Lzh Sarv Ba 62Theft

Expository Discourse: The Prohibition Against Theft (Parajika 2)

Background

Parajika 2, or the prohibition against theft, is one of the four most serious offenses in the Vinaya Pitaka of Early Buddhism. The discourse is recorded in the Bhikkhuni Patimokkha and the Bhikkhu Patimokkha, the core religious codes that noble renunciants must observe.

Parajika, meaning “defeat” or “separation,” refers to offenses that cause the offender to lose the status of bhikkhu or bhikkhuni forever. Unlike lighter offenses that may be confessed, parajika leads to permanent exclusion from the religious community (Sangha).

The prohibition against theft was established by the Buddha after some bhikkhus committed this fault. The Vinaya records that bhikkhus took advantage of the people’s reverence to steal goods, diminishing the community’s trust in the Sangha. The Buddha therefore laid down this rule to protect the purity and honor of those who have gone forth.

Main Content

The prohibition against theft states that a bhikkhu or bhikkhuni must not take objects that do not belong to them, whether for use or possession, under any circumstances. “Theft” here is understood broadly: it includes not only secretly taking another person’s material property, but also seizing it through deception, resolutely refusing to return it, or exploiting religious status to obtain what one should not have.

For this offense to be fully established, five factors are required: (1) the object has an owner, (2) the taker has the thought that the object is not theirs, (3) there is the intention to take it for possession, (4) the act of taking is carried out, and (5) the taker is aware of the above factors. The distinction between accidentally taking another’s object and conscious theft is very important in legal judgment.