Lzh Dg Bu Vb Pc 45Sitting in Private

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

45. SITTING ALONE WITH A WOMAN IN A SECLUDED PLACE

A. ORIGIN OF THE RULE

At one time, the Buddha was staying in the Anāthapiṇḍika Garden, Jeta's Grove, at Sāvatthī. At that time, the Venerable Kāḷudāyin, before his going forth, had been acquainted with the wife of a lay friend. That woman's name was Jai, and she was beautiful in appearance. Kāḷudāyin was also handsome in appearance. Kāḷudāyin had his eye on the upāsikā Jai. The upāsikā Jai also had her eye on Kāḷudāyin.

When it was time for almsround, Kāḷudāyin put on his robe, took his bowl, went to the house of the upāsikā Jai, and sat with her in a secluded place, conversing together. A bhikkhu on almsround arrived and saw Kāḷudāyin sitting together with the upāsikā Jai in a secluded place, conversing. He rebuked Kāḷudāyin: "Why do you sit together with the upāsikā Jai in a secluded place, conversing?"

When the bhikkhu had finished his almsround, he returned to the monastery and related this matter to the other bhikkhus. Among them were those of few wishes, who were content, who practiced the austere practices, who were fond of training in the precepts, who had a sense of shame and remorse; they rebuked Kāḷudāyin:

"Why did you sit together with the upāsikā Jai in a secluded place, conversing?"

The bhikkhus went to the Blessed One, paid homage at the feet of the Buddha, sat to one side, and reported this matter in full to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this matter, convened the assembly of bhikkhus. Knowing yet still asking, he questioned Kāḷudāyin:

"Is it true that you sat with the upāsikā Jai in a secluded place, conversing?"

Kāḷudāyin replied:

"Venerable Blessed One, it is so."

The Blessed One rebuked Kāḷudāyin with many expedient means:

"What you have done is wrong, not in accord with proper deportment, not in accord with the law of a recluse, not in accord with pure conduct, not in accord with following conduct, and is something that ought not to have been done. Kāḷudāyin, why did you sit with the upāsikā Jai in a secluded place, conversing?"

Having rebuked Kāḷudāyin, the Buddha said to the bhikkhus:

"This foolish person is a field in which many defiled seeds are sown, and he is the first to transgress this precept. From this day forward, I shall lay down a rule for the bhikkhus, comprising ten bases of meaning, up to and including the perpetuation of the true Dharma for a long time."

The rule should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikkhu sits alone with a woman in a secluded place: pācittiya.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE RULE

Bhikkhu: meaning as above.

Woman: a person with discernment whose life-faculty has not been cut off.

Alone: one woman, one bhikkhu.

Secluded place: secluded with respect to sight, secluded with respect to hearing.

—Secluded with respect to sight: due to foliage, mist, or darkness, one cannot see the face.

—Secluded with respect to hearing: one cannot hear normal conversation.

Whatever bhikkhu sits alone with a woman in a secluded place: pācittiya. If he is blind but not deaf: dukkaṭa. If he is deaf but not blind: dukkaṭa. If he stands but does not sit: dukkaṭa.

A bhikkhunī: pācittiya. A sikkhāmānā, a sāmaṇera, a sāmaṇerī: dukkaṭa. This is called an offense.

Non-offense: if there are two bhikkhus as companions; or if there is a known person nearby; or if there is a passerby present who is neither blind nor deaf; or if he merely passes by without stopping; or if he unexpectedly falls ill or is compelled by force; or if he is bound and confined; or if there is a threat to his life or a threat to his chastity: there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: one who commits the act for the first time before the rule has been laid down; one who is insane, mentally deranged, or afflicted and overwhelmed by pain.

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, volumes 1 and 2)

Buddhist Studies Editorial Board, 2002