Lzh Mg Bu Pm Sk 22Arms Akimbo (2nd)
Pāli / Sanskrit:Dutiyakhambhakata
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Commentary on the Dutiyakhambhakata Sutta (Arms Akimbo)
Background
The Dutiyakhambhakata Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, which sets forth the ethical and disciplinary regulations governing the monastic community. This sutta is recorded within the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, the collection of rules regulating the lives of nuns.
The title "Dutiyakhambhakata" means "Arms Akimbo" (or "Hands on Hips"), referring to a specific posture or bearing. This sutta reflects the practical situations that arise in the life of practice, wherein actions that may seem trivial carry profound meaning in terms of attitude, respect, and discipline. By clearly prescribing what ought not to be done, Theravāda Buddhism guides us in cultivating mindfulness and right conduct throughout our practice.
Principal Content
Within the rules of the Vinaya Piṭaka, the act of placing both hands on the hips is regarded as a sign of disrespectful, arrogant, or irreverent conduct. For nuns, such actions are prohibited because they reflect a state of mind incompatible with the ethical standards of one who has gone forth into the homeless life.
This sutta records occasions on which the Buddha, or his senior disciples, observed such conduct and offered correction and instruction. When a nun performed this gesture—whether intentionally or not—it indicated a lack of mindfulness, a certain outward-turning of the mind (bahirañjana), or a failure to fully uphold the precepts and the essential spirit of the Vinaya.
The content of this sutta is not merely an absolute prohibition but is rather a lesson on the importance of small and seemingly minor actions. Every gesture and every attitude of a practitioner reflects the state of mind and exerts an influence upon the shared environment of practice. Mindfulness in each moment and in each movement is the very foundation of genuine cultivation.
Practical Significance
The Dutiyakhambhakata Sutta teaches us that practice does not consist solely of grand and sweeping acts, but resides in how we govern body, speech, and mind from moment to moment.
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