法苑珠林 52.25

52.25

又雜阿含經云。爾時世尊告諸比丘。有三種子。何等為三。有隨生子。有勝生子。有下生子。何等為隨生子。謂子父母不殺不盜不婬不妄語不飲酒。子亦隨學不殺等。是名隨生子。何等為勝生子。若父母不受不殺等。子能受不殺等。是名勝生子。何下生子。若子父母不受不殺等。子亦不能受不殺等。是名下生子。又五無返復經云。聞如是。一時佛在舍衛國。與千二百五十比丘俱。時有一梵志。從羅閱祇國來欲得學問。便到舍衛國見父子二人耕田。毒蛇螫殺其子。其父猶耕如故不看。其子亦不啼哭。梵志問曰。此是誰兒。耕者答言。是我之子。曰是卿之子何不啼哭。耕者答曰。人生有死。夫盛有衰。善者有報。惡者有對。愁憂啼哭無益死者。卿今入城。我家某處願過語之。吾子已死。持一人食來。梵志自念。此是何人而無返復。兒死在地情不愁憂。反更索食。此人不慈無復此比。梵志入城詣耕者家。見死兒母即便語之。卿兒已死。其夫寄信。持一人食來。梵志曰。何以不念子耶。兒母即為梵志說譬喻言。兒來託生我亦不呼。兒今自去非我能留。譬如行客因過主人。客今自去何能得留。我之母子亦復如是。去來進止非我之力。隨其本行不能救護。

Furthermore, the Saṃyuktāgama states: “At that time, the World-Honoured One told the monks: ‘There are three kinds of sons. What are the three? There is the son who conforms in birth; there is the son who excels in birth; and there is the son who falls short in birth. What is the son who conforms in birth? It refers to when a son's parents do not kill, do not steal, do not commit sexual misconduct, do not tell lies, and do not drink alcohol, and the son also follows and learns not to kill, and so forth. This is called the son who conforms in birth. What is the son who excels in birth? If the parents do not observe [the precepts of] not killing and so forth, yet the son is able to observe not killing and so forth, this is called the son who excels in birth. What is the son who falls short in birth? If the son's parents do not observe not killing and so forth, and the son likewise cannot observe not killing and so forth, this is called the son who falls short in birth.’” Furthermore, the Scripture on the Five without Reciprocation states: “Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was in the country of Śrāvastī, together with one thousand two hundred and fifty monks. At that time there was a brahmacārin who had come from the country of Rājagṛha wishing to pursue learning. He then arrived in the country of Śrāvastī and saw a father and son, two people, plowing a field. A venomous snake bit and killed the son. The father continued plowing as before without looking, nor did he weep or wail for his son. The brahmacārin asked, ‘Whose child is this?’ The plowman replied, saying, ‘He is my son.’ [The brahmacārin] said, ‘If he is your son, why do you not weep?’ The plowman answered, saying, ‘Where there is human life, there is death. Where there is flourishing, there is decline. The virtuous receive recompense, and the wicked receive retribution. Sorrow, grief, weeping, and wailing bring no benefit to the dead. As you are now going into the city, please stop by my house at such-and-such a place and tell them: “My son has already died; bring food for only one person.”’ The brahmacārin thought to himself, ‘What kind of man is this who has no reciprocation of feeling? His son lies dead on the ground, yet his heart feels no sorrow or grief, and instead he only asks for food. There is no one whose lack of compassion compares to this.’ The brahmacārin entered the city and went to the plowman's house. Seeing the dead son's mother, he forthwith spoke to her: ‘Your son is already dead. Her husband sent a message asking you to bring food for only one person.’ The brahmacārin said, ‘Why do you not feel grief for your son?’ The son's mother then spoke a parable to the brahmacārin, saying: ‘When the boy came to take birth, I did not call him. Now that the boy has departed on his own, it is not within my power to detain him. It is just like a traveling guest who lodges with a host: when the guest now departs on his own, how could he be detained? My son and I are just like this. Coming and going, advancing and stopping, are beyond my power. Following his own past actions, he cannot be saved or protected.’”