San Bu Pm Qizil Ss 8Making a Groundless Accusation Out of Anger
Pāli / Sanskrit:Duṭṭhadosa
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Sutta on the Fault of Making a Groundless Accusation Out of Anger
Background
The Duṭṭhadosa Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Buddha Dharma tradition. The Vinaya Piṭaka is a collection of precepts, rules of life, and disciplinary cases within the Sangha, the community of Buddhist monastics. This sutta highlights a serious ethical issue: accusing someone groundlessly out of anger (dosa).
In the early Sangha, discipline was not only a personal matter but also affected the harmony and purity of the community. A false accusation, especially when motivated by malice, can destroy trust and create conflict within the Sangha. For this reason, the Buddha gave specific guidance on how to handle such cases.
Main Content
The Duṭṭhadosa Sutta deals with the situation in which a person, under the influence of anger and an unwholesome mind (duṭṭha, evil; dosa, anger), makes an accusation without factual basis against another monastic. This act violates basic principles of Buddhist ethics: not lying, not defaming another’s honor, and considering carefully before speaking.
According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, making a groundless accusation is not merely a personal matter but also a violation of the disciplinary standards of the Sangha. The accuser must have clear evidence, reliable witnesses, or the testimony of the accused person. Without these elements, repeating an accusation may lead to certain penalties, from having to withdraw one’s words to temporary or permanent separation from the community, depending on the severity of the act.
The sutta emphasizes that anger (dosa) is the root cause of such faults. Anger blinds wisdom, makes people unable to see the truth clearly, and promotes harmful actions.
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