父母恩重經 1.1

1.1

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa in Rājagṛha, together with great bodhisattva mahāsattvas and their retinues of disciples, and also with monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen, all the gods, human beings, devas, dragons, ghosts, and spirits. They had all assembled to listen with single-minded devotion to the Buddha preaching the Dharma, gazing up at his venerable countenance without looking away for an instant. The Buddha said: "When human beings are born into the world, their parents are their closest kin. Without a father one is not born; without a mother one is not nurtured. For this reason, one depends on the mother's womb, carried in her body for ten months. When the months and days are full, mother and child both emerge, and [the baby] is born onto the straw. The parents raise and nurture [the child]. When sleeping, [the baby] lies in a cradle; [by day] the parents hold it in their arms, making cooing sounds to amuse it. Smiling while still unable to speak, hungry it must have food—without the mother it is not fed; thirsty it must have drink—without the mother it is not breastfed. Even when hungry herself, the mother swallows the bitter and spits out the sweet, pushes [the child] to the dry place and lies in the damp. Without duty there is no affection; without a mother there is no upbringing. When a loving mother raises her child, away from the cradle her ten fingernails swallow the child's impurities, amounting in each case to eight hu and four dou. Reckoning up a mother's kindness, it is boundless as the vast heavens! Alas, how could a loving mother ever be repaid?" Ānanda said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One, how may her kindness be repaid? We only pray you will explain it."