Xct Mu Bu Vb Sk 72Washing Water With Rice
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sasitthaka
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Discourse on Rice-Washing Water (Sasitthaka)
Background
The Sasitthaka Sutta is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, specifically in the Mahāvagga, the Great Division of the Vinaya. It is not a sermon in the ordinary sense, but a rule concerning the discipline of communal life in the Sangha. This discourse reflects concrete situations in the practice life of bhikkhus, where the Buddha gave guidance on how to act wisely and appropriately according to the actual circumstances.
The background of the discourse arose from events in the early monastic organization, when the Sangha was developing and needed clear rules to govern communal life. Rice-washing water (sasitthaka, water left after washing rice) seems like a simple subject, yet it carries deep significance concerning integrity, responsibility, and the use of communal property belonging to the Sangha.
Main Content
In the Vinaya Piṭaka, this discourse concerns regulations on the use and management of small properties in the practice community, especially daily materials such as rice-washing water. Buddhists or bhikkhus should not waste or disregard the property of the Sangha, however small it may be. This rice-washing water may be used to water plants, wash implements, or serve other purposes without causing waste.
This rule reflects a principle of the practice life in Theravāda Buddhism: one should not waste property, whether personal or communal. It is also a way of expressing meditation (jhāna) in daily life, mindfulness (sati) when using any item, even rice-washing water. Every action is performed with full awareness, without wastefulness or heedlessness.
The rules in this section also express fairness and respect within the Sangha. When everyone, from the senior bhikkhu to the newcomer learning the Dharma, follows such small rules, a self-disciplined community is formed, without the need for external compulsion.
🌏 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.