Lzh Dg Bu Pm 2 Sk 76Not Urinate Around Stupa

Sutta Prohibiting Urination Around a Stupa

Background

This text appears in the Vinaya Piṭaka, in the Parivāra section, where detailed disciplinary regulations for the community of monks and nuns are recorded. These are practical instructions reflecting the Buddha Śākyamuni’s wisdom in building the ethical foundation of the Sangha.

A stupa (cetiya) in the Buddha-Dharma is not only an architectural structure but a sacred symbol. It often contains ashes, relics, or the Dharma body of the Buddha, bodhisattvas, or holy ones. The stupa is a place where merit gathers, a spiritual center of the Buddhist community. The monastic community’s keeping of dignity around sacred sites is an integral part of nurturing reverence and mindfulness.

Main Content

This rule reminds monastics that they must not urinate or defecate around stupas (cetiyā). This is clearly stated in the Vinaya Piṭaka as a nissaggiya pācittiya, a type of offense requiring one to relinquish the object owned and confess separately before the Sangha.

The reason behind this rule is clear: a stupa is a place where Buddhist devotees come to make offerings, contemplate, and nurture faith. Defiling the place of a stupa, even unintentionally, not only reflects heedlessness but also destroys the sacred atmosphere that others seek there.

This text also contains a broader principle: monastics who train under the Buddha should preserve cleanliness and respect sacred places. This is not an unreasonable restriction but an expression of sīla (ethics) and samādhi (concentration). When a monastic is aware of small details such as his position in the space around sacred objects, his mind is trained to become more awake and reverent.

Practical Meaning

In the context of modern practice, this rule extends its meaning from physically respecting stupas to caring for sacred space in general.