Mpt Sk 63Licking the Hands

THE SUTTA ON LICKING THE HANDS (Hatthanillehaka)

Background

The Hatthanillehaka Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Sutta Vibhaṅga section, in the early Theravāda tradition. This is one of the disciplinary suttas (vinaya-sutta) that identifies inappropriate actions and rules of training for the Buddhist community of monks and nuns. The Pāli title “Hatthanillehaka” (hatta = hand, nillehaka = licking) refers to inappropriate bodily actions by a monastic.

Historically, this sutta was recorded to address specific situations that arose in the community of monks and nuns, where new disciples needed guidance in proper actions consistent with the duties of one gone forth. The Vinaya Piṭaka was composed with the purpose of maintaining purity, preserving internal discipline, and protecting the reputation of the Sangha Jewel.

Main Content

The Hatthanillehaka Sutta deals with actions related to cleaning oneself or caring for the body in ways unsuitable to the status of one gone forth. Specifically, the sutta prohibits bhikkhus from licking their own hands, or performing similar actions to clean themselves after meals instead of using washing water. Although this action may seem harmless at first, for a monastic it is considered disrespectful toward the body and may suggest habits not yet properly cleansed from worldly life.

The sutta records that such actions, although not violations of the most serious rules (pārājika or saṅghādisesa), still need to be corrected through lesser regulations (duccarita). The purpose is not punishment, but education, helping the monastic gradually perfect conduct and thereby nurture mindfulness and concentration (sati) and control of the sense faculties (indriyasaṃvara).

The Vinaya commentary (Vinaya Aṭṭhakathā) explains that licking the hands is a coarse and improper act, easily causing others to doubt the purity of the monastic. Therefore, this rule was set forth to raise the standard of daily habits.