Lzh Dg Bu Vb Pc 78Hitting

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

78. STRIKING A BHIKKHU OUT OF ANGER

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, one of the group of six bhikkhus, out of anger, struck a member of the group of seventeen bhikkhus. The one who was struck cried out loudly:

"Stop, stop, do not hit me!"

At that moment, a bhikkhu in a nearby room heard this and asked:

"Why are you crying out so loudly?"

The bhikkhu who had been struck said:

"I was just struck by that bhikkhu."

At that time, some bhikkhus who heard this—among them those who were of few desires, contented, who practiced the ascetic disciplines, who delighted in training in the precepts, and who knew shame and remorse—reproached the group of six bhikkhus: "Why did you strike the group of seventeen bhikkhus out of anger?"

Those bhikkhus went to where the Blessed One was, paid homage at his feet, and sat to one side, then reported this matter in full to the Blessed One. The Blessed One thereupon assembled the Sangha of bhikkhus on account of this matter 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 a śramaṇa, not in accord with pure conduct, not in accord with appropriate behavior, and is something that should not be done. Why did you strike the group of seventeen bhikkhus?"

After the Blessed One had rebuked the group of six bhikkhus with countless skillful means, he addressed the bhikkhus:

"These foolish men are a field in which many seeds of the āsravas are sown; they are the first to violate this precept. From this day forward, I shall establish the precept for the bhikkhus, based on ten principles of meaning, up to and including the principle of enabling the true Dharma to endure for a long time."

The precept should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikkhu, out of anger and displeasure, strikes a bhikkhu, it is a pācittiya.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE PRECEPT

Bhikkhu: as explained above.

Strikes: whether with the hand, a stone, or a staff.

A bhikkhu who strikes a bhikkhu with his hand, a stone, or a staff—in every such case it is a pācittiya. Apart from a staff, the hand, or a stone, if one uses other objects such as a door key, a hook, the handle of a fly-whisk, or the handle of a censer, in every such case it is 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: If one massages another because of illness; or if someone is choking while eating and one strokes them to help the food go down; or if one speaks and is not heard and so touches the person's body to make them hear; or if one touches someone while they are asleep; or if one bumps into someone while walking back and forth in kinhin; or if, while sweeping the ground, the long handle of the broom accidentally strikes someone—in all such cases there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: one who offends for the first time before the precept has been established; one who is mentally deranged; one whose mind is disturbed; one who is afflicted with pain; one who acts under duress.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka Master Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated by: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Studies Editorial Board, 2002