Lzh Mu Bi Vb Np 13Bartering

Explanation of the Kayavikkaya Sutta (Buying and Selling)

Background

Kayavikkaya, or material buying and selling (kaya = body, vikkaya = buying and selling), is a prohibition in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Early Buddhist tradition. This text appears in the Patimokkha section within the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, specifically as the thirteenth Nisaggiya Pācittiya offense, an offense requiring relinquishment and confession.

The background for the establishment of this rule is connected with the development of the early Saṅgha. As Buddhism spread, bhikkhunīs began to take part in buying and selling, and in transactions involving money and goods. This created ethical risks: giving rise to craving, distracting from practice, and creating doubts about the purity of the Saṅgha before the lay community. For this reason, the Buddha laid down this prohibition concerning buying and selling.

Main Content

According to Kayavikkaya, bhikkhunīs are prohibited from participating in buying, selling, or exchanging goods for the purpose of profit or personal benefit. If a bhikkhunī performs such an act, she commits a Nisaggiya Pācittiya offense, an offense requiring relinquishment of the offending object and confession.

Specifically, this rule forbids such actions as selling one’s own belongings or those of the fourfold assembly, trading in clothes, robes, medicines, or any goods for the sake of gain. Even exchanging objects of unequal value is considered a violation if the purpose is to take advantage or make a profit.

The penalty for this offense is that the bhikkhunī must relinquish the offending object (patidesanīya), that is, the item bought or sold or the benefit obtained must be returned or given up, and then she must confess (pācittiya) before another bhikkhunī. This is a serious offense, though not to the extent of requiring expulsion from the Saṅgha as in the case of Pārājika or Saṅghādisesa offenses.