Lzh Dg Bu Pm 2 Pc 3Malicious Talebearing

Malicious Speech — Pesuñña

Comparative Vinaya — Chinese | Lzh Dg Bu Pm 2 Pc 3

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Source Status

This item belongs to the Comparative Vinaya — Chinese collection in the comparative tradition of sectarian canonical texts. The full original Chinese text of this specific rule was not directly collated during the preparation of this exposition. Therefore, what is presented below is not a translation of the original scripture, but an exposition built from the available descriptive information: tradition name, collection name, rule number, Vietnamese title, English title, and corresponding Pāli term. Readers should note this to avoid confusing a general exposition with the content of the original scripture.

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Context

The rule numbered Lzh Dg Bu Pm 2 Pc 3 is found in the Pācittiya section, or its equivalent in the Chinese sectarian Vinaya, of the code for bhikkhus (Bhikkhu Prātimokṣa). It is one of the rules belonging to the class of offenses requiring confession (pācittiya), a category of violation lighter than the grave rules, yet still requiring admission and confession before the Sangha or before another monk in order to become pure again.

The Comparative Vinaya — Chinese is a work that gathers and compares systems of the Vinaya Piṭaka transmitted in various Buddhist schools, chiefly through records in Chinese. This comparison has special scholarly value because schools such as the Dharmaguptaka (Four-Part Vinaya), Mahāsāṃghika (Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya), Sarvāstivāda (Ten-Recitation Vinaya), Mūlasarvāstivāda, and Mahīśāsaka (Five-Part Vinaya) each have their own version of the Prātimokṣa, in which many rules are similar in content but differ in wording and classification.

The Pāli title Pesuñña is a term for conduct that is especially harmful in the life of practice and in the Sangha community.

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Content That Can Be Determined from the Descriptive Information

Pesuñña in Pāli means divisive speech, tale-bearing, or speech spread with the aim of causing discord. It is rendered in Vietnamese as Nói Lời Ác Ý and in English as Malicious Talebearing. This is one of the forms of unwholesome speech clearly identified by the Buddha in many disciplinary teachings.

In traditional definition, pesuñña differs from lying (musāvāda) and from harsh speech (pharusavācā). While lying is communicating what is untrue, and harsh speech is using directly insulting language, pesuñña is characterized by the act of carrying words from one person to another with the intention of causing disunity, breaking relationships, or creating a bad image of one side in the eyes of the other. This conduct may use things that are true or untrue, but the core point is ill will and the purpose of division.

Within the framework of the bhikkhu code, this rule was established to protect the harmony (sāmaggī) of the Sangha, one of the values considered most foundational to communal religious life. When a bhikkhu intentionally spreads information in order to damage relationships among members of the Sangha, that action not only causes social consequences but also creates deeply unwholesome karma in the mind of the one who performs it.

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Meaning for Practice

The rule concerning pesuñña has meaning for practice on many levels:

In terms of discipline: A renunciant must strictly govern what he hears and what he passes on. Hearing information about one person and carrying it to another with harmful intent violates a basic rule of the practicing community. This places heavy responsibility on speech as an intentional action (cetanā).

In terms of meditation and Buddhist psychology: Pesuñña arises from the roots of hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha). A person with jealousy, resentment, or a wish to manipulate relationships in the community tends to engage in this conduct. Practicing this rule is therefore not only outward restraint but also inward contemplation: when the mind wants to pass on information, what is the motive behind it? Is it to help, or to harm?

In terms of society and the Sangha: Harmony in the Sangha (saṅgha-sāmaggī) is regarded in Buddhism as a condition for the teaching to endure and develop. When malicious speech spreads, mutual trust collapses, and shared practice is no longer effective. This rule therefore has both an individual and a collective dimension.

Practical guidance: Practitioners are encouraged to practice right speech (sammā vācā), one of the eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path, by speaking only what is true, beneficial, timely, and imbued with genuine compassion. When receiving information about another person, one should examine one’s own intention before deciding whether to convey it.

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Comparative Note

Because the full Chinese text of this rule has not been directly collated, researchers who wish to go deeper may consult equivalent rules in the sectarian Vinaya systems through the term pesuñña in the Pāli tradition, or seek the rule with the same number in Chinese Prātimokṣa texts of various schools in order to compare their wording. This is a key point in the comparative method of sectarian Vinaya that the Comparative Vinaya — Chinese collection aims to support.

This exposition reflects only what can be reasonably inferred from the supplied descriptive information, and cannot replace consultation of the original scripture when access is available.