Lzh Mu Bu Pm Np 24Bribing Weavers

Exposition of the Mahāpesakāra Sutta (The Sutta on Weavers Who Receive Bribes)

Background

The Mahāpesakāra Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically the Pātimokkha, or training rules of the Buddhist Sangha. The background of the text records an event during the Buddha’s lifetime, when devotees tried to find ways to violate the disciplinary rules by indirect and evasive means.

This story arose from an urgent need of the Sangha: when the original rules were not yet sufficient to address subtle forms of violation, the Buddha directly gave clearer guidance. The Vinaya Piṭaka is therefore not a set of rigid prohibitions, but skillful means born from specific circumstances, serving the purity of the Sangha and the accomplishment of the Dharma path.

Main Content

The Mahāpesakāra Sutta tells of devotees or people connected with the Sangha, specifically weavers, being asked to sell or receiving bribes to help monks or nuns violate the discipline. This indirect method was a way for worldly people deliberately to help Dharma teachers violate the rules by providing means or property, or by carrying out acts that the monastics themselves could not do directly without breaking the rules.

The Buddha clearly recognized that the motive for violation does not arise only from direct actions but also from indirect influence. Therefore, he defined clearly that if a monk or nun intentionally asks, encourages, or permits another person to carry out actions that violate the rules on their behalf, this is still an offense, and the helper too must bear the consequences of that wrongful action.

Practical Meaning

The Mahāpesakāra Sutta teaches us a profound lesson on responsibility in action. For monastics, it reminds them that maintaining the discipline is not a matter of outward form, but a genuine commitment to spiritual purity.