Ud 2.7 - Ud 2:7 The Only Son | Ekaputta Sutta
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Ud/ud2_7.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: MN 87, SN 42:11, Ud 2:8, Ud 8:8
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

Ud 2:7 The Only Son (Ekaputta Sutta)

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī at Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. And on that occasion the dear and beloved only son of a certain lay follower had died. So a large number of lay followers–their clothes wet, their hair wet–went to the Blessed One in the middle of the day and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As they were sitting there the Blessed One said to them: “Why have you come here–your clothes wet, your hair wet–in the middle of the day?”

When this was said, the lay follower said to the Blessed One, “My dear and beloved only son, lord, has died. This is why we have come here–our clothes wet, our hair wet–in the middle of the day.”

Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:

Tied down by the allure
of what seems dear,1
hosts of devas, most human beings,
worn out with misery,
fall under the sway
of the King of Death.
But those who, day & night,
heedfully abandon
what seems dear,
dig up misery
by the root–
    Death’s bait
    so hard
    to overcome.

Note

1. Following the reading, piyarūpassāda-gaddhitāse in the Thai, Burmese, and BJT editions. The Sri Lankan edition available from the Journal of Buddhist Ethics has, piyarūpa-sātarūpa-gaddhitā ye: “Those tied down by what seems dear & what seems agreeable”; the PTS edition, piyarūpāsāta-gaddhitā ve: “Truly tied down by what seems dear & what is disagreeable.” The parallel passage in the Udānavarga (5.10) has, priyarūpa-sāta-grathitā: “Tied down by what seems dear and is agreeable.”