Lzh Mu Kd 1Going Forth
Pāli / Sanskrit:Pabbajja
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THE PABBAJJA SUTTA (Going Forth)
Context
Pabbajja in Pāli means “leaving the household” or “going forth,” marking one of the most solemn moments in the Buddhist path of practice. This scripture is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, especially in the Mahāvagga, the passages of discipline that set forth the conditions and rites a layperson (upāsaka) must perform in order to become a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī in the Sangha community of the Buddha.
In the context of Theravāda Buddhism, “going forth” is not merely changing clothes or shaving the head, but a profound decision: abandoning the bonds of craving, attachment, testing, and social status in order to pursue the true Dharma and realize nirvana. It is a public declaration of a new life wholly dedicated to practice and liberation.
Main Content
The Pabbajja Sutta describes the process by which a person decides to go forth. Those seeking the Dharma must approach a qualified teacher or bhikkhu with faith and request permission to leave household life. This process includes specific prerequisites: there must be approval from parents or guardians; one must not have debts or unfinished social obligations; one must have suitable health to endure ascetic discipline; and most importantly, one must have faith (saddhā) in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha).
This scripture also makes clear that pabbajja is a process formally recognized through traditional rites. The seeker of the Dharma must change from worldly clothes into dark-colored robes, shave off hair and beard to signify the renunciation of sensuality, and receive the basic Five Precepts (Pañc’aṅga Sīla), the foundational ethical rules that purify the mind.
In particular, this scripture emphasizes that pabbajja is not punishment or powerless escape, but liberation.
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