Mpt Pc 46Staying With an Army
Pāli / Sanskrit:Senāvāsa
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Discourse on Staying With an Army (Senāvāsa)
Background
The Senāvāsa discourse (Staying With an Army) belongs to the Vinaya and reflects practical issues that bhikkhus encountered in the early Buddhist period in ancient India. At that time, kingdoms and military powers often fought one another, and monastic communities were sometimes drawn into circumstances of living near soldiers or military bases.
The fact that bhikkhus might stay with an army or near military camps raised ethical and practical challenges. This was not merely a geographical issue, but directly related to maintaining purity of discipline (sīla) and staying away from unwholesome influences from the military environment, where violence, drinking, gambling, and conduct contrary to the customs of the Sangha existed. This discourse therefore lays down specific rules so that bhikkhus can protect their own practice.
Main Content
The Senāvāsa discourse addresses the conditions and limitations connected with bhikkhus staying together with, or lodging near, an army or military units. This rule is found in the Pātimokkha, the first and most important code of the Vinaya, specifically for bhikkhus.
Specifically, the discourse states that a bhikkhu should not intentionally stay with an army for a long period, nor participate in military activities. If a bhikkhu is trapped in such a situation because of circumstances, such as being surrounded or displaced, he must make an effort to leave that environment at the proper time.
The basic reason is that military activities involve violence, killing, and living conditions unsuitable for the holy commitments (brahmacariya) that a bhikkhu has undertaken. Staying with an army may also create opportunities for bhikkhus to take part in actions that violate the precepts, or at least cause their public image to be adversely affected.
🌏 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.