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Parents And Children
World Scripture
PARENTS AND CHILDREN
In a family, parents are responsible for the welfare of the children and offer
the children an embracing, unconditional love that overlooks and compensates
for their weaknesses. Through their example, they teach their children the
basic values and attitudes which they will carry throughout life. The
children, in turn, respect their parents as the source of their very being, as
their teachers, and as the ones who have labored and sacrificed for their
sakes. When they are grown, they should be responsible to care for their
parents in their old age. These relative responsibilities should not be
undertaken as a matter of duty, but rather emerge from the spontaneous
promptings of parental love and the children's gratitude and respect. This is
the vertical axis defining relations of love and respect between people of
unequal status and different responsibilities.
Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it.
1. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Proverbs 22.6
He who spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
2. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Proverbs 13.24
You can only coil a fish when it is fresh.
3. African Traditional Religions. Nupe Proverb (Nigeria)
And remember when Luqman said to his son by way of instruction, "O my dear son!
Establish worship and enjoin kindness and forbid iniquity,
and persevere, whatever may befall you. Lo! that is the steadfast heart of
things."
4. Islam. Qur'an 31.17
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Nupe Proverb: In other words, you must train a child from infancy when his
character is pliable; as an adult his character is already set.
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As the child, according to its natural disposition, commits thousands of faults,
The father instructs and slights, but again hugs him to his bosom.
5. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Sorath, M.5
Attend strictly to the commands of your parents and the instructions of your
teachers. Serve your leader with diligence; be upright of heart; eschew
falsehood; and be diligent in study; that you may conform to the wishes of the
heavenly spirit.
6. Shinto. Oracle of Temmangu
Children are the clothes of a man.
7. African Traditional Religions. Yoruba Proverb (Nigeria)
He established a testimony in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments.
8. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalm 78.5-7
Do not despise the breath of your fathers,
But draw it into your body.
That our roads may reach to where the life-giving road of our sun father comes
out,
That, clasping one another tight,
Holding one another fast,
We may finish our roads together;
That this may be, I add to your breath now.
To this end:
May my father bless you with life;
May your road reach to Dawn Lake,
May your road be fulfilled.
9. Native American Religions. Zuni Prayer
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Oracle of Temmangu: Temmangu is a shrine in Osaka. Its patron deity, Tenjin,
who was in life the scholar Michizane Sugawara (845-903), is venerated as a god
of education and literature. Schoolchildren will buy amulets of Tenjin for
luck at the time of school entrance examinations. Yoruba Proverb: This means
that a man is assessed by the character of his children. Psalm 78.5-7: Cf.
Yebamot 62, p. 258. Zuni Prayer: This prayer is spoken at the close of the
novice's initiation. Doctrine of the Mean 20.8: These are the Confucian Five
Relations. They are further explicated in the following passage. Book of
Ritual 7.2.19: Cf. I Ching 37, p. 260. Tattvarthasutra 6.18.24: Cf.
Acarangasutra 1.35-37, p. 739; Tattvarthasutra 9.6, p. 169.
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Brethren, a new child is born.
While in the uterus it was a woman's thing;
Safely delivered, it is everybody's child, a native of Nibo, a Nigerian.
He shall grow under the care of his parents;
When mature he will look after his parents.
He shall listen to the good advice of his parents,
He ought not to obey wrong things.
We want truly good children, not any thing at all:
He will grow up industrious, imitating father, mother, and other relations.
No evil child!
Instead of a thief, may it pass away through miscarriage.
The name of the baby is "Chinenye."
10. African Traditional Religions. Igbo Naming Ceremony (Nigeria)
There was always, too, a Pipe child--a girl, unless the keeper had no
daughters....
"When I was the Pipe child, whenever my mother took the Pipe bundle outside of
the lodge, I took the tripod out after her. I was told how to set the tripod
when the camp was about to move, with two of the legs close together and the
third far out. Whenever my father made smudge with pine needles, he would give
me some and I would chew them and would hold my hands over the smudge. Then I
would rub my left palm up to my right arm, my right palm up to my left arm, and
then both palms from the top of my head down the sides of my neck and down my
breast...
Whenever while I was the Pipe child I got sick my father would put pine needles
on me, and then he would take down the bundle and put it on my parents' bed,
and would say to me, "Put your arms around your brother [the Pipe] and pray to
your brother so you may get well." [My father] the Pipe- keeper and his wife
claim the Feathered Pipe as their son and tell their children that the Pipe is
their brother.... Of course the Pipe was not human, but because I was a baby
when my father got it I grew up with it and thought just as much of it as of my
own blood relatives.
When my father transferred the Pipe to Sitting High I was outside playing. When
I was coming home I saw the bundle at Sitting High's door, and when I saw it I
started to cry, and when I saw my father I said to him, "Why did you give my
Pipe away?" It was just like a person leaving. I was lonesome for it, and
felt just as if I had lost a relative or friend. All through my life I have
felt the same toward it. All through my life I have made it a point to be
present at any Feathered Pipe ceremony. And whenever I went to any ceremony, I
would bring something for it....
My father used to tell me, "This Pipe was given by the Supreme Being through
Bha'a; the Supreme Being is the father of the Pipe."
11. Native American Religions. Gros Ventres Tradition of the Pipe Child
(Montana)
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Igbo Naming Ceremony: This prayer was uttered by an elder from the village of
Nibo at the naming of his grandson, Chinenye. Notice the phrase 'it is
everybody's child', which indicates that raising children is a community
responsibility. Gros Ventres Tradition of the Pipe Child: This testimony is an
example of how, in traditional societies, religious education of the young is
integral to daily life.
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This I ask Thee. Tell me truly, Lord.
Who fashioned esteemed piety in addition to rule?
Who made a son respectful in his attentiveness to his father?
12. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 44.7
The gentleman works upon the trunk. When that is firmly set up, the Way grows.
And surely proper behavior towards parents and elder brothers is the trunk of
Goodness?
13. Confucianism. Analects 1.2
In the Kingdom of Heaven, true love is fulfilled centered on parental love....
The family is the original base [of true love] and the foundation of eternity.
14. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 9-30-69
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which
the Lord your God gives you.
15. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Exodus 20.12
There are three partners in man, God, father, and mother. When a man honors
his father and mother, God says, "I regard it as though I had dwelt among them
and they had honored me."
16. Judaism. Talmud, Kiddushin 30b
"Do not neglect the [sacrificial] works due to the gods and the fathers!
Let your mother be to you like unto a god! Let your father be to you
like unto a god! Let your teacher be to you like unto a god!"
17. Hinduism. Taittiriyaka Upanishad 1.11.2
Those who wish to be born in [the Pure Land] of Buddha... should act filially
towards their parents and support them, and should serve and respect their
teachers and elders.
18. Buddhism. Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 27
Thy Lord has decreed... that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of
them attain old age in your lifetime, do not say to them a word of contempt,
nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor. And, out of kindness,
lower to them the wing of humility, and say, "My Lord! bestow on them Thy mercy
even as they cherished me in childhood."
19 Islam. Qur'an 17.23
One companion asked, "O Apostle of God! Who is the person worthiest of my
consideration?" He replied, "Your mother." He asked again, "And second to my
mother?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The companion insisted, "And then?"
The Messenger of God said, "After your mother, your father."
20. Islam. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim
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Analects 1.2: Cf. Book of History 5.9, p. 466.
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Now filial piety is the root of all virtue, and the stem out of which grows all
moral teaching... Our bodies--to every hair and bit of skin--are received by
us from our parents, and we must not presume to injure or wound them: this is
the beginning of filial piety. When we have established our character by the
practice of the filial course, so as to make our name famous in future ages,
and thereby glorify our parents: this is the end of filial piety. It commences
with the service of parents; it proceeds to the service of the ruler; it is
completed by the establishment of [good] character.
21. Confucianism. Classic on Filial Piety 1
Son, why do you quarrel with your father,
Due to him you have grown to this age?
It is a sin to argue with him.
22. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Sarang, M.4, p. 1200
Rama, "How can I transgress this command of my mother and my father? It is for
thee to occupy the throne in Ayodhya, the throne that all revere, and for me to
live in the Dandaka Forest, wearing robes of bark! Having spoken thus, the
great King Dasaratha made this division of duties in the presence of the people
and then ascended to heaven. The word of that virtuous monarch is our law! It
is for thee to enjoy the kingdom given thee by our sire, and, taking refuge in
the Dandaka Forest for fourteen years, I shall carry out the part assigned to
me by my magnanimous sire. That which my high-souled father... has directed me
to do, I regard as my supreme felicity, not the dominion of all the worlds."
23. Hinduism. Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda 101
We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: In pain did his mother bear
him, and in pain did she give him birth. The carrying of the child to his
weaning is thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full strength
and attains forty years, he says, "O my Lord! Grant me that I may be grateful
for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and
that I may work righteousness such as You may approve; and be gracious to me in
my issue. Truly have I turned to You and truly do I bow to You in Islam."
Such are they from whom We shall accept the best of their deeds and pass by
their ill deeds: they shall be among the Companions of the Garden: a promise of
truth, which was made to them. Paradise, holding the true promise which has
been given them.
24. Islam. Qur'an 46.15-16
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Ramayana: At the insistence of Rama's stepmother, his father the king decreed
that upon his death, Rama the heir apparent would be exiled to wander in the
forest for fourteen years while his stepbrother Bharata was to rule as king.
Though Bharata himself, along with all the populace, implored Rama to take his
rightful place as king, Rama refused out of filial loyalty to his departed
father. Cf. Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda 109, pp. 708f.
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Brethren, one can never repay two persons, I declare. What two? Mother and
father.
Even if one should carry about his mother on one shoulder and his father on the
other, and so doing should live a hundred years; and if he should support them,
anointing them with unguents, kneading and rubbing their limbs, and they
meanwhile should even void their excrements upon him--even so could he not
repay his parents. Moreover, if he should establish his parents in supreme
authority, in the absolute rule over this mighty earth abounding in the seven
treasures--not even thus could he repay his parents. Why not? Brethren,
parents do much for their children; they bring them up, they nourish them, they
introduce them to this world. However, brethren, whoso incites his unbelieving
parents, settles and establishes them in the faith; whoso incites his immoral
parents, settles and establishes them in morality; whoso incites his stingy
parents, settles and establishes them in liberality; whoso incites his foolish
parents, settles and establishes them in wisdom--such a one, just by so doing,
does repay, does more than repay what is due to his parents.
25. Buddhism. Anguttara Nikaya i.61
My father, thank you for petting me;
My mother, thank you for making me comfortable;
Thank you for robing me with wisdom, which is more important than robing me
with clothes.
Slaves will minister unto you;
Servants will be your helpers.
Children which I shall bear will minister unto you.
26. African Traditional Religions. Yoruba Nuptial Chant (Nigeria)
If your parents take care of you up to the time you cut your teeth, you take
care of them when they lose theirs.
27. African Traditional Religions. Akan Proverb (Ghana)
You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of an old man, and
you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
28. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Leviticus 19.32
My father sent for me; I saw he was dying. I buried him in that beautiful
valley of winding waters. I love that land more than all the rest of the
world. A man who would not love his father's grave is worse than a wild animal.
29. Native American Religions. Nez Perce Tradition
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Nez Perce Tradition: Veneration of parents' graves and the spirits of ancestors
is an important expression of a son's or daughter's abiding love for their
parents. Cf. Winnebago Invocation at the Sweat Lodge, p. 373; Igbo Invocation
at a Trial, p. 372; Khuddaka Patha, p. 374; Nihon Shoki III, p. 371; One
Hundred Poems about the World, pp. 780f.
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