Lzh Mi Bi Vb Pc 36Intentionally Killing Living Creatures
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sañcicca
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Sañcicca Sutta: Intentional Killing of Living Beings
Background
The Sañcicca Sutta (Intentional) is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga (Analysis of the Rules for Nuns), an important part of the Pāṭimokkha, the basic discipline for those gone forth in the Theravāda tradition of the Buddha Dharma. This discourse concerns the sixth rule among the Pācittiya offenses, violations that must be confessed.
The Vinaya Piṭaka is not a set of arbitrary commands, but principles of action established by the Buddha through concrete situations. The Sañcicca Sutta arose from the need to clarify the idea of "intention" (sañcicca), the decisive factor in whether an action violates the rule. This is the foundation of the Vinaya Piṭaka in early Buddhist Dharma: an action creates karmic fruit and constitutes an offense only when it arises from deliberate volition.
Main Content
The Sañcicca Sutta prescribes that any bhikkhunī who intentionally (sañcicca) kills or causes the death of any living being, or who may have even promised to help a being commit suicide, commits a Pācittiya, an offense that must be confessed before another bhikkhunī.
The word "sañcicca" is the key: it refers to deliberate volition, a clear mental intention. The Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka does not punish accidental actions or actions due to negligence. If a bhikkhunī does not know that her action will cause death, or does not intend to kill, then there is no offense. This reflects the profound Buddhist philosophy of karma: only actions driven by deliberate volition (cetanā) create true karmic results.
This regulation also highlights another principle of the Vinaya Piṭaka: the degree of offense depends on the degree of violation. Killing beings of higher consciousness (human beings, deities) is a heavier offense than killing insects. Nevertheless, all intentional acts of killing are regarded as Pācittiya, a kind of offense requiring personal confession before the community, not the gravest kind of offense.
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