Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 159Vehicle

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 159

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Bhagavān was dwelling in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, at the city of Śrāvastī. At that time, a group of six bhikṣuṇīs drove vehicles along the road. The lay people who saw them all criticized them, saying: "These bhikṣuṇīs have no sense of shame or remorse; they commit impure conduct. Outwardly they claim to know the true Dharma. But what kind of Dharma is this? Driving vehicles along the road just like prostitutes and women thieves!"

The bhikṣuṇīs heard of this, and among them were those who were of few desires and contentment, who practiced the dhūta qualities, who delighted in training in the precepts, and who had a sense of shame and remorse. They reproached the group of six bhikṣuṇīs: "Why do you drive vehicles along the road?"

The bhikṣuṇīs then reported the matter to the bhikṣus. The bhikṣus reported it to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this cause and condition, convened an assembly of the bhikṣu Saṅgha and rebuked the group of six bhikṣuṇīs:

"What you have done is wrong — it is not proper conduct, it is not the conduct of a śramaṇa, it is not pure conduct, it is not conforming behavior, it is something that should not be done. Why do you drive vehicles along the road?"

Having rebuked them with countless expedient means, the Buddha said to the bhikṣus:

"These bhikṣuṇīs are a field that grows many seeds of the āsravas; they are the first to transgress this precept. From this day forward, I shall set forth a precept for the bhikṣuṇīs, comprising ten meaningful phrases, up to and including the phrase on the long endurance of the true Dharma."

The precept should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikṣuṇī rides in a vehicle along the road — pācittiya.

The Blessed One thus established this precept for the bhikṣuṇīs. At that time, there were bhikṣuṇīs who were old and frail, weakened, and ill, with sickly and emaciated constitution, unable to travel from one dwelling place to another. The Buddha instructed:

"From this day forward, it is permitted to travel by drawn carriage — all vehicles used by women."

At that time, bhikṣuṇīs faced dangers — either danger to their lives or danger to their pure conduct — and had doubts and did not dare ride in a moving vehicle. The Buddha instructed:

"From this day forward, when encountering such dangers, it is permitted to ride in a vehicle and travel."

From now on, the precept should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikṣuṇī, not being ill, rides in a vehicle and travels — pācittiya. Except in special circumstances.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE PRECEPT

Bhikṣuṇī: as explained above.

Vehicle: there are four types — conveyance by elephant, conveyance by horse, conveyance by carriage, and conveyance carried by persons on foot.

Whatever bhikṣuṇī, not being ill, rides in any one of these types of vehicles — for each village boundary traversed, one pācittiya per village. If in the wilderness where there are no villages, for every ten li traveled, one pācittiya; for less than one village or less than ten li, a duṣkṛta. If traveling within the boundary of a single household, a duṣkṛta. If one intends to travel but does not, or makes an arrangement to travel but does not go, all such cases incur a duṣkṛta.

A bhikṣu: duṣkṛta. A śikṣamāṇā, śrāmaṇera, or śrāmaṇerikā: duṣkṛta. These are called transgressions.

Non-offense: if one is ill in some way and travels by vehicles of the types permitted for women; or if one rides a vehicle to flee in danger to one's life or danger to one's pure conduct; or if one is seized and taken away by force — in all such cases there is no offense.

Those who do not transgress: one who transgresses for the first time before the precept has been established; one who is insane, mentally deranged, or tormented and oppressed by pain.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated by: Bhikṣu Thích Nguyên Chứng.

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

Buddhist Studies Editorial Board, 2002.