Kālasūtra

From Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Jump to navigation Jump to search

kālasūtra. (T. thig nag; C. heisheng diyu 黑繩地獄). In Sanskrit, “black string”.[1] The second of the eight hot hell realms (naraka) in Buddhist cosmology. It is known as the "black-line hell", "black thread hell," etc.[2]

The guardians of the Black Thread Hell mark the bodies of its inhabitants with a black thread before cutting and slicing them apart along those lines.[2]

Dudjom Rinpoche states:

The Black-Line Hell. Here the guardians of hell draw numerous black lines—four, eight and so on—on their victims’ bodies, and then cut them up, carving along these lines with saws and splitting them with axes. The pain this causes never ceases.[3]

Notes

  1. Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. kālasūtra.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Internet-icon.svg thig nag, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
  3. Dudjom Rinpoche 2011, Chapter 7. Reflecting on the Defects of Cyclic Existence.

Sources