Filial Peity Sutra

Filial Peity Sutra

 

The Buddha Speaks the Sutra about the Deep Kindness of Parents and the Difficulty in Repaying it

 

There are ten types of kindness bestowed by the mother on the child.

1.  The Kindness of Providing Protection and Care While The Child

 Is in The Womb

The causes and conditions from accumulated kalpas grows heavy,

Until in this life the child ends up in its mother’s womb.

As the moths pass, the five vital organs develop;

Within seven weeks the six sense organs start to grow.

The mother’s body becomes as heavy as a mountain;

The stillness and movements of the fetus are like a kalpic wind disaster.

The mother’s fine clothes no longer hang properly,

And so her mirror gathers dust.

 

         2.  The Kindness of Bearing Suffering During Birth

The pregnancy lasts for ten lunar months;

And culminates in difficult labor at the approach of the birth.

Meanwhile, each morning the mother is seriously ill;

And during every day is drowsy and sluggish.

Her fear and agitation are difficult to describe;

Grieving and tears fill her breast.

She painfully tells her family;

That she is only afraid that death will overtake her

 

3.  The Kindness of Forgetting All The Pain Once The Child Has

Been Born

On the day the compassionate mother bears the child,

Her five organs all open wide,

Leaving her totally exhausted in body and mind.

The blood flows as from a slaughtered lamb;

Yet, upon hearing that the child is healthy,

She is overcome with redoubling joy.

But after the joy, the grief returns,

And the agony wrenches her very insides.

 

4  The Kindness of Eating The Bitterness Herself and Saving The

   Sweet for The Child

The kindness of parents is profound and deep,

Their care and devotion never cease.

Never resting, the mother saves the sweet for the child,

And without complaint she swallows the better herself.

Her love is weighty and her emotion difficult to bear; Her kindness is deep and so is her compassion.

Only wanting the child to get its fill,

The compassionate mother doesn’t speak of her own hunger.

 

5.  The Kindness of Moving The Child to A Dry Place and Lying in

The Wet Herself

The Mother is willing to be wet,

So that the child can be dry.

With her breasts she satisfies its hunger and thirst;

Covering it with her sleeves, she protects it from the wind and cold.

In kindness, her head rarely rests on the pillow,

And yet she does this happily.

So long as the child is comfortable,

The kind mother seeks no solace for herself.

 

6.    The Kindness of Suckling The Child at Her Breast and Nourishing

     Bringing up The Child

The kind mother is like the great earth.

The stern father is like the encompassing heaven;

One covers from above; the other supports from below.

The kindness of parents is such that,

They know no hatred or anger toward their offspring,

And are not displeased, even if the child is born crippled.

After the mother carries the child in her womb and gives birth to it,

The parents care for and protect it together until the end of their days 

 

7.  The Kindness of Washing Away The Unclean

Originally she had a pretty face and beautiful body,

Her spirit was strong and vibrant.

Her eyebrows were like fresh green willows,

And her complexion would have put a red rose to shame.

But her kindness is so deep she will forego a beautiful face.

Although washing away the filth injures her constitution.

The kind mother acts solely for the sake of her sons and daughters,

And willingly allows her beauty to fadeaway.

 

8.  The Kindness of Always Thinking of The Child When It Has

  Traveled Far

The death of loved ones is difficult to endure.

But separation is also painful.

When the child travels afar, the mother worries in her village.

From morning until night, her heart is with her child.

And a thousand tears fall from her eyes.

Like the monkey weeping silently in love for her child,

Bit-by-bit her heart is broken.

 

 9.  The Kindness of Deep Care and Devotion

How heavy is the parents’ kindness and emotional concern!

Their kindness is deep and difficult to repay.

Willingly they undergo suffering on their child’s behalf.

If the child toils, the parents are uncomfortable.

If they hear that he has traveled afar,

They worry that at night he will have to lie in the cold.

Even a moment’s pain suffered by their sons or daughters

Will causes the parents sustained distress.

 

10.  The Kindness of Ultimate Pity and Sympathy

Their tender concern never ceases.

From the moment they awake each day, their thoughts are with their

Children

Whether the children are near or far away, the parents think of them

often.

Even if a mother livers for a hundred years,

She will constantly worry about her eighty-year-old child!

Do you wish to know when such kindness and love ends?

It doesn’t even begin to dissipate until her life is over..