Lzh Dg Bu Vb Pc 17Throwing Out a Monastic

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

17. EXPELLING A BHIKKHU FROM THE MONASTERY

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Buddha was residing in the Anāthapiṇḍika Garden, Jeta's Grove, in the country of Sāvatthī. At that time, the group of six bhikkhus and the group of seventeen bhikkhus were traveling from a market town in the wilderness in the country of Kosala, on their way to a small dwelling place. Then the group of seventeen bhikkhus said to the group of six bhikkhus:

"Venerable elders, please go ahead and spread out the bedding first."

The group of six replied:

"You all go yourselves! What does it have to do with us?"

The group of six bhikkhus were senior to the group of seventeen bhikkhus, and so the group of seventeen addressed them respectfully:

"Venerable elders, you are our seniors. You should go and spread out the bedding first; we will spread ours afterward."

The group of six said:

"You all go. We will not spread any bedding."

The group of seventeen bhikkhus, being fond of cleanliness, entered the monastery, swept the rooms clean, spread out the good bedding, and rested there.

At that time, the group of six bhikkhus, knowing that the group of seventeen bhikkhus had already entered the monastery, swept the rooms clean, and spread out the good bedding, then entered the room and said:

"Elders, get up. Take your seats in order of seniority."

The group of seventeen bhikkhus replied:

"We will not get up."

The group of six bhikkhus then asked:

"How many years of seniority do you have?"

The group of seventeen bhikkhus replied:

"Venerable elders, you are truly our seniors. But earlier we asked the venerable elders to spread out the bedding first, and we would have spread ours in turn afterward. Now we have already seated ourselves; we cannot get up. It is already dark; everyone should simply sleep."

At that time, the group of six bhikkhus, out of anger and displeasure, forcibly dragged and pushed the group of seventeen bhikkhus and expelled them from the room. The group of seventeen bhikkhus cried out loudly:

"Friends, do not do this! Friends, do not do this!"

At that time, bhikkhus in a nearby room heard them and asked:

"What is the reason you are crying out so loudly?"

The group of seventeen bhikkhus recounted the full matter. Among those who heard, there were those who were of few desires and contentment, who practiced the austere practices, who delighted in learning the precepts, and who had a sense of shame and remorse. They reproached the group of six bhikkhus: "How could you, out of anger and displeasure, forcibly drag and push the group of seventeen bhikkhus and expel them from the Sangha's room?"

At that time, the bhikkhus went to the place where the Blessed One was, paid homage at his feet, sat to one side, and reported this matter fully to the Blessed One. The Blessed One then used this circumstance to convene the assembly of bhikkhus and rebuked the group of six bhikkhus:

"What you have done is wrong, not in accordance with proper conduct, not in accordance with the practice of a recluse, not a pure practice, not a befitting practice—it is something that should not be done. O group of six bhikkhus, why did you, out of anger and displeasure, forcibly drag and push the group of seventeen bhikkhus and expel them from the Sangha's room?"

At that time, the Blessed One rebuked the group of six bhikkhus with numerous skillful means, and then said to the bhikkhus:

"These foolish men are a field in which many seeds of defilement are sown; they are the first to commit this offense. From this day forward, I shall lay down a rule for the bhikkhus, comprising ten principles of meaning, up to and including the preservation of the true Dharma for a long time."

The rule should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikkhu, angry at another bhikkhu and displeased, himself drags him out or has another drag that bhikkhu out of the Sangha's room: pācittiya.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE RULE

Bhikkhu: as explained above.

Sangha's room: as before.

Whatever bhikkhu, angry at another bhikkhu and displeased, himself drags or has another drag that bhikkhu out of the Sangha's room—in accordance with however many times the dragging occurs and depending on the exit from the room: pācittiya. If he drags many people out through many doors, he commits many pācittiyas. If he drags many people out through one door, he commits many pācittiyas. If he drags one person out through many doors, he commits many pācittiyas. If he drags one person out through one door, he commits one pācittiya. If he takes another's belongings outside, he commits a dukkaṭa. If he takes another's belongings and throws them outside the door, he commits a dukkaṭa. If he closes the door so that a person is left outside, he commits a dukkaṭa.

A bhikkhunī: pācittiya. A sikkhāmānā, a sāmaṇera, a sāmaṇerī: dukkaṭa. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: If there is no mind of anger, and one departs in proper order; or if one has spent two nights together and on the third night tells an unordained person to leave; or if it is on account of one who has broken the precepts, broken the views, broken the rules of conduct; or on account of one who has been formally accused, or one who has been expelled, or one in the process of being expelled—for such reasons as these, or in cases of danger to life or danger to the holy life, expelling such a person constitutes no offense.

Non-offenders: one who commits the original offense before the rule has been laid down; one who is insane, mentally disturbed, or overcome with pain and distress.

Vietnamese translation: Bhikkhu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA, PART ONE

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and竺佛念 (Zhu Fo-nian).

Edited and annotated by: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

(Chinese translation, fascicles 1–21; Vietnamese translation, fascicles 1–2)

Buddhist Studies Publication Committee, 2002