San Mu Bu Pm GBM 2 Pc 79Drinking Alcohol
Pāli / Sanskrit:Surāpāna
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Discourse on Drinking Alcohol (Surāpāna)
Background
The Surāpāna discourse is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, belonging to the Pācittiya collection, regulations concerning offenses in the discipline of the Sangha. It is one of the prohibitions regarding actions harmful to the virtue of a Buddhist practitioner.
In the history of Theravāda Buddhism, the Buddha built a system of discipline based on the principle of avoiding harm through body, speech, and mind. Offenses connected with drinking alcohol belong to the group of careless conduct, causing lack of concentration (sammāsamādhi) and a clouded mind. This discourse was formed from specific events in the early Sangha, when certain bhikkhus violated the rule of modest conduct.
Main Content
According to the Pāli tradition, Pācittiya 79 prescribes that any bhikkhu or monastic who drinks intoxicating beverages (surā), from wine to other fermented liquors, commits a Pācittiya offense, that is, a fault requiring confession and seeking purification among noble fellow practitioners.
The text does not distinguish between drinking a little or much; any amount of alcoholic drink is forbidden. The basic reason is that alcohol clouds wisdom (paññā), weakens concentration, and makes the practitioner unable to maintain commitments to purity of conduct (sīla). In particular, alcohol leads to loss of control over body, speech, and mind, the three areas that a monastic must protect with full mindfulness (sati).
This applies not only to the Sangha, but is also part of the Five Precepts (Pañcasīla) that laypeople should also practice. However, for those gone forth, this violation is clear and must be examined in the assembly of the Sangha.
Practical Meaning
The Surāpāna discourse emphasizes that keeping the discipline is not merely mechanical obedience to rules, but the protection of the mind from factors that cloud wisdom.
🌏 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.