It is said that a young child who dies before his parents cannot cross the Sanzu River but must continue to build a stone stupa forever; that he must suffer from the bullying of ogres at Sai-no-kawara because he makes his parents grieve; and that he will not accrue pious acts of filial devotion to his parents.
幼い子供が親より先に世を去ると、親を悲しませ親孝行の功徳も積んでいないことから、三途の川を渡れず賽の河原で鬼のいじめに遭いながら石の塔婆作りを永遠に続けなければならないとされる。