Lzh Dg Bu Vb Pc 49Staying With an Army

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

49. STAYING OVERNIGHT IN THE ARMY

A. ORIGIN

At one time, the Buddha was staying in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, in the country of Śrāvastī. At that time, the group of six bhikkhus had occasion to go to a military camp and stayed overnight. The laypeople saw this and said to one another: "We stay here overnight because of ties of affection. But what business do these śramaṇas have staying here?"

The bhikkhus heard about this matter, and among them there were those who were of few desires, who were content, who practiced the austere practices, who were fond of training in the precepts, and who knew shame and remorse. They criticized the group of six bhikkhus: "The Blessed One has laid down a rule that one may go to a military camp only when there is a reason for doing so. Why have you stayed overnight in the military camp?"

The bhikkhus went to the Blessed One, paid homage at his feet, and sat to one side. They reported this matter in full to the Blessed One. The Blessed One thereupon, on account of this matter, convened an assembly of the Saṅgha of bhikkhus and rebuked the group of six bhikkhus:

"What you have done is wrong, not in accord with proper conduct, not in accord with the Dharma of śramaṇas, not in accord with pure conduct, not in accord with compliant behavior — you have done what should not be done. Group of six bhikkhus, one may enter a military camp only when there is a reason for doing so. Why have you stayed overnight in the military camp when you had no business there?"

Having rebuked the group of six bhikkhus with numerous expedient means, the Blessed One said to the bhikkhus:

"These foolish men are a fertile ground for planting many seeds of defiling existence; they are the first to commit this offense. From this day forward, I shall lay down a rule for the bhikkhus, comprising ten points 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, having a reason that permits him to go to a military camp, stays overnight for two or three nights — if he exceeds that, it is a pācittiya.

B. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OFFENSE

Bhikkhu: as defined above.

Whatever bhikkhu has reason to go to a military camp may stay overnight for two nights. By the third night, before dawn appears, he should go to a place that is out of sight and out of hearing. If that bhikkhu has stayed in the military camp for two full nights, and on the third night, before dawn appears, he has not departed from a place within sight and hearing, and dawn then appears, he commits a pācittiya.

If he departs from the place within sight but comes within hearing distance, he commits a duṣkṛta. If he departs from the place within hearing but comes within sight, he commits a duṣkṛta.

For a bhikkhunī, it is a pācittiya. For a śikṣamāṇā, a śrāmaṇera, or a śrāmaṇerī, it is a duṣkṛta. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: after two nights, on the third night, before dawn appears, he departs from a place within sight and hearing; or the waterway or road is cut off; or there is danger from wild animals, or from bandits, or from flooding; or he is detained by a powerful authority; or he is bound and imprisoned; or there is danger to his life or a threat to his pure conduct — in all such cases he is permitted to stay two nights in the army; and on the third night, when dawn appears, if he has not departed from the place within sight and hearing, there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: one who commits the offense for the first time before the rule has been laid down; one who is insane; one whose mind is disturbed; one who is overcome by severe pain and affliction.

Vietnamese translation: Bhikkhu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. FOUR-PART 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 Studies Editorial Board, 2002