Bu Pc 5252. Tickling
Pāli / Sanskrit:Aṅgulipatodaka
A monk who tickles another monk must confess the offense.
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Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Great Analysis
The chapter on offenses entailing confession The subchapter on drinking alcohol 52. Tickling
Origin story
On one occasion when the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery, the monks from the group of six tickled one of the monks from the group of seventeen to make him laugh. Not being able to catch his breath, he died.
The monks of few desires complained and criticized them, “How could the monks from the group of six tickle a monk to make him laugh?” … “Is it true, monks, that you did this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked them … “Foolish men, how could you do this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, this training rule should be recited like this:
Final ruling
‘If a monk tickles someone, he commits an offense entailing confession.’”
Definitions
Tickles someone: if one who is fully ordained makes physical contact with another who is fully ordained, body to body, with the aim of making him laugh, he commits an offense entailing confession.
Permutations
If the other person is fully ordained, and he perceives him as such, and he tickles him to make him laugh, he commits an offense entailing confession. If the other person is fully ordained, but he is unsure of it, and he tickles him to make him laugh, he commits an offense entailing confession. If the other person is fully ordained, but he does not perceive him as such, and he tickles him to make him laugh, he commits an offense entailing confession.
If, with his own body, he makes physical contact with something connected to the other monk’s body, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, with something connected to his own body, he makes physical contact with the other monk’s body, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, with something connected to his own body, he makes physical contact with something connected to the other monk’s body, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.
If, by releasing something, he makes physical contact with the other monk’s body, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, by releasing something, he makes physical contact with something connected to the other monk’s body, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, by releasing something, he makes physical contact with something released by the other monk, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.
If, with his own body, he makes physical contact with the body of someone who is not fully ordained, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, with his own body, he makes physical contact with something connected to the body of someone who is not fully ordained, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, with something connected to his own body, he makes physical contact with the body of someone who is not fully ordained, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, with something connected to his own body, he makes physical contact with something connected to the body of someone who is not fully ordained, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.
If, by releasing something, he makes physical contact with the body of someone who is not fully ordained, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, by releasing something, he makes physical contact with something connected to the body of someone who is not fully ordained, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If, by releasing something, he makes physical contact with something released by someone who is not fully ordained, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.
If the other person is not fully ordained, but he perceives them as such, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If the other person is not fully ordained, but he is unsure of it, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If the other person is not fully ordained, and he does not perceive them as such, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if he is not aiming to make him laugh; if he makes physical contact with him when there is a need; if he is insane; if he is the first offender.
The training rule on tickling, the second, is finished.
The “…” is an abbreviation carried over from the Pāli original itself, called peyyāla. The early canon was memorized and recited, so passages repeated verbatim from a preceding discourse were commonly contracted to an elision mark rather than written out in full. Venerable Thích Minh Châu's translation preserves this convention. Some texts therefore look short — but that is the canonical form, not missing content or a truncated translation. The elided passages can be read in full in the preceding discourses of the same chapter.
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