Lzh Sarv Bi Vb Pj 2Theft
Pāli / Sanskrit:Adinnādāna
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EXPLANATION OF THE DISCOURSE ON STEALING (ADINNĀDĀNA)
Background
The Adinnādāna text, taking what has not been given or taking another’s property without permission, is an important part of the Vinaya Piṭaka in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. This content belongs to the Pārājika, or “rules of expulsion,” the most fundamental rules of the discipline. The text was recorded to shape an ethical framework for monastics in the pure Sangha, as well as to guide laypeople who give rise to the aspiration to practice according to the Buddha-Dharma.
The Blessed One identified stealing as a violation of the basic Five Precepts (Pañcasīla), specifically the second precept of abstaining from taking what has not been given (adinnādānā veramaṇī). Violating this not only causes material harm but also destroys faith and the community’s trust in Buddhist practitioners, and undermines the moral foundation upon which the Dharma is built.
Main Content
According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, Adinnādāna includes taking anything belonging to another without the owner’s permission. The text defines stealing not only as a physical act but also as involving intention (cetanā): there must be the wish to take, the wish to conceal, and the wish to harm the owner.
The Vinaya Piṭaka clearly distinguishes levels of offense based on the value of the object taken, whether the act is open or secret, and the nature of the harmed object or person. Whether the amount is small or great, the act of stealing breaks the vow of restraint maintained by a practitioner. The Blessed One taught that mind is the point of origin: if a practitioner has the mind to appropriate what belongs to another, even if the act is not finally carried out, this is already a sign of decline in the Dharma-mind.
The text warns not only against outward behavior but emphasizes training the mind so that restlessness and greed do not arise. Adinnādāna is rooted in the unwholesome states of greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), or delusion (moha), which must be dispelled by bright wisdom (paññā).
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