Lzh Sarv Bi Vb Sk 65Whole Hand

Sabbahattha Sutta (The Whole Hand)

Background

The Sabbahattha Sutta is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, the detailed provisions relating to women Buddhist monastics. The Vinaya Piṭaka is a collection of ethical and disciplinary regulations that the Buddha issued to maintain harmony and purity in the renunciant community. This sutta is transmitted in the Theravāda tradition, where the Vinaya Piṭaka is preserved with the highest degree of historical integrity.

The title “Sabbahattha” (the whole hand) indicates a specific situation related to action or the body. In the context of the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Vibhaṅga suttas often examine questions related to observing prohibitions (Pācittiya or Sekhiya), the detailed rules of training that guide the daily actions of monastics. These rules are not the most absolute prohibitions, but they are requirements to protect dignity, diligence, and respect within the Sangha.

Main Content

The Sabbahattha Sutta focuses on an issue of action considered in the sphere of training for bhikkhunīs. The title “the whole hand” suggests that this sutta examines actions involving the use of the hand, perhaps concerning courteous, clean, or restrained behavior in social interactions within the monastic community.

The rules in the Vibhaṅga are usually presented according to this structure: first they state when an action is wrong, then they explain the exceptions or conditions that make it not an offense. This method allows monastics to understand not only the letter of the law, but also its spirit.

In the context of the Vinaya Piṭaka, the action examined is often related to the intention (cetanā) of the one performing it. This is very important because Theravāda Buddhism emphasizes that kamma is defined as intention, not merely the action itself. Therefore, the same action may be wrong or not depending on the intention behind it.