Lzh Dg Bi Vb Ss 8Receiving Food With Lust

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– SAṄGHĀDISESA

8. RECEIVING [OFFERINGS] FROM A MAN WITH A DEFILED MIND

A. ORIGIN OF THE RULE

At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in the land of Śrāvastī. At that time, the price of grain had risen sharply and it had become scarce, so that alms-food was difficult to obtain. There were bhikṣuṇīs who entered the city to beg for alms and returned with empty bowls. At that same time, the bhikṣuṇī Devadattā Nandā, at the proper hour, robed herself, took up her bowl, and entered the city to beg for alms, proceeding in turn to the house of a merchant, where she stood in silence. The bhikṣuṇī Devadattā was a person of fine and beautiful appearance, and when the merchant saw her he took notice of her, came before her, and asked:

"What does the reverend lady need?"

Devadattā replied:

"I wish to beg for alms."

The merchant said:

"Please hand me your bowl."

Devadattā handed over her bowl. The merchant filled it with rice and broth, then returned it to the bhikṣuṇī Devadattā.

After that, Devadattā would regularly come there, robed and carrying her bowl, and stand in silence. The merchant would again ask:

"What does the reverend lady need?"

"I need alms-food."

The merchant would again fill her bowl with rice and broth and return it to Devadattā.

The other bhikṣuṇīs, seeing this, asked:

"Nowadays grain is scarce and alms-food is hard to obtain. Most of us carry our bowls into the city to beg and return with them empty. Yet every day when you go to beg for alms, you return with a full bowl. What is the reason you are able to do so?"

Devadattā replied:

"If you beg as I do, you too may obtain the same."

Then on another day, the bhikṣuṇī Devadattā again robed herself, took up her bowl, and went to that merchant's house. From a distance, seeing the bhikṣuṇī approaching, the merchant calculated to himself: "Until now I have been feeding this nun; reckoning by price, it amounts to five hundred gold coins—enough to purchase a female slave." Having thought this, he came forward and embraced the bhikṣuṇī, intending to commit an act of sexual intercourse. The bhikṣuṇī cried out:

"Do not do this! Do not do this!"

Those nearby then asked:

"Why did you just cry out so loudly?"

Devadattā replied:

"This man seized me."

The bystanders asked him:

"Why did you seize the bhikṣuṇī?"

He answered:

"I have repeatedly given this bhikṣuṇī food; reckoned in value, it amounts to five hundred gold coins—enough to purchase a girl. If this bhikṣuṇī had no desire for me, why would she have accepted my food?"

The bystanders asked her:

"Is this true?"

She replied:

"It is true."

They asked:

"Did you know the intention with which he was giving you food?"

She answered:

"I knew."

They said:

"You already knew. Then why did you cry out?"

At that time, the bhikṣuṇīs heard of this. Among them were those of few desires, who were content, who knew shame and remorse; they reproached the bhikṣuṇī Devadattā Nandā: "Why would a bhikṣuṇī with a defiled mind receive food from one who gives with a defiled mind?"

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, assembled the community of bhikṣus and rebuked the bhikṣuṇī Devadattā Nandā:

"What you have done is wrong, not in accordance with proper conduct, not in accordance with the Dharma of a śramaṇa, not in accordance with pure practice, not in accordance with dutiful conduct—you have done what should not be done. Why did you, with a defiled mind, receive food from one who gave with a defiled mind?" Having rebuked her with countless skillful means, the Buddha said to the bhikṣus:

"This bhikṣuṇī Devadattā Nandā is one who has planted many seeds of the āsravas, and she is the first to have committed this offense. From now on, I shall establish a rule for the bhikṣuṇīs, comprising ten principles of meaning, up to and including the phrase 'so that the true Dharma may long endure.'"

Wishing to set forth the precept, it should be spoken thus:

Whatever bhikṣuṇī, with a defiled mind, approaches a man who also has a defiled mind and receives from him edibles, food, and other articles—a bhikṣuṇī who commits this offense for the first time is guilty of saṅghādisesa and is subject to manattā.

The Blessed One established the rule for the bhikṣus in this way. There were bhikṣuṇīs who did not know whether the person had a defiled mind or not, and who only afterward came to know that he had a defiled mind; they said they had committed a saṅghādisesa offense, or were in doubt. The Buddha taught:

"Not knowing, there is no offense."

From now on the precept should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikṣuṇī, with a defiled mind, knowing that a man has a defiled mind, approaches that person and receives from him edibles, food, and other articles—a bhikṣuṇī who commits this offense for the first time is guilty of saṅghādisesa and is subject to manattā.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE RULE

Bhikṣuṇī: the meaning is as above.

Defiled mind: a mind stained and attached by sensual desire.

A man with a defiled mind: a male person whose mind is defiled by and attached to sensual desire.

Edibles: food made from roots, food made from stalks, food made from leaves, food made from flowers, food made from fruits, food made from oil, food made from sesame, food made from black rock-honey, food made from fine flour.

Food: cooked rice, pastries made from flour, dried rice, fish, and meat.

Other articles: gold, silver, jewels, gems, maṇi, pearls, vaiḍūrya, kha-bèi, jasper, coral, or coined elephant-gold currency.

A bhikṣuṇī with a defiled mind who, knowing that a man has a defiled mind, approaches that person and receives edibles, food, and other articles from him: if that man offers and she receives, she commits a saṅghādisesa. If that man offers and she does not receive, she commits a sthūlātyaya. If through expedient means he intends to give but does not give, or if they make an appointment, or if she repents and returns it—all of these constitute sthūlātyaya.

Sons of the devas, sons of the asuras, sons of the gandharvas, sons of the yakṣas, sons of the hungry ghosts, and male animals capable of transformation: if she approaches such beings and receives edibles, food, and other articles from them, and they offer and she receives, she commits a sthūlātyaya. With those incapable of transformation, she commits a duṣkṛta.

If she approaches a woman with a defiled mind and receives edibles, food, and other articles from her, she commits a duṣkṛta.

Defiled mind [in fact], perceiving it as a defiled mind: saṅghādisesa. Defiled mind [in fact, but received without her perceiving it as such]: sthūlātyaya. No defiled mind [in fact], but perceiving it as a defiled mind: sthūlātyaya. No defiled mind [in fact], but in doubt: sthūlātyaya.

For a bhikṣu: duṣkṛta. For a śikṣamāṇā, a śrāmaṇera, or a śrāmaṇerī: duṣkṛta. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: If she did not know beforehand, or if she herself had no defiled mind and the other person likewise had no defiled mind, there is no offense.

Those who do not offend: one who commits the offense for the first time before the rule has been promulgated; one who is insane, mentally disturbed, or overwhelmed by extreme pain.

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Vietnamese translation: Bhikṣu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. FOUR-PART 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, volumes 1–2)

Buddhist Publication Committee, 2002