Lzh Dg Bi Vb Sk 97Holding a Sword

Holding a Sword

Lzh Dg Bi Vb Sk 97 · Comparative Vinaya — Chinese

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Source Status

The scriptural entry numbered Lzh Dg Bi Vb Sk 97 belongs to the Comparative Vinaya — Chinese, within the division Sectarian Canonical Texts · Comparative. The full Chinese source text of this provision has not yet been directly collated and fully accessed in the database currently being processed. Therefore, the presentation below is not a translation of the original scripture, but a general explanation based entirely on the descriptive information provided, including the Vietnamese title (Holding a Sword), the English title (Holding a Sword), and the Pāli/Sanskrit term (Na khaḍgapāṇa). Readers should compare it with the original Chinese canonical text and specialized scholarly editions for accurate and complete evidence.

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Background

The Comparative Vinaya — Chinese is a collection of Vinaya texts belonging to various Buddhist schools, preserved in Chinese and gathered for the purpose of comparison among traditions. It is one of the most important bodies of material for studying the historical development of Buddhist Vinaya, since schools such as the Dharmaguptaka, Sarvāstivāda, Mahāsāṅghika, Mūlasarvāstivāda, and many others each had their own Vinaya, transmitted and translated into Chinese over many centuries.

Item 97 in this sequence belongs to the Vinaya section for bhikkhunīs (Bi Vb, an abbreviation possibly related to Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga or its Sanskrit/Chinese equivalent), and bears the marker Sk, suggesting that this may be an item in the Śaikṣa group, the training rules concerning decorum, conduct, and the daily behavioral rules of monastics. The Śaikṣa group often includes smaller provisions about walking, standing, speaking, eating, and carrying things in communal Saṅgha life.

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Content Identifiable from the Descriptive Information

The title “Holding a Sword” (Holding a Sword — Na khaḍgapāṇa in Pāli/Sanskrit) indicates that this is a training rule concerning holding or carrying a weapon, specifically a sword (khaḍga), in the life of one gone forth. The term Na khaḍgapāṇa may be understood as “one should not hold a sword in the hand” or “not carrying a sword,” in which na is a negative particle, khaḍga means sword, and pāṇa or pāṇi means hand; the whole phrase means “not [to] hold a sword in the hand.”

This rule reflects a fundamental principle in Buddhist monastic life: a renunciant must not be associated with lethal weapons. Weapons, especially swords, are symbols of violence, war, and taking life. For a bhikkhunī to hold a sword, even if it might be an ordinary action in the social context of the time, would be contrary to monastic discipline and could cause the public to misunderstand the virtue of a renunciant.

In the system of Buddhist discipline, rules belonging to the Śaikṣa group generally do not carry severe penalties such as Pārājika or Saṅghādisesa, but they are important for maintaining the deportment and image of those gone forth before the lay community. Observing them shows self-awareness and refinement in the life of purity.

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Meaning for Training

The training rule “Holding a Sword” has a meaning deeper than a simple regulation concerning external conduct. On the level of training, it reminds renunciants of the relationship between bodily action and mental action:

First, not holding a sword is a concrete expression of the precept against taking life, one of the most basic precepts. Even without directly using it to harm, contact with an instrument of violence can nourish aggressive or heedless mental states, or cause misunderstanding in others.

Second, the deportment of a monastic is a form of wordless Dharma teaching. The image of a bhikkhunī holding a sword would create unease and suspicion in the hearts of laypeople, harming faith in the Saṅgha. Thus preserving outward form is also protecting and nourishing the faith of the community.

Third, in the context of Comparative Vinaya, when the same rule appears in different schools, this shows a shared understanding of the early Buddhist community as a whole regarding actions unsuitable to the holy life, regardless of later sectarian divisions.

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Comparative Note

Because the full Chinese text of this provision has not yet been directly accessed, all assessments above have only reference and initial orienting value. Researchers wishing to understand the precise content of this training rule should compare it with the corresponding Chinese Vinaya translations preserved in the Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō, and consult scholarly studies of sectarian Vinaya to verify the location, original text, and full meaning of this provision Na khaḍgapāṇa number 97.