Lzh Dg Bi Vb As 3Resolution Because of Past Insanity

Exposition of the Amūḷhavinaya Scripture (Discipline of Freedom from Delusion)

Context

The Amūḷhavinaya scripture (Amūḷha-vinaya) belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, within the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga — the detailed regulations concerning the life of bhikkhunīs. This scripture was recorded in the context of the Buddha perfecting the teaching, when the renunciant community developed and needed clear guidance to maintain discipline and purity.

The term “Amūḷha” means “not deluded” (amūḷha = a + mūḷha, that is, removal of the state of delusion — moha, one of the three basic unwholesome roots). This scripture handles a legal situation concerning how to determine the responsibility of a bhikkhunī when the act in question was performed under a state of delusion or insanity in the past.

Main Content

Amūḷhavinaya resolves an important legal question: Is a bhikkhunī considered to have violated a Pārājika, a Sanghadisesa, or other rule if the alleged act was performed while she was in a state of unsound mind — profound delusion or mental abnormality?

According to the Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka, for a rule to be considered violated, three basic elements must be fulfilled: (1) the objective act was performed, (2) the definite intention (cetanā) of the actor, and (3) clear awareness of the nature of the act. If one of these three elements is absent, especially intention and lucid awareness, the rule is not considered fully violated.

The scripture makes clear that if a person does something — for example, an act of a disciplinary nature — but at that time she was in a state of profound delusion (mūḷha), insanity, or loss of consciousness, then that act is not considered an intentional disciplinary violation. This reflects a long-standing principle of the Buddha Dharma: no action has moral result without intention and clear awareness.