San Lo Bu Pm Pj 2Theft

EXPLANATION OF THE RULE ON THEFT (ADINNĀDĀNA)

Background

The rule on Theft (Adinnādāna) is the second rule in the Pārājika group of the Pāli Vinaya Piṭaka, belonging to the Sanghādisesa of bhikkhus. It is one of the most serious fundamental precepts established by the Buddha for the Sangha. The term “adinnādāna” literally means “taking what has not been given” — a more precise expression than the ordinary word “theft.”

According to the Theravāda tradition, this rule was established after a bhikkhu committed theft within the Sangha. The Buddha, with great compassion and profound wisdom, did not merely forbid the act, but clearly analyzed the elements constituting the offense, the degrees of violation, and the consequences in the discipline. The Vinaya Piṭaka records in detail the circumstances of establishment, the object of the offense, and exceptional cases.

In the system of Pārājika discipline, violating this rule leads to complete defeat in the monastic life — the offending bhikkhu no longer has the status of a member of the Sangha and cannot restore the precept body in this lifetime.

Main Content

The rule of Adinnādāna is analyzed by the Vinaya Piṭaka with remarkable legal precision. To constitute a Pārājika offense, the act of theft requires five elements: (1) there is an object belonging to another, (2) there is clear awareness that it belongs to another, (3) there is the intention to appropriate it, (4) the act of taking is carried out, and (5) the object taken has a value of five māsaka or more (according to the standard in the Buddha’s time).

The Vinaya Piṭaka clearly distinguishes degrees of violation. If the value of the object is below the prescribed threshold, the offense falls under Thullaccaya (grave offense) or Dukkaṭa (minor offense). Cases of accident, mistaken belief that it is one’s own, or taking abandoned ownerless property do not constitute Pārājika.

What is distinctive is that the Vinaya Piṭaka extends the concept of “taking” to many forms: taking directly, ordering someone else to take, using fraudulent means, appropriating borrowed property, moving boundary markers, even evading taxes or cheating in commerce. This shows that the Buddha was concerned not only with outward behavior but also illuminated the deeply hidden motive of greed.

The reason the Buddha established this rule was both to protect the honor of the Sangha before society and to train the spirit in a profound way. Theft arises from craving (lobha), one of the three basic poisons that obscure wisdom. One who has gone forth renounces the world in order to live content in poverty and joyful in the Way; if he still covets and seizes the property of others, the foundation of his conduct has collapsed.

Practical Meaning

For modern practitioners of the Buddha-Dharma, even those who have not received the bhikkhu precepts, the rule of Adinnādāna still carries deep meaning. It is the higher unfolding of the precept “Not stealing” (adinnādāna veramaṇī) among the Five Precepts.