Lzh Sarv Bi Pm Sk 74Licking the Hands
Pāli / Sanskrit:Hatthanillehaka
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Hatthanillehaka Sutta — The Matter of Licking the Hands
Background
The Hatthanillehaka Sutta, literally “one who licks the hands,” is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Early Buddhist tradition. This is another disciplinary rule concerning the management of conduct within the community of monks and nuns (Sangha), focusing on behaviors of calculation, greed, or lack of diligence in the life of practice.
According to the context of the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Buddha’s teachings on Sangha discipline do not merely list faults, but aim to educate the mind. Each prohibition arises when a monk or nun performs such an action, the Buddha observes it, and then establishes a rule to instruct the whole Sangha. The Hatthanillehaka Sutta continues this tradition, with a specific context concerning greed or lack of self-control.
Main Content
The specific content of this discourse in the Pāli Canon concerns the behavior of a monk or nun during eating, especially licking the hands after a meal, an action regarded as an expression of desire or lack of diligence (samaya). Licking the hands is not merely a normal physiological gesture; in the context of Buddhist practice, it is considered a sign of not yet having restrained the desire for food, of not truly having the mind of renunciation, or of lacking respect for alms food, the food offered in faith.
The Buddha taught that those gone forth should eat with vigilance, mindfulness (sati), and a clear understanding that the purpose of alms food is to maintain the body for practicing the Dharma, not to satisfy taste or greed. The act of licking the hands after eating, in certain Vinaya contexts, is regarded as a lack of proper bodily cleanliness and awareness, or as an expression of craving to continue eating.
The disciplinary rules related to eating behavior in the Vinaya emphasize the balance between properly nourishing the body and not falling into greed. This discourse is a specific example illustrating the small details of conduct that monastics need to recognize and correct.
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