wisdom are complete and perfect, to seek a suitable cultivator among mortal beings on my behalf. This person must witness the hells in full waking consciousness, then return to the mortal world to record everything seen and heard. Therefore you must wholeheartedly shoulder this sacred task and live up to the mission I have entrusted to you.
“The original domicile of all sentient beings is the heaven realm. Your registration has now been transferred to the human realm; those who have fallen into hell have likewise had their registration transferred. Hells are like prisons confining sentient beings. Once they truly repent and reform, they will return to the heaven realm. In the title The Inexorable Nether Laws, “Nether” refers to the realm of the dead. The term ‘laws’ covers Buddhist precepts, heavenly decrees, netherworld laws and mortal legal codes. If mortal beings break these precepts and laws, they shall inevitably descend into the nether hells to endure the karmic retribution decreed by these unyielding laws. Thus, those who walk the path of goodness during their lifetime will never fall into hell, whereas those who commit evil deeds will certainly face punishment under the inexorable nether laws. To evade such harsh karmic retribution, humans must practice good deeds, purify their minds and cultivate Dao. In this way, their lives will surely be elevated to the heaven realm.
“I have dispatched heavenly beings to safeguard you as you compose this precious classic, The Inexorable Nether Laws. May this book be printed and circulated among humanity without delay, purifying the minds of all people, so every sentient being may return to their heavenly homeland as intended.
“Should any mortal being in the world read this precious volume and reprint and distribute it widely to others, I shall send heavenly beings karmically connected to them to help them fulfill all their virtuous wishes. I hope all sentient beings can deeply grasp my intention! Shangguan Yuhua, please take and eat this fruit.”
Joyfully, I caught the fruit with both hands yet did not take a bite. I wondered what gift I could offer the Heavenly Emperor in return.
Then I heard the Heavenly Emperor ask, “Why do you not eat the fruit?”