Lzh Mi Bi Vb Sk 78Nāvarṇakārakaṁ paribhokṣyāma

Nāvarṇakārakaṁ paribhokṣyāma

AI Explanation — Chinese Comparative Vinaya, No. Lzh Mi Bi Vb Sk 78

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Source Status

This scriptural entry belongs to the Chinese Comparative Vinaya collection, bearing the designation Lzh Mi Bi Vb Sk 78, with the Sanskrit title recorded as Nāvarṇakārakaṁ paribhokṣyāma. At present, the full original source text for this entry has not been directly compared or fully accessed within the scope of the materials being processed. Therefore, the explanation below is not a translation of the original scripture, nor does it reproduce specific wording from the source text. The content presented is based entirely on the descriptive information provided, combined with terminological analysis and the context of sectarian Vinaya traditions, in order to serve the purposes of orientation in study and research.

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Background

This document lies within the Chinese Comparative Vinaya, belonging to the tradition of Sectarian Canons · Comparative. This is a group of texts gathered and compared from various Buddhist schools, especially schools circulating in India and Central Asia before and after the Common Era, preserved in Chinese through centuries of translation. Sectarian Vinaya collections usually include disciplinary provisions for monks and nuns, regulating conduct in monastic life.

The designation Sk 78 in the identifier suggests that this is the seventy-eighth entry in a collection of provisions related to Śaikṣa-dharma (training rules, also called rules of communal training), which are rules of deportment and ritual conduct that those who have gone forth should observe in daily life. The designation Mi Bi Vb is likely related to the classification of bhikṣuṇī and Vibhaṅga, the analysis of the rules, that is, the section explaining each rule in detail.

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Content Identifiable from the Descriptive Information

The Sanskrit title Nāvarṇakārakaṁ paribhokṣyāma may be analyzed as follows:

• Nāvarṇakārakaṁ (na + avarṇa + kāraka): "not producing blame, criticism, or anything that harms reputation"; in some Vinaya contexts, avarṇa refers to criticism, disparagement, or loss of esteem.
• paribhokṣyāma (from the root pari-bhuj): "we shall use," "we shall partake," or "we shall consume," carrying the sense of eating or using an item.

Taken together, the title may be understood generally as a vow or training rule meaning: "We shall partake without giving rise to blame (or without creating a bad reputation, without causing harm)." This is a linguistic form characteristic of the Śaikṣa rules in the Vinaya, often expressed as collective vows or individual rules concerning deportment.

In the Vinaya tradition, the Śaikṣa-dharma rules prescribe how bhikkhus or bhikkhunīs partake of food, receive food, and behave during meals so as to be dignified, not trouble those who see them, and protect the reputation of the Sangha. This provision, with its content of "not giving rise to blame" while "partaking," very likely points to proper deportment in eating: not being noisy, not being greedy, and not causing others to criticize the image of one who has gone forth.

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Meaning for Practice

Although the full source text has not been compared, the spirit of this training rule opens many valuable lessons for practitioners:

First, the act of partaking of food is one of the clearest expressions of the mind of a practitioner. Eating and drinking with deportment are not only external courtesy, but also reflect the inner discipline of the mind: not being attached, not being hasty, not being unrestrained.

Second, the spirit of "not giving rise to blame" reminds those who have gone forth that every action they perform has an effect on the image of the Three Jewels in the eyes of society. Protecting the faith of laypeople through dignified conduct is a sacred responsibility.

Third, this training rule expresses a collective spirit: paribhokṣyāma is in the plural, showing that discipline is not only an individual commitment but an agreement of the whole Sangha before the Dharma and before society.

A practitioner approaching this provision should contemplate the connection between bodily deportment and mental purity, between individual conduct and the reputation of the Sangha, between material use and a mind free from attachment.

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Comparative Note

Because the full source text of the entry Lzh Mi Bi Vb Sk 78 has not been directly accessed and compared, all analysis in this explanation remains at a general level based on semantic analysis of the Sanskrit title and the broader context of sectarian Vinaya. Researchers wishing to study more deeply should consult the relevant Sanskrit Vinaya texts, corresponding Chinese canonical texts, and comparative studies of inter-sectarian Vinaya in order to verify the exact content and position of this provision within the disciplinary system.