Reply to the Wife of Gyōbu Saemon-no-jō Chapter1

THIS month I received your letter informing me that, as the third day of the tenth month marks the thirteenth anniversary¹ of your mother’s death, you are enclosing an offering of twenty thousand coins.

The more than three thousand volumes that make up the non-Buddhist classics have as their very core the two concepts of loyalty and filial piety, while the more than five thousand volumes of Buddhist scriptures have as their eye that of filial devotion. It seems that the sun and moon begrudge their light to one who is unfilial, and that the gods of the earth look upon such a person with wrath. A certain sutra tells us that at one time all the living beings of the six paths of existence gathered in the presence of the Buddha, and the Buddha questioned each of them about their personal circumstances. Addressing the gods of the earth, he said, “Tell me, is there anything that is weightier than the great earth?” The gods of the earth replied in a reverent manner that there was indeed something weightier than the great earth.

“You earth gods!” said the Buddha. “Why do you utter such distortions! This major world system of ours in all its parts sits upon the great earth. Mount Sumeru, which measures 168,000 yojanas in height and 3,360,000 ri in breadth, the great ocean, which is 84,000 yojanas in length and breadth, as well as all the living beings and the plants and trees—all these rest upon the great earth. Since the earth is capable of upholding all of these, how could there be anything that is weightier than it?”

The earth gods replied, “Since the Buddha knows the answer, he is perhaps asking so that others may be informed of it. We earth gods have existed for twenty-nine kalpas, and during all that time, we have held up and supported the great earth without suffering any pain in our necks or our backs. Moreover, while holding it up, we run about in space, now east, now west, now south, now north, and yet we do not feel that it is weighty. It is only the place where an unfilial person dwells that is heavy, heavier than we can bear. It causes our necks to ache, our backs to feel as though they would break, our knees to weaken, our feet to become immovable, our eyes to swim, and our spirits to fail. Ah, when we encounter a place where a person of unfilial conduct dwells, we think again and again how we would like to cast off the earth and throw it away! That is why the earth constantly trembles in the place where an unfilial person dwells.

“So it was with the man called Devadatta. He was a cousin of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, and a member of the royal clan, one of the most highborn persons in the continent of Jambudvīpa. Nevertheless, he was unfilial, and for that reason we could not hold up the earth under him. So the earth split apart and he fell into the hell of incessant suffering. Our strength was powerless to prevent it.”

Thus did the gods of the earth expound in detail to the Buddha, and the Buddha nodded in agreement, saying, “Indeed, indeed!” And then the Buddha sighed and said, “After I have passed away, people will be even more unfilial in their conduct than Devadatta was. They will surpass even Kokālika.” (This is the essence of the sutra.²)

The Nirvana Sutra says that, in the evil world of the latter age, unfilial persons will be more numerous than the dust particles of the land, while those who perform their filial duties with devotion will be fewer than the specks of dirt that can be placed on a fingernail.