San Lo Bu Pm Pd 3Receiving Food in a Dangerous Region
Pāli / Sanskrit:Catutthapāṭidesanīya
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Explanation of the Catutthapāṭidesanīya
On Monastics Receiving Food in a Dangerous Region
Background
The Catutthapāṭidesanīya discourse is an important part of the Vinaya Piṭaka in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. It was given because of practical situations that occurred in the monastic community during the Buddha’s time. According to the historical context, monastics had to live in dangerous regions, where there were robbers, wild animals, or people with harmful intentions. In such circumstances, observance of the training rules needed to be flexible in order to ensure the lives and safety of practitioners.
The “pāṭidesanīya” (pāli-desanīya, that is, matters that must be announced or declared) are rules related to actions which, if performed by a monastic, must be publicly declared before the assembly or before venerable elders. These are not faults that should be heavily prosecuted, but actions requiring acknowledgment and improvement.
Main Content
The fourth Catutthapāṭidesanīya concerns bhikkhunīs receiving food in lands considered dangerous, where there are robbers, wild beasts, or people with malicious intent. The Buddha allowed bhikkhunīs to receive food without having to observe certain ordinary rules in such emergencies, provided those bhikkhunīs publicly declared the action before the assembly.
This expresses a basic principle in the Vinaya: not all rules are to be applied rigidly in every circumstance. When life is threatened, the survival of the practitioner is given priority. However, the act of departing from the rule must be openly acknowledged; this is the way to maintain truthfulness and responsibility within the community of practice.
This discourse reminds monastics always to weigh disciplinary observance against the preservation of life. It is a lesson in wisdom (paññā) in applying the Dharma: understanding the spirit of the law rather than being bound by the letter.
🌏 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.