The Buddha told Lord Yama, “The beings of Jambudvipa have stubborn and obstinate natures, difficult to tame, difficult to subdue. This Great Bodhisattva continually rescues such beings throughout hundreds of thousands of eons and causes them to obtain liberation quickly. For those beings undergoing retributions even in the worst destinies, the Bodhisattva applies the strength of expedients to extricate them from their own basic karmic conditions and lead them to understand the events of their past lives. But because beings of Jambudvipa are so bound by their own heavy bad habits, they keep revolving in and out of the various paths over and over as this Bodhisattva labors throughout many long eons to entirely effect their rescue and release.”

(The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva)