Xct Mu Bi Pm Pc 3Malicious Talebearing
Pāli / Sanskrit:Pesuñña
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The Sutta on Malicious Speech (Pesuñña)
From the Pāli Vinaya
Background
The Sutta on Malicious Speech (Pesuñña) belongs to the Pātimokkha, the collection of basic rules that bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs must observe. In the traditional Theravāda Vinaya, this is one of the violations defined among the Pācittiya offenses, faults requiring confession, one of the seven classes of offenses according to severity.
Pesuñña, a Pāli term meaning “slander” or “ill will in speech,” is understood more broadly as malicious speech intended to create discord and division between individuals or within a community. This is a mental and verbal action forbidden in the Buddha’s Teaching, because it directly opposes the Four Immeasurables of loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity, as well as the principle of karma.
This Pācittiya rule number 3 is recorded in the context of the early community of monks and nuns, when the Buddha saw the negative consequences of malicious speech for harmony and shared progress in practice.
Main Content
According to the Theravāda tradition, the violation of malicious speech is defined as repeating words spoken by another, whether true or false, with the intention of creating discord. The important distinction between “malicious speech” (pesuñña) and other verbal faults such as false speech (musāvāda) or harsh speech (pharusa-vācā) lies in malicious intention and the divisive consequence (bheda-karaṇa-sampadā).
This rule does not forbid repeating true words if the purpose is to clarify a matter or support reconciliation. However, if a bhikkhu deliberately repeats another’s words with the wish to create conflict, even if the words are true, it is still considered a Pācittiya offense.
The text details that a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī who commits this fault must make public confession before the Sangha or before a competent bhikkhu. This is the process of sincere acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
Practical Meaning
The teaching on malicious speech in Theravāda practice is not only a formal disciplinary rule.
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