Lzh Mu Bu Vb Sk 71Washing Water With Rice
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sasitthaka
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
SASITTHAKA SUTTA (WASHING WATER WITH RICE)
Background
The Sasitthaka Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli collection, the disciplinary section of Early Buddhism. The Vinaya Piṭaka was compiled to protect the integrity of the Buddha’s Sangha and to regulate the daily rules of life for monastics, especially female monastics (bhikkhunīs).
This sutta revolves around an issue that seems minor but in fact reflects a deep consciousness of practice: how to handle washing water containing young mice or the bodies of small animals, from sasitthaka, the corpse of a mouse or rodent. This is not an ordinary matter of hygiene, but relates to one of the five basic precepts, abstaining from killing (pānātipāta), one of the core virtues of Buddhism.
The historical context shows the Buddha residing in a community where washing water or water containing young mice was a common phenomenon, especially in rural areas. The question arose: how could monastics use such water without violating the discipline?
Main Content
The Sasitthaka Sutta records a decision of Śākyamuni Buddha meant to balance practical life with ethical observance. The Buddha states that if washing water contains the bodies of small animals but the monastic did not intentionally cause harm or know of it beforehand, then using that water does not constitute an offense of killing (pānātipāta-āpatti). The key condition is atthaññutā, absence of intention or lack of knowledge.
The Buddha taught: “If bhikkhunīs use washing water containing small insects without knowing or without intending to cause harm, that is not a violation.” This is an important practical principle called anussayābhāva: absence of intention to harm, absence of prior knowledge of the presence of life in the water.
However, the rule is also clear: if a monastic knows or suspects that water contains living beings, they must seek other water or handle the existing water carefully. If one deliberately ignores warning signs, that is a violation.
🌏 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.