Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 168Ordain One With Debt or Illness

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 168

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, certain bhikṣuṇīs, having heard that the Blessed One had established a rule permitting the ordination of disciples, proceeded to ordain persons who were in debt and persons who were ill, conferring upon them the full ordination. After the ordination had been conferred, creditors came and seized those who were indebted and took them away, while those who were ill required caregivers and could not be separated from them.

Those bhikṣuṇīs who heard of this—among them those of few desires and contentment, who practiced the dhūta virtues, who delighted in training in the precepts, and who had a sense of shame and remorse—reproached those bhikṣuṇīs: "The Blessed One has established a rule permitting the ordination of persons. Why do you ordain those who are in debt, only for creditors to come and seize them and take them away, and those who are ill who require caregivers and cannot be parted from them?"

The bhikṣuṇīs reported the matter to the bhikṣus. The bhikṣus went and reported it to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this cause and condition, convened an assembly of the Saṅgha of bhikṣus and reproached the bhikṣuṇīs:

"What you have done is wrong, is not in accord with proper deportment, is not in accord with the practice of a śramaṇa, is not in accord with pure conduct, is not in accord with harmonious behavior, and is something that ought not to be done. Why do bhikṣuṇīs ordain those who are in debt, only for creditors to come and seize them and take them away, and those who are ill who require caregivers and cannot be parted from them?"

Having reproached them by means of countless expedient teachings, the Buddha addressed the bhikṣus:

"These bhikṣuṇīs are a field in which many seeds of the āsavas are planted; they are the first to commit this offense. From this day forward, I shall establish a rule for the bhikṣuṇīs, comprising ten clauses of meaning, up to and including the clause concerning the long endurance of the true Dharma."

The rule should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikṣuṇī ordains a person who is in debt or ill and confers full ordination upon them: pācittiya.

The Blessed One thus established this rule for the bhikṣuṇīs. Some bhikṣuṇīs did not know whether the persons were in debt or ill; only afterward did they come to know that those persons were indeed in debt and ill. Accordingly, some performed the act of confession for a pācittiya, while others were uncertain. The Buddha instructed:

"If one did not know, there is no offense."

From this day forward, the rule shall be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikṣuṇī, knowing that a person is in debt or ill, confers full ordination upon them: pācittiya.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE RULE

Bhikṣuṇī: as explained above.

In debt: even if one owes only a single coin, which is one part in sixteen parts.

Ill: even if one suffers only from a chronic headache.

Whatever bhikṣuṇī, knowing that a person is in debt or ill, ordains them and confers full ordination: upon completion of the third karmavācanā, the preceptor bhikṣuṇī incurs a pācittiya; upon completion of the second karmavācanā, three duṣkṛtas; upon completion of the first karmavācanā, two duṣkṛtas; upon completion of the motion, one duṣkṛta; if the motion has not yet been completed, a duṣkṛta; before the motion has been made, for performing the tonsure, for conferring the precepts, for assembling the community, and for the community being complete—all of these incur a duṣkṛta.

For a bhikṣu: a duṣkṛta. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: If one did not know beforehand; or if one trusted the words of that person; or if one trusted the words of a trustworthy person; or if one trusted the words of the person's parents; or if the person only became indebted or fell ill after the full ordination had already been conferred. In all such cases, there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: one who commits the act for the first time before the rule has been established; one who is insane; one whose mind is disturbed; one who is afflicted and overwhelmed 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 and 2.)

Buddhist Studies Editorial Committee, 2002.