Lzh Dg Bu Vb Sk 95Not Carry Bowl on Stick

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– ŚAIKṢA-KARAṆĪYA

RULE 95

Once, the Buddha was dwelling in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, in the country of Śrāvastī. At that time, Upananda placed his alms bowl into a bag, threaded it onto the end of a staff, carried it over his shoulder, and walked along. The laypeople who saw this thought he was an official's attendant, and stepped aside from the road, seeking out secluded spots to hide and observe. When he drew near, they realized it was Upananda. The laypeople criticized him: "This Śākyan ascetic has no sense of shame. Why does he put his alms bowl in a bag, thread it onto a staff, carry it over his shoulder, and walk about like an official's attendant, forcing us to step aside from the road?"

The bhikkhus heard this, rebuked him, and then went and reported the matter to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this, assembled the Saṅgha of bhikkhus and rebuked Upananda:

"What you have done is wrong. It is not proper conduct, not the Dharma of an ascetic, not pure conduct, not befitting behavior—it is doing what ought not to be done. Why did you place your alms bowl in a bag, thread it onto a staff, carry it over your shoulder, and walk about, causing laypeople to step aside from the road?"

Having rebuked him with countless skillful means, the Buddha addressed the bhikkhus:

"This foolish man is a field for sowing many seeds of the āsavas; he is the first to transgress this precept. From this day forward, I shall lay down the precept for the bhikkhus, comprising ten principles of meaning, up to and including the phrase that the true Dharma may long endure."

The precept should be stated thus:

One shall not place one's alms bowl in a bag, thread it onto a staff, carry it over the shoulder, and walk about—this is a śaikṣa-karaṇīya.

If a bhikkhu intentionally does this, he commits a duṣkṛta requiring confession. Because it is done intentionally, he commits a duṣkṛta of improper conduct. If it is done unintentionally, he commits a duṣkṛta.

For bhikṣuṇīs down to śrāmaṇeras and śrāmaṇerīs, the offense is a duṣkṛta. This is called a transgression.

Non-transgression: if one has contracted some form of illness, or is compelled by force, is bound, or if it is a matter of danger to one's life or danger to one's pure conduct, there is no transgression.

Those who do not transgress: one who commits the act for the first time before the precept has been promulgated; one who is insane, of disturbed mind, or afflicted with extreme suffering.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhú Fóniàn.

Revised and annotated: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Publication Committee, 2002