Lzh Dg Bu Vb Sk 12Arms Akimbo

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– ŚAIKṢA-DHARMA

RULE 12

At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in the Anāthapiṇḍika Garden, Jeta's Grove, in the land of Śrāvastī. At that time, the group of six monks entered the homes of laypeople with their arms akimbo. The laypeople saw this and were displeased: "These Śākyan monastics have no sense of shame. In receiving, they know no restraint. They outwardly claim, 'I know the true Dharma.' What kind of true Dharma is this? Swaggering about so proudly, just like a man of the world who has newly taken a wife!"

The monks heard of this, and among them were those of few desires, contentment, who practiced the ascetic disciplines, were fond of training in the precepts, and knew shame and remorse. They reproached the group of six monks: "Why did you enter the homes of laypeople with your arms akimbo?"

The monks went to where the Blessed One was, reverently bowed at his feet, then sat to one side and reported this matter to the Blessed One in full. The Blessed One, using this occasion, gathered the community of monks together and rebuked the group of six monks:

"What you have done is wrong—it is not proper conduct, not the practice of a monastic, not pure conduct, not harmonious behavior; you have done what ought not to be done. Why did you enter the homes of laypeople with your arms akimbo?"

At that time, the Blessed One rebuked them with countless skillful means, and then said to the monks:

"These foolish men are a field in which many seeds of the defiled are planted; they are the first to commit this offense. From now on, I shall lay down a rule for the monks, based on ten principles, up to and including the principle that the true Dharma may long endure."

To proclaim the rule, it should be spoken thus:

One should not enter the homes of laypeople with arms akimbo—this is a śaikṣa-dharma.

Monk: as explained above.

Home of laypeople: as described above.

Arms akimbo: placing the hands on the hips so that the arms form right angles.

If a monk intentionally enters the homes of laypeople with arms akimbo, he commits a duṣkṛta offense requiring confession. Because it is done intentionally, it constitutes a duṣkṛta offense of improper conduct. If it is done unintentionally, it is simply a duṣkṛta offense.

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

Non-offense: if one has such an illness; or if there is a sore or abscess on the side; or if one is within the monastery or outside the village; or when engaged in work, or while on a journey—in all these cases there is no offense.

Those who do not offend: one who commits the offense for the first time before the rule has been promulgated; one who is mentally deranged, whose mind is disturbed, or who is overcome and oppressed by pain.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka Master Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated: Bhikṣu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Publications Committee, 2002