SN 7.14: Maha-sala Sutta — Very Rich

[mikenz66]

SN 7.14 PTS: S i 175 CDB i 271 Maha-sala Sutta: Very Rich
translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

A touching glimpse into the sorrow that a father feels when his ungrateful children fail to honor him in his old age. Treat your parents well.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

At Savatthi. Then a certain very rich brahman — shabby, shabbily dressed — went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After this exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there the Blessed One said to him, "Why, brahman, are you shabby & shabbily dressed?"

"Just now, Master Gotama, my four sons — at their wives instigation — threw me out of the house."

"In that case, brahman, memorize these verses and then recite them when a large assembly of people have gathered in the town hall and your sons are sitting there, too.

• "Those whose birth
  I delighted in
  — whose growth I desired —
  at their wives instigation
  have chased me away,
  as dogs would swine.
  
  Wicked & vile,
  though they call me 'Dad':
  demons in the disguise of sons
  who abandon me in old age.
  
  As an old horse
  of no more use
  is deprived of fodder,
  so the elderly father
  of those foolish boys
  begs at other people's homes.
  
  My staff serves me better
  than those disobedient sons.
  It fends off
  ferocious bulls
  & ferocious curs.
  In the dark it goes before me;
  down steep slopes, it gives support.
  Through the power of my staff,
  when I stumble
  I still stand firm."

Then the very rich brahman, having memorized these verses in the presence of the Blessed One, recited them when a large assembly of people had gathered in the town hall and his sons were sitting there, too:

• "Those whose birth
  I delighted in
  — whose growth I desired —
  at their wives instigation
  have chased me away,
  as dogs would swine.
  
  Wicked & vile,
  though they call me 'Dad':
  demons in the disguise of sons
  who abandon me in old age.
  
  As an old horse
  of no more use
  is deprived of fodder,
  so the elderly father
  of those foolish boys
  begs at other people's homes.
  
  My staff serves me better
  than those disobedient sons.
  It fends off
  ferocious bulls
  & ferocious curs.
  In the dark it goes before me;
  down steep slopes, it gives support.
  Through the power of my staff,
  when I stumble
  I still stand firm."

Then the brahman's sons, having led him home, bathed him, and each provided him in a pair of cloths. So the brahman, taking one pair of cloths, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After this exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One, "We brahmans, Master Gotama, look for a teacher's fee for our teacher. May Master Gotama accept this teacher's portion from me."

The Blessed One accepted it out of sympathy.

Then the very rich brahman said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to point out the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the community of monks. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forward, for life."

See also:
AN 2.32 (2.31 at ATI).

[SarathW]

Respecting parents and looking after them in their old age is quickly disappearing from the society.
We are too busy making a living, so only option we have is to leave them in a age care facility.
Lucky if some people make an effort to see them in even the mothers or fathers day let alone during the year.
Looking after old people has become a burden or the responsibility of the society.

[Khalil Bodhi]

This is a great sutta and one of my favorites. Reading this now made me instantly think of my own patents who are nearing an age where they may not be able to look after themselves. May we all do what we can to honor and support our parents and not squander the gift of life they have given us.

[mikenz66]

Bhikkhu Bodhi notes that:

A much more elaborate version of the same encounter is found at Dhp-a IV 7-15, where it forms the background story to Dhp 324; see BL 3:201-5. The story is incorporated into Spk.

See: http://www.aimwell.org/23-naga.html#324

An Elephant Longs for the Forest

• “The uncontrollable, captive tusker named Dhanapāla, with pungent juice flowing,
  eats no morsel; the tusker calls to mind the elephant forest.” 324

The Elderly Brahmin’s Story
An old Brahmin who had eight hundred thousands of wealth gave one hundred thousand to each of his four sons when they married. When his wife died, his sons consulted and decided that if their father remarried the remaining wealth would be divided among the children of his new wife, and they would lose it, so they would take good care of him in turns. Thus he was persuaded to give the remaining four hundred thousand to his four sons, and went to stay with his eldest son. After a while, the wife of the eldest son insulted asked him if he didn’t know the way to the house of his second son. Enraged, the Brahmin left the house and went to the house of his second son. Again, after some time he was made unwelcome, and went to the house of the third son, and then the fourth son, and finally became a homeless wanderer. One day he went to see the Buddha, who taught him a verse to recite when the Brahmin’s assembled.

• “At their birth I rejoiced, having wished for it.
  Urged by their wives they drove me out like a pig by a dog.
  
  “Wicked and two-faced they say to me, ‘Dear father, father dear.’
  Ogres in the guise of sons, they forsake me in old age.
  
  “When a horse grows old, he is deprived of food.
  Likewise, the father of fools, begs his food from door to door.
  
  “Better this staff for me than disobedient sons.
  The staff at least wards against wild dogs and oxen.
  
  “When I stumble into a hole in the darkness,
  With the aid of this staff I recover my footing.” (S.i.176)

The Brahmins were outraged, and the sons had to beg forgiveness and promise to care for their father properly to avoid a death sentence. When later invited to the eldest son’s house for alms, the Buddha related the Mātuposaka Nāgarāja Jātaka. (jā.455)

At one time there was an elephant Dhanapāla who cared for his blind mother. When captured and imprisoned in the king’s elephant-stable he refused to eat even when offered the choicest food. Having identified himself with the elephant Dhanapāla showing his former powerful wish to fulfil his duty to his mother, the Buddha concluded with the above verse. On listening to the discourse, the audience shed floods of tears, and the Brahmin, his sons, and their wives attained Stream-winning.

[Kim OHara]

Respecting parents and looking after them in their old age is quickly disappearing from the society.
We are too busy making a living, so only option we have is to leave them in a age care facility.
Lucky if some people make an effort to see them in even the mothers or fathers day let alone during the year.
Looking after old people has become a burden or the responsibility of the society.

Yes, and it's sad.
A lot of the fragmentation of families is driven by big business: it is so convenient for businesses to simply move employees from one location to another that they make it almost a condition of employment. Sometimes it's explicit: "If you want a promotion to a higher position in this, your home town, you have to work in a remote location for three years," etc.)
But each time the physical separation increases, so does the emotional separation.


Kim

[santa100]

Also from AN 3.31, a beautiful sutta on the parents theme:

“Bhikkhus, those families dwell with Brahmā where at home the mother and father are revered by their children. (2) Those families dwell with the first teachers where at home the mother and father are revered by their children. (3) Those families dwell with the gift-worthy where at home the mother and father are revered by their children.

“‘Brahmā,’ bhikkhus, is a designation for mother and father. ‘First teachers’ is a designation for mother and father. ‘Giftworthy’ is a designation for mother and father. For what reason? Mother and father are helpful to their children: they raise them, nurture them, and show them the world.”

Mother and father are called “Brahmā”
and also “first teachers.”
They are worthy of gifts from their children,
for they have compassion for their offspring.

Therefore a wise person should revere them,
and show them due honor,
serve them with food and drink,
with clothes and bedding,
by massaging and bathing them,
and by washing their feet.

Because of this service
to mother and father,
the wise praise one in this world
and after death one rejoices in heaven.

[Coyote]

Awesome sutta It is good to respect one's parents.