A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t1.104

v2.c19.s3.t1.104

I shall name two beings to you, O monks, whose goodness one cannot repay. Which two ? Mother and father. O monks, if a man were to take his mother on one shoulder and his father on the other, and if he lived to the age of a hundred years in this way, lived for a hundred years ; and if he were to serve them, anointing them, massaging them, bathing them and rubbing them, and if they even eased themselves upon him—he would not have evinced sufficient gratitude towards his parents nor would he have repaid them for their benefits. And, O monks, if he were to set his parents in authority, in supremacy, to govern the whole of this great world filled with treasures of all kinds, he would not have evinced sufficient gratitude towards his parents nor would he have repaid them for their benefits. And why ? O monks, parents bestow much good on their children, for they bring them into this world, nourish them, and explain this world to them.