Mpt Np 19Trading With Money
Pāli / Sanskrit:Rūpiyasaṁvohāra
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Explanation of the Rūpiyasaṁvohāra Sutra
Trading With Money
Background
Rūpiyasaṁvohāra (Trading With Money) is a passage in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically belonging to the Nissaggiya Pācittiya rules, rules concerning offenses requiring renewed confession related to bhikkhus violating prohibitions. This text is recorded in the Pātimokkha, the code of 227 rules, or 311 rules depending on the tradition, that each bhikkhu must recite at each Uposatha, the fortnightly observance.
The text is presented in the context of the Buddha’s frequent reminders to his disciples concerning purity in livelihood and the management of property. In the early period of Buddhism, bhikkhus were allowed to possess basic requisites, the four necessities of clothing, bowl, lodging, and medicinal herbs, but were forbidden to trade or build wealth, in order to avoid falling into desire and straying from the path of practice.
Main Content
The Rūpiyasaṁvohāra Sutra prescribes that bhikkhus are not permitted to engage in trading with money or valuable property. In particular, directly handling money (rūpiya), whether gold, silver, or other kinds of currency, is considered a violation of the rule of practice.
This principle reflects the difference between monastic life and lay life. Those who leave the household life to follow the Buddhadharma have given up material profit and the economic responsibilities of laypeople. If a bhikkhu begins to trade, he will fall into a state of greed and competition and lose collectedness in meditation. Moreover, such conduct will damage the trust of the lay community (upāsakas and upāsikās), who make offerings to the Sangha.
The text does not allow a bhikkhu to receive money into his own hands when it is offered, nor may he actively seek or use money to buy and sell goods. When necessary, bhikkhus should ask faithful lay stewards (kappiyakāraka) to help obtain requisites.
🌏 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.