San Lo Bi Vb Sk 10Arms Akimbo
Pāli / Sanskrit:Khambhakata
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Explanation of the Khambhakata Sutta (Hands on the Hips)
Background
The Khambhakata Sutta is a legal rule in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. The Vinaya Piṭaka is the collection of rules of practice and discipline for the community of monks and nuns, recorded from the councils held after Buddha Śākyamuni passed into final nirvana.
This sutta belongs to the Skandhaka section, where historical events and regulations of the Sangha are recorded. The title "Khambhakata" (Pāli: khamba = shoulder, aha = to hold, kata = done) is translated as "Hands on the Hips," describing an action of bodily attitude: the way the hands are raised when bracing the back or placed as if on the hips.
This sutta reflects the practical concern of the Buddha-Dharma with bodily conduct, one of the three actions (kāya-kamma). Besides the cultivation of mind and wisdom, rules concerning bodily actions are also valued in order to maintain the discipline and sanctity of the monastic community.
Main Content
The specific content of this sutta section has not been fully translated in the presently available materials. However, based on the context of the Vinaya Piṭaka and similar Dharma texts, Khambhakata may be related to rules about the bodily comportment of monastics, especially in improper or unseemly situations.
In the Vinaya Piṭaka, rules about bodily attitude (ābhaya-mukhattā, yathā-atthaṃ-bhāsitaṃ) aim at maintaining the dignity of a Dharma teacher. The gesture of standing with the hands on the hips may be considered an action unsuitable to the purity and solemnity that one living in a monastery should maintain in all actions.
Events in the Skandhaka often begin with the Buddha or his disciples discovering improper conduct, after which the Buddha establishes a rule (pātimokkha-sutta) for the community to follow. These rules are not arbitrary punishments, but instructions for protecting the purity of the community of practice.
Practical Meaning
The Khambhakata Sutta reminds those who practice that bodily action is never a small matter.
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