Lzh Sarv Bu Pm Sk 101Clasping Knees
Pāli / Sanskrit:Pallatthika
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
THE PALLATTHIKA SUTTA (CLASPING KNEES): AN EXPOSITION
Background
The Pallatthika Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Early Buddhist tradition, among the regulations on monastic discipline of the Sangha. The Vinaya Piṭaka records the ethical principles and behaviors that monks and nuns must observe in order to maintain the purity of monastic life.
The title “Pallatthika” (pallaṭṭhika) means “squatting” or “sitting with the arms clasped around the knees,” indicating a particular posture. This sutta addresses a specific situation concerning conduct, posture, or behavior of practitioners, from which a deeper disciplinary principle is drawn. The context is set within the Buddha’s Dharma talks with his disciples, where principles of practice were taught and applied to concrete situations of renunciant life.
Main Content
The Pallatthika Sutta records an event in which the Buddha instructed disciples concerning inappropriate conduct, specifically related to the posture of sitting with the arms clasped around the knees or similar gestures that could cause a loss of decorum or bring disrepute upon the Dharma. The Vinaya emphasizes that monks must preserve their manner of action and bodily posture at all times and places. This is not only for ethical reasons, but also to protect the honor of the Dharma in the eyes of the world.
According to the spirit of the Vinaya, behaviors that are “not entirely pure,” movements or postures considered overly familiar, lax, or inappropriate to the outward appearance of a practitioner, are examined and corrected. The rule does not merely issue an absolute prohibition; rather, the Buddha teaches practitioners to cultivate mindfulness (sati), self-restraint (dama), and respect for the implicit social disciplines of practice.
This sutta reflects one of the important principles of the Sangha: self-regulation through awareness of appropriate conduct (sappāya), not out of fear of punishment but through deep understanding of the impact of action on oneself and the community.
🌏 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.