Lzh Mi Bu Vb Pc 57Drinking Alcohol
Pāli / Sanskrit:Surāpāna
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Surāpāna Text (The Text on Drinking Alcohol)
Theravāda Buddhism — Vinaya Piṭaka
Background
The Surāpāna text is found in the Pācittiya section, a collection of lesser training rules in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition. These are specific rules established by the Buddha for Buddhist monastics in order to protect the mind, preserve virtue (sīla), and build a pure community of practice.
This text specifically concerns the issue of drinking alcohol, an act regarded as a Pācittiya offense. The Buddha's establishment of a prohibition on drinking alcohol was not a rigid ban, but arose from his deep recognition of the harm that intoxicants cause to consciousness and the path of practice.
Main Content
According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, drinking alcohol or any intoxicating substance is considered a Pācittiya offense (Pāli: pācittiya = "worthy of confession"). This means that the offender needs to confess the fault openly before the Sangha.
The text makes clear that this Pācittiya applies to all Buddhist monastics, whether bhikkhu or bhikkhunī. The prohibition does not distinguish the type of alcohol or its strength; any liquid that causes the mind to lose concentration (samādhi) is prohibited.
The basic reason is that alcohol violates five matters of utmost importance in practice: (1) it causes the loss of right view, (2) it diminishes wisdom (paññā), (3) it diminishes concentration (samādhi), (4) it easily leads to remorse and decline, and (5) it weakens spiritual practice. A drunken person cannot maintain mindfulness (sati), the foundation of all Buddhist practice.
The text teaches that the short-term benefits of alcoholic drink, such as temporary pleasure, are exceedingly small compared with the long-term damage to the mind and to virtue.
Meaning for Practice
The Surāpāna text is not merely a simple prohibition but a profound practical guideline. It teaches that the Buddha's path is a path of clarity and peace, and cannot be built on the foundation of confusion and loss of mind.
🌏 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.