Xct Mu Bu Pm Sk 42Receiving in Proportion
Pāli / Sanskrit:Samasūpakapaṭiggahaṇa
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Discourse on Receiving Rice in Proportion (Samasūpakapaṭiggahaṇa)
Context
This discourse is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, especially in the section prescribing discipline for monks and nuns in the Theravāda tradition. The Vinaya Piṭaka is not merely a set of rigid rules, but also an expression of the Buddha’s wisdom in guiding the Sangha body to practice loving-kindness and fairness.
Samasūpakapaṭiggahaṇa, compounded from “sama” (equal), “sūpaka” (rice, food), and “paṭiggahaṇa” (receiving), revolves around the principle of receiving offered rice fairly and without partiality. This is a practical issue monastics faced when living in the Sangha body, especially when laypeople offered food or when a monastery was provided with rice by lay supporters.
Main Content
This discourse regulates how monastics receive and share offered rice within the Sangha body so that it is fair to every member. The principle of “receiving in proportion” means that each person in the community should receive a portion of rice corresponding to their need, without favoritism or discrimination based on monastic status, age, or personal relationship.
The Buddha taught that when a monastic receives offered rice, they must maintain an impartial mind (sama-cittā). If a man or woman offers rice with the wish to support the needs of the Sangha body, that sharing must be carried out objectively, not allowing personal emotion or private preference to interfere with the process.
The important point is that observing this principle not only helps protect the unity of the Sangha body, but is also a way for monastics to train in non-greed (aloba), humility, and boundless loving-kindness (mettā). When someone receives rice according to a fair proportion, they are practicing the abandonment of greed and equality within the community of practice.
🌏 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.