Ullambana Sūtra
Kinh Vu Lan Bồn
Phật Thuyết Vu Lan Bồn Kinh
Usually recited 3 times
About this text
The Ullambana Sūtra is recited during the Vu Lan festival to honor and repay the deep gratitude owed to parents and ancestors. The sūtra tells of Maudgalyāyana saving his mother from the realm of hungry ghosts by following the Buddha’s instructions to make offerings to the Saṅgha on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. It encourages filial piety and remembrance of one’s ancestors.
Preparation & offerings
Before reciting the sūtra, offer incense, flowers, fruit, and pure water at the altar of the Triple Gem and ancestors. Wear respectful attire, keep a pure mind, and sincerely dedicate the recitation to parents and ancestors.
Text
- 1
Once, the Buddha was staying at Jetavana Monastery in Śrāvastī, together with a great assembly of monks.
- 2
At that time, Venerable Maudgalyāyana, having attained arhatship, remembered his deceased mother and wished to repay her kindness.
- 3
Using his spiritual powers, he saw his mother suffering as a hungry ghost, tormented by hunger and thirst, her body withered and weak.
- 4
He brought food to offer his mother, but it turned into burning coals, and she could not eat.
- 5
Maudgalyāyana, heartbroken, returned to the Buddha and asked for a way to save his mother from suffering.
- 6
The Buddha said: "Your mother suffers because of evil deeds from past lives. You alone cannot save her from this fate."
- 7
"On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, prepare offerings and make offerings to the Saṅgha of the ten directions. Through the collective merit and spiritual power, your mother will be liberated."
- 8
Maudgalyāyana followed the Buddha’s instructions, preparing food, clothing, bedding, and medicine, and sincerely offered them to the Saṅgha.
- 9
Thanks to these merits, his mother was freed from the realm of hungry ghosts and reborn in a good realm.
- 10
The Buddha taught: "All filial children, wishing to repay the kindness of their living or departed parents, should follow this example."
- 11
"On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, sincerely make offerings to the Triple Gem and dedicate the merit to parents of this and past lives."
- 12
"By this merit, living parents will enjoy greater blessings and longevity, and deceased parents will be reborn in peaceful realms."
- 13
We vow to follow Maudgalyāyana’s example, cultivate filial piety, make offerings to the Triple Gem, and pray for the happiness and liberation of our parents through many lifetimes.
- 14
May the merit from this practice be dedicated to our living parents for peace and happiness, and to our departed parents for rebirth in the Pure Land.
Source & license
Dịch nghĩa (trích) từ Hán tạng — Đại Chính Tân Tu Đại Tạng Kinh (Taishō) — do Vietnam Pagodas biên soạn bằng lời văn riêng
License: Nguyên bản Hán tạng: công hữu · Bản dịch nghĩa & bản dịch: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Vietnam Pagodas)
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Audio: chanted by Ven. Thích Trí Thoát, from Pháp Hạnh (ph.tinhtong.vn) ph.tinhtong.vn. Ấn tống — phát hành miễn phí, phi thương mại; bản quyền thuộc Pháp Hạnh và người tụng. Free Dharma distribution, non-commercial; © Pháp Hạnh and the reciter.
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