法苑珠林 92.11

92.11

Furthermore, the Sūtra of a Hundred Parables states: In the past there was a brāhmaṇa who considered himself knowledgeable and thoroughly conversant with everything. Wishing to display his virtue, he went to another country, holding his child and weeping. Someone asked, 'Why are you weeping?' The brāhmaṇa said, 'This young child will die in seven days. Pitying his untimely death, I weep for this reason.' The people of the time said to him, 'Human life is hard to know, and calculations are prone to error. Perhaps he might not die—why cry beforehand?' The brāhmaṇa said, 'The sun and moon may grow dark, and the stars and constellations may fall, but what I calculate will never prove false.' For the sake of fame and gain, when the seventh day arrived, he killed his own child to verify his words. After seven days, when the worldly people heard that his child had died, they all praised him, saying, 'He is truly a wise man! What he said was not mistaken.' Generating faith and conviction in their hearts, they all came to pay him respect. This is just like the Buddha's four groups of disciples who, for the sake of gain and offerings, claim of themselves to have attained the Way. They adopt the foolish man's method, killing the child of wholesome qualities while falsely displaying loving-kindness and virtue; consequently, they will suffer endless pain in the future, just like the brāhmaṇa who killed his child to deceive the world in order to verify his own words.