Bu Pc 7474. Hitting in anger
Pāli / Sanskrit:Pahāra
A monk who in anger strikes 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 legitimate correction 74. Hitting in anger
Origin story
At one time the when Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery, the monks from the group of six hit the monks from the group of seventeen in anger. They cried. Other monks asked them why, and they told them what had happened.
The monks of few desires complained and criticized them, “How could the monks from the group of six hit other monks in anger?” … “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 hits a monk in anger, he commits an offense entailing confession.’”
Definitions
A: whoever … Monk: … The monk who has been given the full ordination by a unanimous Sangha through a legal procedure consisting of one motion and three announcements that is irreversible and fit to stand—this sort of monk is meant in this case. A monk: another monk. In anger: discontent, having hatred, hostile. Hits: if he hits with his body, with anything connected to his body, or with anything released, even if just with a water-lily leaf, he commits an offense entailing confession.
Permutations
If it is one who is fully ordained, and he perceives him as such, and he hits him in anger, he commits an offense entailing confession. If it is one who is fully ordained, but he is unsure of it, and he hits him in anger, he commits an offense entailing confession. If it is one who is fully ordained, but he does not perceive him as such, and he hits him in anger, he commits an offense entailing confession.
If he hits one who is not fully ordained in anger, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If it is one who is not fully ordained, but he perceives them as such, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If it is one who is not fully ordained, but he is unsure of it, he commits an offense of wrong conduct. If it is one who 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 hits in self-defense; if he is insane; if he is the first offender.
The training rule on hitting in anger, the fourth, 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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