Lzh Mg Bi Pm Pc 20Intentionally Killing Living Creatures
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sañcicca
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Sūtra on Intentionally Killing Living Creatures (Sañcicca)
Context
The Sañcicca belongs to the Pātimokkha (the seven hundred precepts) within the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. These are the fundamental regulations that bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs must observe in the life of the monastic community. This text specifically identifies the situations that constitute a violation of the first precept—one of the weightiest and most highly regarded among the Saṅgha's prohibitions.
According to the Theravāda tradition, the precepts are not merely external restrictions, but a reflection of the fundamental nature of the Dhamma: the avoidance of harm to living beings (Ahiṃsā—non-violence). The Sañcicca focuses on the most decisive factor in determining whether an action constitutes a violation: intention and volition (sañcetanā).
Principal Content
The text prescribes that the act of killing a living creature is considered a transgression of the precept only when three factors are fully present: first, the action must be performed with clear volition (that is, deliberately, with full knowledge that one is killing); second, the action must be directed toward a living being that possesses life (jivaṃ pāṇiṃ); and third, that being must actually be killed as a result of that action.
The pivotal point is volition (sañcetanā)—the Buddha emphasizes that intention is the heart of ethics (Cetanāham, bhikkhave, kammaṃ vadāmi). If a person accidentally kills an animal without any intention of causing harm, that act does not generate karmic consequences as grave as those of a deliberate act of killing. Nevertheless, any deliberate action undertaken to cause the death of a living being—whether the smallest insect or a large creature—constitutes a violation of this fundamental precept.
The text also clarifies borderline situations: if implements such as sharp stakes, poisons, or fire are used with the intention of killing, these all constitute violations. Even inciting another person to kill, or cutting grass before another in order to demonstrate how to kill, is likewise considered a transgression of the first precept.
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