Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 78Disposing Feces

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 78

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling on Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, at Rājagaha. At that time, a group of six bhikkhunīs defecated and urinated into chamber pots during the night, and in the early morning disposed of the contents outside the wall without looking first. At that same time, a high minister who had no faith in the Triple Gem was riding in his carriage early in the morning to pay court to King Bimbisāra, passing along the outside of the wall of the bhikkhunī monastery, when the foul matter was poured down upon his head, soiling his robes. The high minister said:

"I shall go to the authorities and bring a complaint about this matter!"

At that time, there was a brahmin of deep faith who knew the art of reading signs, and he asked:

"Where does the minister wish to go?"

The minister said:

"The bhikkhunīs poured foul excrement and disgraced me. I wish to go to the authorities and bring a complaint about this matter."

The brahmin who read signs remonstrated with him, saying:

"Enough, you should not go to bring a complaint. Quite often one fails to win the case and incurs further trouble besides."

The high minister heeded his counsel, did not file a complaint, and returned. The brahmin who read signs then went to the bhikkhunī monastery and asked:

"Which bhikkhunī defecated and urinated into a chamber pot during the night and in the morning poured it outside the wall without looking first in this manner?"

The nuns replied:

"We do not know. But why do you ask such a thing?"

The brahmin explained the circumstances and continued:

"I have already dissuaded that high minister from filing a complaint. Therefore, from now on you should not dispose of it in such a way."

The nuns investigated to find out who had done this, and soon knew that one among the group of six bhikkhunīs had disposed of it in that manner. The bhikkhunīs rebuked the group of six bhikkhunīs: "Why did you take a vessel containing excrement and urine late at night and in the morning pour it outside the wall without looking first?"

The bhikkhunīs went and reported this to the bhikkhus. The bhikkhus went and reported it to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this matter, convened an assembly of bhikkhus and rebuked the group of six bhikkhunīs:

"What you have done is wrong, improper, not in accord with monastic deportment, not in accord with the Dharma of a samaṇa, not in accord with pure conduct, not in accord with proper behavior—it is something that ought not to be done. Group of six bhikkhunīs, why did you take a vessel containing excrement and urine late at night and pour it outside the wall in the morning without looking first?"

The Blessed One rebuked the group of six bhikkhunīs by means of countless skillful teachings, and then said to the bhikkhus:

"This group of six bhikkhunīs is a source of planting many seeds of defilement; they are the first to commit this offense. From now on, I shall lay down a precept for the bhikkhunīs comprising ten points of meaning, up to and including the phrase 'for the long endurance of the true Dharma.'"

The precept should be stated thus:

Whichever bhikkhunī defecates or urinates into a chamber pot during the night and in the morning disposes of it outside the wall without looking first—pācittiya.

B. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OFFENSE

Bhikkhunī: as explained above.

That bhikkhunī who defecates or urinates into a chamber pot during the night must, in the morning, look outside the wall first and only then dispose of it. Upon rising, she must snap her fingers or clear her throat. If a bhikkhunī defecates or urinates into a chamber pot late at night and in the morning disposes of it outside the wall without looking first—pācittiya. If during the night she disposes of it without snapping her fingers or clearing her throat—dukkhaṭa.

For a bhikkhu—dukkhaṭa. For a sikkhāmānā, sāmaṇera, or sāmaṇerī—dukkhaṭa. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: if one defecates or urinates into a chamber pot during the night and in the morning looks outside the wall first before disposing of it; or if during the night one snaps one's fingers or clears one's throat; or if there is beforehand a place with bricks, stones, tree stumps, thorns, a place for disposing of foul matter; or if there is deep water, a riverbank, or a refuse heap, and one disposes of it there—there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: one who commits a transgression for the first time before the rule has been laid down; one who is insane, one whose mind is disturbed, one who is afflicted with pain, one who is overwhelmed by suffering.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Studies Editorial Committee 2002