佛說孝子經

One day the Buddha asked the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus, when parents give birth to a child, for ten months they carry the pregnancy, their body as though gravely ill; and when the day of delivery comes, the mother is anxious and the father afraid—in such a plight, words cannot fully tell of it. After the child is born, they lay the child in the dry place and the mother lies in the wet. With utmost devotion of heart, their blood is transformed into milk.

They wipe and bathe and wash, they clothe and feed in full measure, they teach and instruct, they offer gifts to teachers and friends, and present tribute to lord and ruler. When the child’s face is bright and cheerful, the parents rejoice; if the child is sorrowful, the parents’ hearts wither. When they go out the door, they still think of and cherish the child; when they step into the house, seeing the child sets their hearts at ease.

Their hearts are ever anxious, fearing that some misfortune may befall. Such is the kindness of parents—with what may it be repaid?”

The bhikkhus said to the Buddha: “Reverend World-Honored One, one who is a filial child ought to act and conduct himself with the fullest propriety, and with a loving heart make offerings, to repay the kindness of his parents.”

The Buddha again said to the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus, suppose a child nourishes his parents with these things: ambrosia of a hundred flavors, to delight their mouths; every sound of heavenly music, to please their ears; garments of surpassing beauty, to adorn their bodies resplendently; bearing them upon his two shoulders, to journey throughout the four seas, repaying the kindness of their rearing to the very end of his life—is this called filial piety?”

The bhikkhus said to the Buddha: “Reverend World-Honored One, this is called great filial piety—what could surpass it?”

The Buddha again said to the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus, although it be thus, this is not yet filial piety. One must practice as follows: if one’s parents are foolish and benighted, not revering the Three Jewels; if they are fierce and contrary, cruel and savage, plundering and stealing against all reason, lustful for outside sensual forms, telling lies contrary to the Way, drunken and dissolute, going against what is upright and true—being so fierce and wicked, the child should with all his heart remonstrate, so as to awaken them.

If they remain deluded, not yet able to come to their senses, then he should, by benevolence and righteousness, transform and enlighten them little by little; or he should lead them to behold the king’s prison, and expound by way of illustration the punishments inflicted upon the prisoners, saying to his parents: ‘These prisoners did not follow the law, and therefore their bodies must suffer every kind of bitter torment, which they themselves have called down, losing their own bodies and lives.

When life is lost and the spirit departs, they are confined in Mount Tai to undergo the penalties of water and fire and a myriad bitter torments, crying out alone with none to rescue them—because they followed in doing evil, they must bear this grievous penalty.’ Should they still not be turned, let him weep and wail and implore, refusing utterly to eat or drink. Acting thus, although the parents be unenlightened, they will surely be moved with grief; out of love and affection, fearing that their child may die, they will force themselves to be patient, restraining their hearts to honor the Way.

If they change their resolve and serve the Buddha-Dharma, keeping the five precepts: benevolent, not killing; pure and yielding, not stealing; chaste, not lustful; faithful, not lying; filial and obedient, not drunken. Then within the clan: the parents loving, the children filial, the husband upright, the wife chaste, the nine generations of kin in harmony, servants compliant and obedient; the influence spreads everywhere, even to the most distant places, and there is none who does not with all his heart receive the kindness.

The Buddhas of the ten directions, devas and dragons, ghosts and spirits, a king possessed of the Way, loyal ministers, and the people of the myriad clans—who among them does not revere and love such a one, and enjoy peace and good fortune? Even should one meet with a government turned upside down, with treacherous and flattering assistants, wicked children and a haughty wife, a thousand falsehoods and ten thousand monstrosities can do nothing; and as for his parents, their days will be ordinarily peaceful and secure, and when their span of life is ended, they will be reborn in the heavenly realms, and will come to where the Buddhas gather together, will hear the Dharma expounded, will attain the Way and deliver the world, and forever escape suffering and affliction.”

The Buddha again said to the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus, in this world there is as yet nothing worthy to be called filial piety. To cause one’s parents to forsake evil and do good, to uphold and keep the five precepts and the three refuges—if this be done, then even though they uphold them in the morning and pass away in the evening, that kindness is weightier than the boundless kindness and merit of one’s parents in rearing and nursing one.

If a person does not know how to bring the teaching of the Three Jewels and with utmost effort transform and enlighten his own parents, then though he support them filially, it is still as if he were unfilial. If one has a harsh and bitter wife, one ought to admonish her, for a bitter wife drives away the worthy, has no regard for parents, and craves only sensual delight, indulging without satiety, giving rise to deeds that go against the way of filial piety, harming parents, throwing the affairs of state into disorder, and driving the myriad people into exile.”

“The original aim is ever to perform deeds of charitable giving, of propriety, of precepts and self-examination, to soften the heart and esteem benevolence, ever advancing in virtue, the heart delighting in stillness and quiet, the will learning so as to penetrate all things—so that one’s fame resounds among the devas, equal to that of the sages. But if one mistakenly falls into the circle of wives and concubines, infatuated with the beauty of women, drowning in the passions of desire, their alluring forms transforming into a myriad snares: those of little wisdom and those whose sight is shallow, unwittingly and little by little have their resolve turned back, drowning and destroying their own bodies, imperiling father and mother, and imperiling even the nation.

Indulging in sensual delight and dissipation, anger and hatred, sloth and arrogance, the mind scattered and benighted, conduct without integrity… From of old until now it is only on account of sensual desire that men have harmed their own bodies and lives and brought their kindred to ruin. Therefore, bhikkhus, you ought to keep far from the conditions of the dust of the world, and apply your minds with single-pointed mindfulness.

Purify your own resolve—the Way is the chief task.”

“Keep the precepts in full. If one is a king, let him keep the four seas at peace, let his ministers be wholly loyal, and govern the nation by benevolence; let the law of the father be clear, the children filial and kind, the husband faithful, the wife chaste. Let the upāsakas and the upāsikās act in this manner, and life after life they shall meet the Buddha, see the Dharma, and attain the Way.”

When the Buddha had finished speaking, all the disciples, every one of them, rejoiced; they made obeisance and withdrew.

Notes:

(1) The Sūtra on the Filial Son (Kinh Hiếu Tử) is sūtra number 687 in the Taishō Tripiṭaka. This sūtra lost the name of its translator from Sanskrit into Chinese and is now appended to the Catalogue of the Western Jin.

(2) The nine generations of kin are: father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, son, grandson, great-grandson, great-great-grandson, and oneself.