I HAVE placed your offerings of one sack of rice, parched rice, melons, eggplants, and other items before the Buddha.

As to the origin of the service for deceased ancestors,¹ among the disciples of the Buddha was one called the Venerable Maudgalyāyana. As the foremost in transcendental powers among the disciples, he ranked alongside Shāriputra, the foremost in wisdom. These two were like the sun and moon ranged side by side around Mount Sumeru, or like the ministers of the left and right who assist a great king.

Maudgalyāyana’s father was called Kissen Shishi, and his mother was called Shōdai-nyo.² His mother, because she was guilty of greed and stinginess, after her death was reborn in the realm of hungry spirits, but the Venerable Maudgalyāyana rescued her from there, and this began the tradition of the service.

It came about as follows. Though Maudgalyāyana’s mother had fallen into the realm of hungry spirits and was suffering there, Maudgalyāyana, being only a common mortal, had no way of knowing this. When he was a young boy, he entered the house of a teacher of Brahmanism and there made an exhaustive study of the four Vedas and the eighteen major scriptures, which constitute the complete sacred writings of Brahmanism. At this time, however, he still did not know where his mother had been reborn.

Later, at the age of thirteen, he and Shāriputra together visited Shakyamuni Buddha and became his disciples. Thereafter, Maudgalyāyana was able to free himself from the illusions of thought and to advance to the first stage of sagehood³ and then to cut off the illusions of desire and become an arhat, thereupon gaining the three insights and the six transcendental powers. Having opened the heavenly eye, he could see throughout the entire major world system as though it were reflected in a clear mirror. His vision penetrated the earth, and he could see into the three evil paths just as we, looking down through a layer of ice, see fish beneath the ice when the morning sun shines on it. And as he looked down, he saw that his mother was in the realm of hungry spirits.

She had nothing to drink, nothing to eat. Her skin was like that of a golden pheasant when its feathers have been plucked; her bones were like round stones placed one beside the other. Her head was big as a ball, her neck thin as a thread, and her stomach swelled like the sea. Her mouth open, her palms pressed together begging for something to eat, she resembled a starving leech that has caught the scent of a human. The sight of her famished form as she gazed at the son she had had in her previous existence and began to weep was beyond the power of analogy to describe. One can imagine how heartrending a scene this must have been for Maudgalyāyana.

The priest Shunkan, temple administrator of Hosshō-ji, was exiled to the island of Iōgashima. Naked, his hair hanging down unbound, his body wasted and thin, he wandered along the seashore where he picked up bits of seaweed and wrapped them about his loins or, spotting a fish, seized it with his right hand and gnawed it with his teeth. At that time a youth who had once been in the priest’s service came to the island to visit him.⁴ I wonder which was the more miserable sight, this priest or Maudgalyāyana’s mother? I venture to think that Maudgalyāyana’s mother was even more pitiful to look at than this priest.

The Venerable Maudgalyāyana was so overwhelmed with pity at the sight of his mother that he immediately employed his great transcendental powers and offered her some rice. His mother was delighted, and, seizing some of the rice in her right hand while concealing the remainder with her left, she stuffed the rice into her mouth. What should happen then but the rice changed into fire and began to burn! It burst into flame as though a bundle of torches had been lit, and his mother’s body crackled and burned.

When Maudgalyāyana saw this, he panicked and became utterly confused and, employing his transcendental powers, summoned forth a great flood of water. But the water turned into firewood, and his mother’s body only burned more fiercely, the sight of which filled him with even greater pity.

Maudgalyāyana, realizing that his own transcendental powers were altogether inadequate to remedy the situation, raced away and in an instant appeared in the presence of the Buddha, where he presented his tearful appeal.

“I was born into a family of believers of Brahmanism,” he said, “but later I became a disciple of the Buddha. I have gained the rank of arhat, freed myself from rebirth in the threefold world, and acquired the three insights and the six transcendental powers that go with the status of arhat. But now when I try to rescue my own mother from the great sufferings that beset her, I seem only to make her anguish worse than before, which fills my heart with grief!”

The Buddha replied: “Your mother has committed grave misdeeds. You alone do not have the power to remedy this situation. And indeed no one, neither the gods of heaven, the gods of earth, the devils, the Brahmanists, the Taoist priests, the four heavenly kings, nor the gods Shakra and Brahmā have the power to do so. Therefore, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you should bring together all the sage monks of the ten directions, prepare offerings of food and drink representing a hundred different flavors, and present them for the purpose of rescuing your mother from her sufferings.”

Maudgalyāyana did just as the Buddha had instructed him, and as a result his mother was freed from the realm of hungry spirits, where she had been destined to suffer for the period of a kalpa. So we are told in the scripture known as the Service for the Deceased Sutra. That is the reason why even now, in this latter age after the passing of the Buddha, people perform this ceremony on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. It is common practice for them to do so.

This writing is a letter (gosho) addressed to the grandmother of Jibu-bō Nichii, a disciple of Nichiren Daishonin. It was written in response to the offerings of rice, roasted rice, melons, and eggplants she made on July 13, just prior to the Urabon service (the Festival of the Dead), and expounds upon the origin of Urabon.

While it has traditionally been ascribed to the third year of Kenji (1277), recent scholarship suggests it was written in the second year of Kōan (1279). Another theory dates it to the third year of Kōan (1280). The original manuscript in the Daishonin’s own hand is preserved at Myokaku-ji temple in Kyoto.

The grandmother of Jibu-bō, the recipient of this letter, is believed to have been a practitioner residing in Ihara District of Suruga Province (present-day Shizuoka Prefecture). Regarding Jibu-bō, Nikkō Shōnin’s List of Disciples upon Whom Nikkō Bestowed the Gohonzon states, “Jibu-bō, a resident priest at Shijūku-in temple in Suruga Province, is a disciple of Renge-ajari.” From this, we understand that he was originally a resident priest of the Tendai sect at Shijūku-in temple, who later became a disciple of Renge-ajari Nichiji (one of the six senior disciples), making him a grand-disciple of Nikkō Shōnin. Following the passing of the Daishonin, Jibu-bō was initially included among those responsible for guarding the Daishonin’s tomb by rotation. However, as the same list records, “He turned against [Nikkō Shōnin] after the Saint’s passing,” it appears that he ultimately sided with the five senior priests and opposed Nikkō Shōnin.

It is assumed that his grandmother took faith under the guidance of Jibu-bō after he became Nichiji’s disciple at Shijūku-in, though the exact details remain unclear.

The content of this letter begins by quoting the Urabon Sutra to describe the origin of the Urabon service. The Daishonin reveals that despite possessing great transcendental powers, Maudgalyāyana (Mokuren) was initially unable to save his mother from her torments after she fell into the realm of Hungry Spirits (gakidō). He then explains that through the Lotus Sutra, Maudgalyāyana not only attained Buddhahood himself but was also able to lead his parents to Buddhahood. Furthermore, the Daishonin cites the historical example of Taira no Kiyomori, whose great evil brought immense suffering upon his descendants, contrasting it with the principle that the great good of embracing the Lotus Sutra can lead parents and descendants across countless generations to the attainment of Buddhahood.

Finally, the Daishonin encourages Jibu-bō’s grandmother, assuring her that because she raised her grandson to become a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, she will without fail be guided to the attainment of Buddhahood.

On the Origin of Urabon

The Buddhist event held annually on July 15 (or August 15 in some regions, a month later according to the lunar calendar) to offer prayers for the repose of ancestors is called Urabon (the Obon Festival). In this letter, the Daishonin draws upon the meaning of the Urabon Sutra to explain its origins in detail.

The word “Urabon” is a transliteration of the Sanskrit ullambana, which translates to “hanging upside down,” symbolizing the agonizing torment of being suspended in reverse. It was used because the agonizing hunger and thirst experienced in the realm of Hungry Spirits resemble this suffering. The Chinese character bon , meaning a tray or vessel, refers to the container used to rescue them from this torment. In other words, the Urabon ritual involves placing one hundred kinds of food and drink on a tray as an offering to the Buddha through the assembled monks, thereby alleviating the suffering of those trapped in the realm of Hungry Spirits and guiding them toward Buddhahood.

The origin of this ritual lies in the story of Maudgalyāyana, one of the ten foremost disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, who was renowned as foremost in transcendental powers. Following the Buddha’s guidance, he succeeded in rescuing his deceased mother, Shōdai-nyo , from the sufferings of the realm of Hungry Spirits.

Maudgalyāyana had lost his mother when he was young, and due to her sin of greed and stinginess (kendon), she had fallen into the realm of Hungry Spirits. “Greed and stinginess” refers to being deeply covetous, hoarding wealth, and refusing to give to others. The fourth volume of The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Mongu) identifies this sin as the direct cause for falling into the realm of Hungry Spirits.

Maudgalyāyana initially practiced Brahmanism, but later became a disciple of Shakyamuni. Through his dedicated Buddhist practice, he attained the stage of Arhatship and acquired transcendental abilities known as the “three insights and six transcendental powers” (sanmyō-rokutsū). It was through these powers that he became aware of his mother’s agonizing state in the realm of Hungry Spirits. Her appearance was described as follows: “She had nothing to drink and nothing to eat. Her skin was like plucked felt, and her bones were like a row of round stones. Her head was as large as a ball, her neck as thin as a thread, and her belly as vast as the ocean. She opened her mouth and pressed her palms together to beg for food, looking like a starved leech scenting human flesh.”

The Daishonin writes that Maudgalyāyana’s grief upon witnessing his mother in this state must have far surpassed the sorrow of the young boy who witnessed the wretched condition of Shunkan when he was exiled to Kikai-gashima Island.

Shunkan was a Tendai monk of the late Heian period who served as the administrator of Hosshō-ji temple. Trusted by Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa, he conspired with Fujiwara no Naritsune, Taira no Yasuyori, and others at a villa in Shishigatani to overthrow Taira no Kiyomori. The plot was discovered, and in the first year of Jisho (1177), he was captured and exiled along with Naritsune and Yasuyori to Kikai-gashima Island (Iōjima Island) south of Kyushu. The following year, a special amnesty was granted to pray for the safe delivery of Kiyomori’s daughter, Empress Consort Tokuko. While the other two men were pardoned, Shunkan was left behind alone, likely because he was viewed as the mastermind. It is recorded that he died on the island in the third year of Jisho. Shunkan, left behind on the island bearing deep resentment, lived out his final days in a state of misery that perfectly mirrored the realm of Hungry Spirits.

Maudgalyāyana attempted to use his transcendental powers to send food and water to his mother, but this only increased her torment. Grieving deeply, he sought guidance from Shakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha instructed him: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, assemble the monks of the ten directions, prepare one hundred kinds of exquisite food and drink, and offer them to relieve your mother’s suffering.” When Maudgalyāyana followed these instructions, his mother was finally freed from the agonies of the realm of Hungry Spirits.

According to the Urabon Sutra translated by Dharmarakṣa (Jiku Hōgo) during the Western Jin dynasty, Maudgalyāyana later made a vow, saying, “I pray that all future disciples of the Buddha who practice filial piety may also use this Urabon service to save their parents of this life, and even back to seven generations of parents.” Shakyamuni Buddha warmly encouraged the practice, replying, “This is exactly what I desire.”

The actual Urabon service is said to have been performed for the first time in China at Tongtai-ji temple in the fourth year of Datong (538) during the Liang dynasty, and it spread widely during the Tang dynasty. In Japan, it is recorded to have been held for the first time at Asuka-dera temple in the third year of the reign of Empress Saimei (657). Later, offerings came to be made within the imperial court, and the practice eventually evolved into a traditional annual event among the common people.

Furthermore, the reason the Urabon service came to be held on July 15 stems from the practice of ango (rainy season retreat) in India. During the three months of the summer rainy season, monks would confine themselves to a single location to focus entirely on their studies and practice to avoid harming insects or stepping on newborn plants. The Urabon service originated from the custom of making offerings to the assembled monks upon the completion of this retreat.