Lzh Dg Bu Vb Pc 18The Upper Story of a Hut

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

18. AN UNSTABLE SEAT

A. ORIGIN

At one time, the Buddha was staying in the Anāthapiṇḍika Garden, Jeta's Grove, in the city of Sāvatthī. At that time, some bhikkhus were in the upper story of a building, sitting on beds with inserted legs that were not very secure, while below the upper story a bhikkhu was sleeping. Because the floor of the upper story was thin, a bed leg came loose and fell down, striking the bhikkhu below and wounding him so that he bled. The bhikkhu below looked up angrily and scolded:

"What kind of bhikkhus are these, staying in the upper story and sitting on a bed with inserted legs that is not secure, causing the bed leg to come loose and fall, wounding my body so that I bleed?"

The bhikkhus heard this. Among them were those of few desires and contentment, who practiced the austere practices, were fond of training in the precepts, and knew shame and remorse. They reproached those bhikkhus: "How could bhikkhus staying in the upper story sit on a bed with inserted legs that is not secure, causing the bed leg to come loose and fall, striking that bhikkhu's body and wounding him so that he bled?"

The bhikkhus went to the Blessed One, paid homage at his feet, sat to one side, and reported this matter fully to the Blessed One. The Blessed One then used this occasion to convene the Sangha of bhikkhus and reproached those bhikkhus, saying:

"What you have done is wrong, not proper conduct, not the practice of a recluse, not pure conduct, not befitting behavior—it is something that should not be done. How could bhikkhus staying in the upper story sit on a bed with inserted legs that is not secure, causing the bed leg to come loose and fall, striking that bhikkhu's body and wounding him so that he bled?"

Having reproached those bhikkhus with numerous means, the Blessed One said to the bhikkhus:

"These foolish men are a fertile ground for many kinds of defiled seeds, and they are the first offenders of this precept. From this day forward, I will lay down the precept for the bhikkhus, for ten reasons, and so that the true Dharma may long endure."

The precept should be stated thus:

Whatever bhikkhu, whether in a room or in an upper story, lies down or sits upon a bed or seat with inserted legs—pācittiya.

B. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRECEPT

Bhikkhu: as defined above.

Room: refers to a communal monastic room or a private room.

Upper story: a place where a person standing below cannot touch the ceiling with their head.

Bed with inserted legs: a type of bed whose legs are fitted into mortise sockets.

A bhikkhu in the upper story who sits or lies upon a bed with inserted legs incurs a pācittiya for each contact of his side with the bed, or with each turning of the body. Except for a bed with inserted legs—whether it be a single-seat couch, a single-plank bed, or a bathing bed—all incur a dukkaṭa.

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

Non-offense: if one sits on a bed with rotating legs, a bed with straight legs, a bed with curved legs, a bed without legs, a bed with large legs, or a bed with inserted legs that are securely fastened; or if the upper story has planks laid down, or carved decorative woodwork as a covering, or thick padding; or if one sits with the bed inverted or with the legs removed—all of these constitute no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: the first offender before the precept was laid down; one who is insane; one whose mind is disturbed; one who is afflicted with severe pain and distress.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated by: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Publication Committee, 2002