Mpt Pc 62Intentionally Killing Living Creatures
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sañcicca
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Sañcicca Discourse: Intentionally Killing a Living Being
Background
The Sañcicca discourse belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically the Pātimokkha, the basic code of discipline of the Buddhist Sangha. It is one of the first five prohibitory rules and is regarded as a foundation of Buddhist virtue. The discourse was recorded from the teaching of the Buddha Gotama (Shakyamuni) when he established discipline for bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs, in order to protect life and nurture compassion in the monastic community as well as throughout the Buddhist community.
In historical context, the Buddha saw the need to establish clear rules to correct inappropriate actions by some bhikkhus. Intentionally killing living beings was considered one of the gravest actions, and therefore was classified as a Pārājika offense, one of the offenses leading to permanent expulsion from the Sangha. The Sañcicca discourse was taught in Uposatha recitations, when bhikkhus gathered to examine offenses and renew their commitment to the discipline.
Main Content
The Sañcicca discourse establishes that the Pārājika offense of killing living beings arises from three essential factors: intention (sañcicca), action (yoniso), and result (paccaya). The Buddha emphasized that it must be an intentional act, that is, the bhikkhu must clearly wish to kill a living being and must carry out that action directly or indirectly so as to lead to its death.
The discourse teaches that not every death of a living being constitutes a Pārājika offense. For example, if a bhikkhu unintentionally kills an insect while walking, this is not a Pārājika violation because intention is absent. However, if a bhikkhu knows that a basin of water contains living beings and deliberately pours poison into it to kill those beings, that action constitutes the gravest offense.
🌏 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.