法苑珠林 52.25

52.25

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.’”