Gesar went back to Ling. He reached a decision and gave himself up to the austere Buddhist doctrine. When he felt strong enough, Gesar rode his Heavenly horse Gyaingar Pebo to the hell. He shouted three times. When Yama heard Gesar roaring, he said to a ghost:
“A rainbow appears in the sky, and a flower rain falls resulting in an exquisite fragrance spreading all around here. This is unprecedented and rarely seen in history. There must be a great saviour, a great Buddhist or a Master of incantation coming. Please run to see who it is? ”
The ghost left quickly and found a stranger standing at the gate. His complexion was purple coralline. His teeth were white conch. He wore a white helmet. On his right side, there was a tiger-skin quiver which seemed to fly to the sky but on his left side, his bow’s sheath appeared to point to the land. The ghost gazed at Gesar and asked:
“Where do you come from? Going by your trappings, you must be a person who has perpetrated every kind of villainy. But, let me tell you, in the hall of Yama, there is no chance for heroes to put their abilities to good use ….”
Before the ghost stopped talking Gesar boiled over with anger:
“I am not a soul but a person. I run a great risk to visit hell before I die. I am Lion King Gesar. I have come to meet Yama to look for Ngada Namo. She is innocent, but she has suffered in hell for three years. Now, I order you to hand her over to me.”
The ghost did not pay any attention to Gesar. This made Gesar more furious. He brandished his swords in all directions without any sure targets until a storm poured down. With the storm came hail pouring down in buckets on hell. The oil-pan was overturned which had never been overturned, and the iron city which had never been broken was broken into pieces. Nine hundred ghosts were so scared they tried to escape. Gesar rushed into Yama’s hall and shot an arrow at the throne. The throne almost toppled down. Seeing this, Yama came out and said to Gesar:
“I’m Yama, assigned by the Wisdom Buddha and have been living here since the origin of the world. Evil people should be put into hell. Ngada Namo can only get out when she undergoes torture for 500 years here. It is impossible for you to save this woman because a dead soul cannot be reincarnated here.”
Gesar understood that Yama would not agree to turn over Ngada Namo, so he decided to visit his deity aunt for help.
The aunt said to Gesar:
“If you open the door of the Mandala, evil men will be reincarnated and Ngada Namo will be able to go to the Pure Land.”
Gesar lost no time opening the door of the Mandala. At that instant, a white ray of light shot out and turned into a thousand Buddhist figures. A blue ray of light shot out from his chest and turned into 1,000 colour glazed pagodas. They all spoke out their wishes to wash away Ngada Namo’s sins.
Gesar returned to hell after he finished his chanting and said to Yama:
“In my opinion, the 18 floors of hell are the clean places and the blazing fire is a piece of gold. The yellow hell river possesses eight merits and virtues. The red copper pan with the boiling iron water is the clear and crystal lotus basin. Your Yama hall is the Mandala to change magically and to cool anger. It is not hell at all. With the favour bestowed on me by the deities and with my supernatural power, I will bring Ngada Namo to the Pure Land.”
Since Yama knew that Gesar had learned from the deities how to have Ngada Namo reincarnated, he did not make any comment.
Gesar looked around and found Ngada Namo screaming in the fire jail, so he chanted silently:
“…Horses and cows are killed for their meat,
the river deer are shot because of their muskiness and
the foxes are killed because of their fur.
The soldiers are dead because of war…
I will bring them to be reincarnated.
My wife Ngada Namo’s sins have been cleansed and now she will go to the Pure Land.”
Ngada Namo was thus reincarnated into the Pure Land together with the 1.8 billion dead souls and the souls and spirits of various kinds of creatures.
When he returned from the hell, Gesar was influenced greatly by what he had seen and experienced. He looked back over his experiences from his coming down to earth. He had gone on many expeditions and killed many people to vanquish demons and monsters. He had punished the evil and praised the good, retrieved earthlings and benefited common people, eliminated sins and respected sanctity. However, killing creatures was sinful because the demons and ghosts, the evil men and the habitual criminals were all part of life. They should be reincarnated and taken away from the abyss of misery instead of living in the gloom of hell, suffering endless pain and lingering around. While thinking of these things he meditated in seclusion in the Dragon Palace Hall and all the time he was chanting and praying.
One day, Gesar slept in the Dragon Palace Hall and had a dream. In his dream, he got the prediction of his deity aunt. The deities asked him to go to visit Master Padmasambhava.
Gesar told Cholmo about his dream. In the past when Gesar went on expeditions to vanquish demons and monsters, Cholmo tried her best not to let him leave. This time when Gesar said he would go to another world, Cholmo felt that her heart was broken into pieces. She crept on all fours and begged him piteously:
“Who will protect the people of Ling if you go to another world? If you insist on this decision, please bring me there with you, otherwise I will die.”
Gesar was very angry. He was determined to go to visit Master Padmasambhava and do something good for millions of people.
Cholmo did not say anything after Gesar gave her this explanation. She still was very uneasy doubting whether Gesar would be back from the other world.
Gesar summoned leaders of all the tribes and, when told of his decision, they looked at each other and kept silent. Rongcha Chageng wanted to comfort them, so he said:
“Our King Gesar will not go to the other world before the 12 elderships of Ling headed by Senglong and Gormo pass away. You need not worry about the throne. Gesar has a wish to retrieve the millions of earthling from hell. He will not go to the other world before he completes his wish.”
