Mulian saves his mother

The "Transformation text on Mahamaudgalyayana rescuing his mother from the underworld" (a.k.a. "Mulian saves his mother") is one of the famous narratives that informs the popular vision of hell, and after the filial Mulian saves his mother from the tortures of Avici Hell, breaking open the gates of hell for everyone else in the process, he is still unable to secure a beneficial rebirth for her. Instead she must endure existence as a hungry ghost, her plight here translated by Victor Mair:

Having been granted the awesome power of the Buddha, Maudgalyayana was enabled to visit his mother. But the roots of her sin were deep and fast; the karmic forces difficult to eliminate. Thus, although she was freed of the torments of hell, she fell upon the path of hungry ghosts. Here the sorrow and suffering were dissimilar, for misery and joy were completely polarized. When placed next to her previous existence, the difference was intensified hundreds, thousands, even ten thousands of times. Her throat was like the eye of a needle, through which a drop of water could not pass. Her head seemed to be Mount T'ai, which the three rivers could hardly fill. She never even heard the words 'broth' or 'water.' Months would accumulate and years would pass while she endured the miseries of hunger and emaciation. She might see in the distance some clear, cool water but, when she came near, it would turn into a river of pus. Even though she obtained delicious food and tasty meals, they would immediately be transformed into fierce flames.