Sutra on the Difficulty of Repaying the Kindness of Parents; Fo Shuo Fumu En Nan Bao Jing 佛說父母恩難報經

Translated by An Shigao

Colophon

第 16 冊　No. 684 佛說父母恩難報經 後漢 安世高譯 共 1 卷
Volume 16, No. 684; Sutra on the Difficulty of Repaying the Kindness of Parents (Fo Shuo Fumu En Nan Bao Jing); translated by An Shigao in the Later Han in 1 scroll.

Notes

Date 148-170 from Lancaster (2004, 'K 883')

English translations

Yifa and Peter M. Romaskiewicz 2008, “Sutra on the Difficulty of Repaying the Kindness of Parents,” In: The Yulan Bowl Sutra and Collection of Filial Piety Sutras, Taiwan: Buddha's Light Publishing, Woodenfish Translation Series.

Summary

The Buddha teaches that children can never fully repay the great kindness of their parents who nurtured them. He explains that even carrying one's parents for a thousand years, even if they were to soil one's back, would be insufficient repayment. Rather, children can best repay their parents by guiding them to faith, morality, knowledge, generosity, and ultimately to believe in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, leading them to enlightenment and a higher spiritual path. (AI generated)

Primary Source

An Shigao, 《佛說父母恩難報經》 'Fo Shuo Fumu En Nan Bao Jing,' in Taishō shinshū Daizōkyō 《大正新脩大藏經》, in Takakusu Junjiro, ed., (Tokyo: Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō Kankōkai, 1988), Vol. 16, No. 684, Accessed 2016-09-24, http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/T16n0684.

References

  1. Lancaster, L.R. 2004, The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue.

Collection vocabulary analysis