Lzh Sarv Bi Pm Pc 172Setting Hair
Pāli / Sanskrit:Setting hair
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Sutra on Setting Hair — An Explanation from the Vinaya Piṭaka
Background
The Sutra on Setting Hair is a minor rule in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition. The Vinaya Piṭaka records general and specific rules issued by the Buddha Śākyamuni to govern the conduct of the monastic community. These regulations are not transcendent doctrines, but practical instructions intended to protect collective practice, maintain discipline, and build habits harmonious with the place of practice.
Rules related to bodily appearance, including hair care, arose when the Buddha observed that some monks and nuns did not pay attention to personal hygiene or performed actions that attracted unnecessary attention. The matter of “setting hair” arose from specific situations in the community of monks and nuns, when some styled the hair in overly aesthetic ways or in strange and eye-catching ways, distracting the minds of other practitioners or contradicting the spirit of humility.
Main Content
According to the Theravāda Vinaya tradition, the matter of setting hair is regulated so that monks and nuns avoid arranging the hair in ways considered appropriate for people still attached to the world. A monk or nun should tie or arrange the hair simply, without display, in a manner suitable to the status of one who practices the Buddha-Dharma. This rule emphasizes that bodily appearance reflects the mind; if one pays too much attention to adornment or arrangement of appearance, this shows that the mind is still attached to worldly desires.
Specifically, the rules on setting hair require monks and nuns to cultivate simplicity. The hair should be tied or cut short according to the general conventions of each monastery. One should not use ornate or fragrant materials, or specialized tools for modifying appearance, to make the hair more eye-catching. Such actions easily lead to clinging (atta-sammohana), obscuring clear awareness of the nature of impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and non-self (anattā).
🌏 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.