Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 149Stingy With Families

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 149

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, at the city of Śrāvastī. At that time, the bhikkhunī Tiṣyā was a disciple of the bhikkhunī Śāntā. She had a lay donor with whom she had long been acquainted. Śāntā said to Tiṣyā:

"Could you go with me to visit that lay donor?"

Tiṣyā replied:

"If you wish to go, that is fine."

The two went together. The bhikkhunī Śāntā was properly dressed and did not lose her composure. Seeing this, the lay donor's mind was gladdened, and she made an offering. After Śāntā had finished eating, she returned to the monastery and said to Tiṣyā:

"That lay donor is sincere and devoted, and is joyfully inclined to make offerings."

Tiṣyā gave rise to a mind of jealousy and said:

"That lay donor is sincere because she delights in making offerings to her!"

The bhikkhunīs heard this, and among them were those of few desires and contentment who practiced the ascetic virtues, who delighted in training in the precepts, and who had a sense of shame and remorse. They reproached the bhikkhunī Tiṣyā: "Why did you give rise to a mind of jealousy and say: 'That lay donor is sincere because she delights in making offerings to her!'?"

The bhikkhunīs reported the matter to the bhikkhus. The bhikkhus went and reported it to the Buddha. The Buddha, on account of this matter, convened an assembly of the Saṅgha of bhikkhus and reproached the bhikkhunī Tiṣyā:

"What you have done is wrong—it is not proper conduct, not the practice of a śramaṇa, not pure conduct, not appropriate behavior; it is something that should not be done. Why did you give rise to a mind of jealousy and say: 'That lay donor is sincere because she delights in making offerings to her!'?"

Having reproached her by countless skillful means, the Buddha said to the bhikkhus:

"This bhikkhunī is a field for the planting of many seeds of the defiled outflows, and she is the first to commit this offense. From this day forward, I shall set forth a rule for the bhikkhunīs, based on ten principles, up to and including the principle that the true Dharma may long endure."

The rule should be proclaimed as follows:

Whatever bhikkhunī gives rise to a mind of jealousy regarding a family, it is a pācittiya.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE RULE

Bhikkhunī: the meaning is as above.

Whatever bhikkhunī, with respect to someone's household, gives rise to a mind of jealousy and says: "That lay donor is sincere because she joyfully delights in making offerings to her!" — if spoken distinctly, it is a pācittiya; if spoken indistinctly, it is a duṣkṛta.

For a bhikkhu, it is a duṣkṛta. For a śikṣamāṇā, a śrāmaṇera, or a śrāmaṇerī, it is a duṣkṛta. This is called an offense.

Non-offense: if it is truly the case that the lay donor has goodwill only toward that bhikkhunī, and one says: "That lay donor is sincere because she joyfully delights in making offerings to her!" — or if spoken in jest, spoken hastily, spoken to oneself, spoken while dreaming, or if intending to say one thing one inadvertently says another — in all such cases there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: the first offender before the rule was established; one who is insane, whose mind is disordered, or who is afflicted and overwhelmed by pain.

Vietnamese translation: Bhikkhu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA, PART ONE.

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka master Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

(Chinese translation, fascicles 1–21; Vietnamese translation, fascicles 1–2)

Buddhist Studies Publication Committee, 2002