Lzh Mi Bu Vb Np 12Bribing Weavers

Explanation of the Mahāpesakāra Sutta

Preface

The Mahāpesakāra Sutta (Bribing Weavers) belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, the most sacred disciplinary collection in the Pāli Canon. This sutta records ethical regulations concerning practice and communal living in the Sangha, especially the avoidance of deceitful actions and bribery.

Background

The Vinaya Piṭaka is not empty words, but a set of training rules laid down by the Buddha on the basis of specific events. The Mahāpesakāra Sutta is recorded in the Nidāna section of the Pātimokkha, where serious violations are listed.

The title of this sutta concerns weavers who were bribed by monks acting under false pretenses to perform work contrary to monastic custom. Although the title specifically mentions “weavers,” the sutta reflects a broader principle: one must not exploit others by using money or benefits to violate morality. This background arose in the period when the Sangha was developing, when some members became open to gold and silver, and greed began to enter the monastic community.

Main Content

The Mahāpesakāra Sutta identifies a serious violation: a monk’s participation in trade, collecting money, or enticing others, especially ordinary laypeople, to serve purposes inconsistent with the bhikkhu discipline.

Specifically, if a monk deliberately uses money, gifts, or promises of material benefit to cause another person, whether an artisan or anyone else, to do things contrary to religious ethics, that person is regarded as committing a Pārājika offence, one of the four most serious violations from which one cannot return to the monastic state. This rule is intended to protect the integrity of the Sangha and prevent greed from poisoning the community.

The core principle is this: a bhikkhu must live by minimal support, namely food, robes, lodging, and medicine, without actively seeking, enticing, or bribing.