San Sarv Bu Pm Tf 11 Sk 111In Water
Pāli / Sanskrit:Udakeuccāra
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
THE UDAKEUCCĀRA SUTTA (CONDUCT CONCERNING WATER)
Context
The Udakeuccāra Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, an important part of the Pāli Canon in the early Buddhist tradition. This collection of discipline records the ethical and disciplinary rules that the Buddha established for the monastic Sangha, in order to maintain purity and harmony in the practicing community.
The content of this text is recorded in materials concerning the Pātimokkha and in commentarial sections related to the conduct of bhikkhus. The period in which this text was composed was during the early years after the Buddha’s awakening, when the Sangha was still small and rules were gradually established in response to situations arising in collective practice.
Udakeuccāra in Pāli means "the use of water" or "an action related to water," reflecting the living context of Buddhist bhikkhus in a tropical environment, where water is an essential resource for daily life.
Main Content
The Udakeuccāra Sutta regulates appropriate and inappropriate actions related to the use of water in the life of practice. The Buddha instructed his disciples in how to behave when touching, using, or coming into contact with water consciously, avoiding harm to living beings in the water (udabheruva, aquatic beings).
According to the Theravāda tradition, one of the basic Five Precepts (Pañcasīla) is to abstain from killing, that is, not to destroy life. This is extended to the care and protection of small aquatic beings, beings extremely vulnerable to the daily activities of human beings.
This text teaches that bhikkhus, when using water (whether for bathing, washing dishes, or cleaning), need to be cautious and aware that in water there are countless small beings (anu-kāya-bhūta) that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Therefore, filtering water (udaka-saññāya) or examining water before use is encouraged in order to reduce unintended harm to living beings.
🌏 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.