San Lo Bi Vb Np 27Bribing Weavers

Bribing Weavers — Mahāpesakāra

Source Status

The scriptural item numbered San Lo Bi Vb Np 27 belongs to the Comparative Vinaya — Sanskrit in the tradition of Sectarian Scriptures · Comparative. This is a training rule in the Nissaggiya Pācittiya group, the twenty-seventh rule, recorded according to the Sanskrit text of a school, possibly the Mūlasarvāstivāda or a related branch, rather than the standard Pāli Theravāda text.

At present, the full original Sanskrit source text of this training rule has not been directly and fully compared in the available data. The explanation below is built entirely from the provided descriptive information, including the Vietnamese title, English title, and Sanskrit title Mahāpesakāra, together with a general understanding of the legal structure of the Vinaya of the schools. Readers should clearly understand that this is an introductory AI explanation, not a translation or canonical commentary.

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Background

In the Vinaya systems of the Buddhist schools, the group of rules called Nissaggiya Pācittiya, commonly rendered in Sino-Vietnamese as Xả đọa or Ni-tát-kỳ Ba-dật-đề, regulates conduct related to property, robes, and the requisites of bhikkhus or bhikkhunīs. A person who violates a Nissaggiya Pācittiya rule must both relinquish the offending object (nissagga) and confess (pācittiya) before the Sangha according to the prescribed procedure.

The twenty-seventh training rule, Mahāpesakāra, Sanskrit, literally meaning "great weaver" or "skilled weaver," has the Vietnamese title Hối Lộ Thợ Dệt and the English title Bribing Weavers. This suggests a context in which a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī interferes in the production of robe-cloth by using material goods to influence the weaver, behavior regarded as inappropriate to contentment and the renunciant spirit of freedom from craving.

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Content Identifiable from the Descriptive Information

Based on the title and classification, the core content of this training rule revolves around the act of using material benefit to influence a weaver in order to obtain a type of cloth, robe, or woven product according to the renunciant’s own wishes, perhaps in terms of quality, quantity, or style beyond what was initially offered by the donor.

The term Mahāpesakāra in Sanskrit combines mahā (great) and pesakāra (weaver). In many sectarian Vinaya texts, the "weaver" is a central figure in situations related to ordering or producing robe-cloth. The act of "bribing" here implies that the monastic uses something, perhaps food, money, goods, or an unclear exchange, to persuade the weaver to work according to private requirements beyond the framework permitted by the Sangha or the donor.

This is a form of violation related to subtle greed: not coarse theft, but skillful manipulation aimed at gaining additional benefit for oneself, something the spirit of the Vinaya regards as damaging to the purity of the precept-body and the dignity of one gone forth.

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Meaning for Practice

The training rule Mahāpesakāra reminds practitioners of a basic principle in the holy life: contentment and purity in all dealings related to material goods. One gone forth receives robes from donors as a pure offering; any act of interfering in that process through exchanges of benefit stains that relationship.

At a deeper level, this training rule reflects three important points of practice:

1. Contentment (santuṭṭhi): A practitioner does not demand more than what is necessary. The robe that is given is enough; there is no need to interfere in order to obtain better, more, or finer cloth.

2. Non-manipulation (alobha): One does not use any means, however subtle, to gain additional material benefit for oneself. Bribery, even small bribery, arises from a mind of greed.

3. Transparency in relations with laypeople: The Sangha is maintained in purity through trust from society. Obscure negotiations with weavers stain the image of the Sangha and harm the faith of donors.

In the contemporary context, this training rule remains fully valuable in reminding not only monastics but also lay students of Vinaya: every act of using personal influence to gain material benefit beyond one’s rightful share is an expression of greed that needs to be recognized and abandoned.

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Comparative Note

• This training rule belongs to the Nissaggiya Pācittiya group, rule 27, in the Sanskrit Vinaya text of the school recorded under the identifying code `san-lo-bi-vb-np27`.
• The Sanskrit title Mahāpesakāra has not been fully confirmed through comparison with existing Pāli, Tibetan, or Chinese versions in the reference data.
• Researchers seeking deeper comparison should consult scholarly editions of Sanskrit Vinaya texts of the related schools and comparative Vinaya studies published in the international academic community.
• This explanation is based entirely on descriptive information and purely semantic analysis; all details concerning the original text, specific incidents, and the origin story of the training rule need to be verified through the source language when access is available.