Lzh Mi Bi Vb Pc 1Lying
Pāli / Sanskrit:Musāvāda
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
THE DISCOURSE ON LYING (MUSĀVĀDA)
From the VINAYA PIṬAKA OF THE THERAVĀDA TRADITION
Background
The Discourse on Lying (Musāvāda) is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, in the section regulating offenses (Pācittiya) for bhikkhus (male monks) and bhikkhunīs (female nuns). This body of discipline is not a discourse teaching transcendent doctrine, but a set of concrete rules of practice intended to preserve the purity of the Sangha community and to establish peaceful conditions for practice.
In the context of the Buddha's lifetime, whenever incidents occurred or violations by bhikkhus arose spontaneously, the Blessed One laid down suitable regulations, step by step and layer by layer. The discourse on lying arose from specific situations that the Buddha encountered in the Sangha community, through which he made clear that lying is an act that causes serious harm.
Main Content
According to the Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka, lying (musāvāda) is defined as intentionally uttering words that are not true in order to deceive others. In particular, when a bhikkhu lies about matters related to his own spiritual attainments, for instance falsely saying that he has attained supramundane states (abhinimittī dhammā) when in fact he has not, this is a grave violation that may lead to expulsion from the Sangha community.
Basically, lying is regarded as a Pācittiya offense, an offense that must be confessed before the Sangha. This reflects the importance of truthfulness (sacca) in the lives of practitioners. The discourse defines it clearly: the offender must know that he is speaking what is untrue, must have the intention to deceive, and must actually utter the words.
The distinction established by the Vinaya Piṭaka is subtle: accidental falsehood, or inaccurate words due to misunderstanding, are not placed in the same category. The focus is intentional false speech with the purpose of deception.
Practical Meaning
The Discourse on Lying teaches us that truthfulness (sacca) is the foundation of all ethical actions.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.