Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her ... - Khamkoo

The Precious Scroll of Incense Mountain, Part 2 117
A youth and a maiden, holding a flag, came forward to guide her,
And following those two she went on with her journey.
First she passed the mighty pass of the Gate of Ghosts,
Even a man made of iron would feel grief at this sight!
The bureaus of the Three Officials allow no corruption,
The heads of the eighteen hells know no mercy at all.
She then saw the iron-bed and bronze-pillar prisons, and
The knife-mountain and sword-tree, both white like silver.
The boiling vats and red-hot ovens would scare anyone,
The freezing cold and the body-saws fill one with fear!
In front of the karma-mirror you see your own sins,
And not the slightest crime of sin here allows for mercy.
A myriad kalpas of death and birth—but no one cares!
After your life of a hundred years you alone will grieve.
Male and female ghostly prisoners, millions without number,
Wailed and cried and wept and hollered like cackling geese.
Just think of the thousands of tortures of the earth-prisons:
Who of us will avoid falling down and not visit that place?
She then passed below the Mountain of Wasted Money, 16
And in the City of Those Who Died Unjustly met with her nuns,
Who complained and cried foul while clutching her gown:
‘‘It’s all because of you that we had to die before our time!
If you escape from the three worlds, first ferry us across,
Then we’ll be reconciled, and have no cause for complaint!’’
The princess immediately addressed these nuns as follows:
‘‘Dear fellow nuns, please listen to what I have to say.
Since ancient times, birth has always been followed by death,
The only difference being whether death comes sooner or later.
If you want to avoid going through the court of King Yama,
You must have completely realized the Truth of Emptiness.’’
The youth and maiden of the Office of Goodness led the princess by
the Mountain of Wasted Money. In the City of Those Who Died Unjustly
she ran into some nuns, who grabbed her gown and loudly
cried: ‘‘We are here because of you! We died unjustly and sank
down to this place where we suffer terribly!’’ The princess said:
‘‘You and I had no argument in earlier days, and there is no enmity
between us now. The terms of birth and death are fixed, and when
that date arrives, your body collapses. Good and evil have their karmic
retribution, which you have to suffer yourself. What does it