Mpt Sk 45Na anāgate khādanīyabhojanīye pātram upanāmayiṣyāma
Pāli / Sanskrit:Na anāgate khādanīyabhojanīye pātram upanāmayiṣyāma
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Commentary on the Vinaya: Na anāgate khādanīyabhojanīye pātram upanāmayiṣyāma
Background
The Vinaya Piṭaka is the collection of rules of virtue and discipline for the Buddhist monastic community. This text belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically the Mpt Sk 45 section, within the system of rules governing the daily life of bhikkhus. The title states clearly: “One should not set out a bowl in advance for food” — one of the detailed regulations intended to train the mind, establish discipline, and protect the contemplative solitude of the Sangha.
In the Theravāda Early Buddhist tradition, the Vinaya Piṭaka is regarded as the foundation of moral training (sīla, or precepts and discipline). These rules are not rigid punishments, but appropriate measures established by the Buddha after particular events, with the purpose of nurturing wisdom, reducing delusion, and safeguarding stability of mind.
Main Content
This rule concerns the act of preparing and calculating greedily about food. When a bhikkhu sets out a bowl (pātram) to contain edible food (khādanīya bhojanīye) for a near or distant future time, that act is regarded as a stirring of ambition and anxious anticipation in the mind.
According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, monastics should not store food or prepare containers out of desire for food in the days to come. The core principle of a monastic is to live with little, to be content, and not to allow the mind to fall into a state of planning and greed for sensual pleasures in life. The bowl used by a bhikkhu is only an instrument for receiving alms from the community; it is not a personal possession or a tool for nourishing ambition.
When the mind continually thinks about what it will eat tomorrow or in the following days, it separates itself from the present, from full attention. This weakens meditation and increases mental agitation. Therefore, not setting out the bowl in readiness is a way of cutting short the chain of ambition at its root.
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