San Bu Pm Qizil Pj 2Theft
Pāli / Sanskrit:Adinnādāna
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Explanation of the Adinnādāna Sutta (The Characteristic of Taking What Is Stolen)
Background
The Adinnādāna Sutta is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, one of the three sacred divisions of the Pāli Canon in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. The Vinaya Piṭaka was compiled to protect the Sangha, maintain the purity of the practice, and define the boundary between wholesome and unwholesome action.
The Pāli word "Adinnādāna" consists of two components: Adinna (not given, not permitted) and Dāna (taking). In other words, this is the characteristic of taking what has not been given. Among the basic Five Precepts of Buddhism, the second is: "I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given" (Pānātipātā veramaṇī, though Adinnādāna is the specific expression of the principle of respecting the property of others).
This sutta is framed in the context of debates and specific situations that arose within the Buddha’s community, where the Buddha and the elders needed to clarify which actions constituted "stealing" and which did not, in order to protect the practice and maintain harmony.
Main Content
In the Vinaya Piṭaka, Adinnādāna is not simply the theft of valuable possessions. It includes any action of taking what belongs to another without the owner’s permission, from a branch of a tree or a bundle of grass to precious objects.
The sutta defines the invalidity of Adinnādāna through five factors: (1) there is an object that is the property of another; (2) the taker clearly knows it is not their own; (3) there is the intention to take it without permission; (4) there is the action of taking; and (5) the result is that the property has been moved from the owner’s place.
The Vinaya Piṭaka also distinguishes different degrees of offense based on the value of the object taken, the circumstances, and the intention of the offender. A bhikkhu or bhikkhunī who clearly violates Adinnādāna must undergo penalties ranging from light to severe, from public confession to exclusion from the Sangha.
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