Introduction
i.1In this brief sūtra, the Buddha proclaims the importance of respect for and service to one’s parents. By making use of similes to explain to the assembly of monks how exalted a child’s service to their father and mother is, he proclaims one’s parents worthy of gifts and tender care. The Buddha concludes the sūtra by stating that those who venerate their father and mother are wise, for in this life they will not be disparaged, and after death they will be reborn in the higher realms.
i.1在這部簡短的經典中，佛陀宣說了對父母尊敬和奉侍的重要性。佛陀通過用比喻向比丘僧伽說明了孩子奉侍父親和母親是多麼崇高的事，宣稱父母值得接受供養和溫柔的照顧。佛陀以此經的結論說，那些尊敬父母的人是智慧的，因為在今生他們不會被貶低，死後將重生在更高的境界。
i.2There is no known Sanskrit version of this sūtra, and it survives only in Tibetan canonical translations. Since there is no colophon at the end of the sūtra, and as the text is not included in any of the early Tibetan inventories of translations produced during the eighth and ninth centuries, we also have no information concerning its original translation from Sanskrit into Tibetan.
i.2這部經典沒有已知的梵文版本，現存的只有藏文經典譯本。由於這部經的末尾沒有譯者記跋，而且該文獻也沒有被收入八世紀和九世紀期間製作的任何早期藏文譯經目錄中，所以我們對它從梵文翻譯成藏文的原始情況沒有任何資訊。
i.3The Chinese canon does not contain this sūtra, though there are other popular sūtras in the Chinese canon that teach the importance of respecting and serving one’s parents and ancestors. Two such sūtras are yu lan pen jing (盂蘭盆經, Taishō 685) and bao’en feng pen jing (報恩奉盆經, Taishō 686). As the textual basis for the “Ghost Festival” (yu lan pen), these two sūtras both describe the efforts of Maudgalyāyana, one of the two main disciples of the Buddha, to save his mother, who had been reborn in one of the lower realms. Though these two sūtras were almost certainly originally composed in China, a similar narrative of Maudgalyāyana locating his mother after her death in order to assist her is also found in The Chapter on Medicines in the Vinayavastu (Toh 1-6, 2.326–2.337), which was composed in India. That account begins with Maudgalyāyana recalling a discourse of the Buddha about repaying the kindness of one’s parents. However, the contents of these sūtras in the Chinese canon and The Chapter on Medicines are quite different from that of this particular sūtra, which makes it a valuable addition to the Buddhist literature on what is often called “filial piety.”
i.3中文聖典中沒有收錄這部經，但中文聖典中有其他受歡迎的經文教導尊敬和孝養父母及祖先的重要性。其中兩部經文是《盂蘭盆經》（大正藏685）和《報恩奉盆經》（大正藏686）。作為「盂蘭盆節」（鬼節）的文本基礎，這兩部經都描述了佛陀的兩位主要弟子之一目犍連的努力，他試圖拯救因業力而投生到下界的母親。雖然這兩部經幾乎肯定是在中國創作的，但目犍連在死後尋找母親來幫助她的類似故事，也出現在在印度創作的《律藏》中的《藥品章》（Toh 1-6, 2.326–2.337）裡。那個敘述開始於目犍連回憶佛陀關於報答父母恩德的開示。然而，中文聖典中這些經文與《藥品章》的內容與這部特定經文的內容相當不同，這使它成為對於通常所謂「孝道」的佛教文獻的寶貴補充。
i.4This translation into English is based on the version in the Degé Kangyur, with reference to the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace manuscript. There were no variants that would alter the English translation.
i.4本英譯版本以德格甘珠爾版本為基礎，並參考《對照版》(dpe bsdur ma)和斯托克宮殿手稿進行對譯。經文中沒有出現會影響英譯的異文。