Lzh Dg Bu Vb Sk 9Na vinyastikākṛta pravekṣyāma

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– ŚAIKṢA-DHARMA

RULE 9

At one time, the Buddha was staying in the Anāthapiṇḍika Garden, Jeta's Grove, in the city of Śrāvastī. At that time, the group of six bhikkhus went hopping and skipping into the homes of laypeople. The householders saw this and criticized them, saying: "These Śākyan monastics have no sense of shame. They receive without knowing satisfaction. Outwardly they claim, 'We know the true Dharma.' Yet what kind of true Dharma is this? Going into a house hopping about like sparrows?"

The bhikkhus heard this, and among them were those of few desires and contentment, who practiced the ascetic disciplines, were fond of training in the precepts, and had a sense of shame; they reproached the group of six bhikkhus: "Why do you go hopping and skipping into the homes of laypeople?"

The bhikkhus went to where the Blessed One was, bowed their heads at the Buddha's feet, sat to one side, and reported this matter in full to the Blessed One. The Blessed One therefore convened an assembly of the bhikkhu Saṅgha on account of this matter and rebuked the group of six bhikkhus:

"What you have done is wrong — it is not proper conduct, not the way of a śramaṇa, not pure practice, not harmonious behavior; it is doing what should not be done. Why did you go hopping and skipping into the homes of laypeople?"

Having rebuked the group of six bhikkhus by means of countless skillful methods, the Buddha addressed the bhikkhus:

"These foolish men — they are a field in which many seeds of the āsavas are planted; they are the first to transgress this precept. From now on, I shall lay down a rule for the bhikkhus, comprising ten beneficial clauses, up to and including the clause for the long endurance of the true Dharma."

Wishing to state the rule, it should be stated thus:

One should not go hopping or skipping when entering the homes of laypeople — this is a śaikṣa-dharma.

Bhikkhu: the meaning is as above.

Home of laypeople: also as above.

Hopping and skipping: jumping with both feet.

If a bhikkhu deliberately hops and skips when entering the home of a laypeople, he commits a duṣkṛta requiring confession. Because it is done intentionally, he commits a duṣkṛta of improper conduct. If it is not done intentionally, he commits only a duṣkṛta.

A bhikkhunī: duṣkṛta. A śikṣamāṇā, a śrāmaṇera, a śrāmaṇerī: duṣkṛta. This is called an offense.

Non-offense: if one is afflicted with such an illness; or if one is struck by another person; or if there are bandits, or if there are dangerous animals, or if there are thorns and brambles, or if one must jump across a ditch, a pit, or a muddy place — in all such cases, there is no offense.

Those who do not offend: one who transgresses for the first time before the rule has been laid down, one who is mentally deranged, one whose mind is disturbed, or one who is afflicted and in 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