Lzh Dg Bu Pm Pc 40Asking for Fine Foods
Pāli / Sanskrit:Paṇītabhojana
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Paṇītabhojana Sutta — Asking for Fine Food
Background
The Paṇītabhojana Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka in the Early Pāli Canon, specifically the Pātimokkha section of the eighty-one rules for bhikkhunīs. This discourse was transmitted from the Buddha and the elders as they practiced the Dharma in the early Buddhist communities of the saṅgha.
This background reflects the practical situation when bhikkhus practiced according to the Buddha’s teaching. Since the purpose of the practitioner is to realize the path, not to seek wonderful or pleasurable things in life, the Vinaya Piṭaka established regulations on eating in order to avoid greed (lobha) and distraction from the main path of practice.
The discourse “Asking for Fine Food” especially states that bhikkhus should not actively request refined, expensive, or hard-to-obtain foods (paṇīta), whether from benefactors (upāsaka), relatives, or anyone else.
Main Content
According to the regulations in the Early Vinaya Piṭaka, the Buddha forbade bhikkhus from asking for “paṇīta” foods, meaning fine, refined, unusual, hard-to-find foods, or the foods that the person herself most desires. This includes foods such as fresh meat, fine rice, kinds of milk or milk products, and rare spices.
The reason the Buddha issued this prohibition was not because these foods are physically poisonous, but because they contain spiritual danger. When bhikkhus begin to distinguish between good and bad foods, between what they want and do not want, the mind of sensual craving arises. This leads to unnecessary attention to pleasant feeling (sukha, material ease) instead of focusing on the main aim of practice: awakening and liberation.
This regulation also serves to protect the honor of the Sangha and avoid misunderstandings from the community.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.