Lzh Mg Bi Vb As 5Further Penalty

The Tassapāpiyasikā Sutta: On Further Penalties

Background

Tassapāpiyasikā (Tass-a-pāpiya-sikā), provisionally translated as "Further Penalties" or "Additional Penalties," belongs to the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga (Analysis of the Bhikkhunī Rules) within the Vinaya Piṭaka. This is one of the most detailed sections of legal procedure in Theravāda Buddhism, recorded in the Pāli Canon for the purpose of governing the community of female monastics.

This scripture was established to address complex situations involving violations of the precepts, particularly those cases in which the wrongful conduct of a bhikkhunī requires the application of supplementary or extended penalties. In its historical context, the Tathāgata (the Blessed One) permitted the Sangha to develop a system of discipline in order to maintain the purity and unity of the monastic community.

Principal Contents

The specific contents of this scripture have not yet been fully translated. However, based on the structure of the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, this section ordinarily addresses violations that require graduated penalties, including Parivāsa (probation), Mānatta (public penance), and Abbhāna (reinstatement of status).

The "further penalties" are applied when a bhikkhunī has committed a transgression and has had to undergo a period of correction, but thereafter reoffends or is unable to complete the proper process of rehabilitation. This reflects the underlying philosophy of the Vinaya Piṭaka: not exclusion, but admonition, step-by-step correction, and only as a final measure, expulsion if necessary.

These penalties are applied according to the principle of clarity and public disclosure (declared before the Sangha). Each step allows the bhikkhunī an opportunity for repentance and reformation. The Tassapāpiyasikā section emphasizes in particular that if a person commits a transgression after having already been penalized once, the new penalty will be more severe and the period of correction will be longer.