The Filial Piety Sutra: 2 of 6

The Buddha told Ananda. “Listen carefully, a pregnant woman has to endure ten months of suffering.”

“In the first month a pregnancy, the life of a fetus is as precarious as a dew-drop on the grass. It may coagulate at dawn and disappear by mid-day.”

“During the second month, the embryo congeals like a piece of curd.”

“In the third month, it is like a piece of coagulated blood. During the fourth month, the fetus gradually assumes a human form.”

“During the fifth month, important organs like the head, two hands and two legs are formed.”

“In the sixth month, the six essences of senses are developed. There are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.”

“During the seventh month, the three hundred sixty bones and joints are formed …”

“And the eighty-four thousand hair pores are formed. His mind consciousness and the nature of the knowing faculty gradually mature.”

“Later, the nine apertures of the body are opened.”

“By the ninth month, the fetus often kicks and struggles in the womb. The mother could seldom be at ease.”

“Before the fetus is born, it obtains its nutrients by feeding on mother’s blood!”

“During the tenth month of pregnancy, the body of the fetus is completed and ready to be born.”

“After ten months of pregnancy, mother undergoes extreme tortures and her blood flows like a stream to facilitate the delivery!”

“In a peaceful delivery, the filial child will behave himself without causing injuries to his mother.”

“However in a difficult delivery, the rebellious child will kick and fight his way out, and hence causing great pain to his mother.”

“The birth will resemble the cutting of a thousand knives or the stabbing of her heart with ten thousand arrows!”

“As children, if we were to forget our mother’s suffering, we are worse than the animals!”

“To explain more clearly, there are ten types of kindness bestowed by the mother on the child.”

“The first is the kindness of providing protection and care while the child is in the womb. The second is the kindness of bearing suffering during the birth.”

“The third is the kindness of forgetting all the pain once the child was born.”

“The fourth is the kindness of feeding the child with delicious food.”

“The fifth is the kindness of moving the child to a dry place and lying in the wet herself.”

“The sixth is the kindness of feeding the child with breast milk, nourishing and bringing him up.”

“The seventh is the kindness of washing away the unclean filth.”

“The eight is the kindness of always thinking of the children when he has to travel afar.”

“The ninth kindness is to be willing to undergo suffering with great devotion on behalf of the child.”

“The tenth is the continual loving kindness of a mother towards her child that never comes to an end.”