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Ekaputtaka Sutta

1. Ekaputtaka Sutta.– At Sāvatthi.

Gain, honour, and fame are terrifying dangers.

A faithful female lay follower should exhort her only son — if he remains as a householder — to be like Citta-gahapati or Hatthaka of Āḷavaka, or if he should go forth — to be like Sāriputta or Mahā-Moggallāna.

These are the standards that one should aspire to. S.ii.235.

2. Ekaputtaka Sutta.– At Sāvatthi.

On one occasion a certain lay follower’s dear and beloved only son had just died. Then many householders, with their hair and clothes wet, approached the Blessed One in the middle of the day, who asked them why they had come, and they explained that they had also lost a dear and beloved only son.

Then the Buddha taught them in verse, how beings who are fettered by what is dear are under the sway of Māra. However, those who work diligently day and night to renounce attachment, dig up the root of sorrow. The bait of Māra (death) is hard to overcome.  Ud.14.