Bu Pc 8787. Making an inappropriate bed or bench
Pāli / Sanskrit:Mañcapīṭha
A monk who makes a bed with long legs must shorten them and confess the offense.
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Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Great Analysis
The chapter on offenses entailing confession The subchapter on precious things 87. Making an inappropriate bed or bench
Origin story
At one time when the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery, Venerable Upananda the Sakyan was sleeping on a high bed. On one occasion, as the Buddha and a number of monks were walking about the dwellings, they came to Upananda’s dwelling. Upananda saw the Buddha coming and said to him, “Sir, please come and see my bed.” The Buddha turned around on the spot and addressed the monks: “A fool, monks, can be recognized by his sleeping place.”
After rebuking Upananda in many ways, the Buddha spoke in dispraise of being difficult to support … “And, monks, this training rule should be recited like this:
Final ruling
‘If a monk is having a new bed or bench made, it is to have legs eight standard fingerbreadths long below the lowest frame. If the legs exceed that, they are to be cut down, and he commits an offense entailing confession.’”
Definitions
New: newly made is what is meant. A bed: there are four kinds of beds: one with legs and frame, called masāraka; one with legs and frame, called bundikābaddha; one with crooked legs; one with detachable legs. A bench: there are four kinds of benches: one with legs and frame, called masāraka; one with legs and frame, called bundikābaddha; one with crooked legs; one with detachable legs. Is having made: making it himself or having it made. It is to have legs eight standard fingerbreadths long below the lowest frame: apart from the lowest frame. If he makes one, or has one made, that exceeds that, then for the effort there is an act of wrong conduct. When he gets it, the legs are to be cut down, and he is then to confess an offense entailing confession.
Permutations
If he finishes what he began himself, he commits an offense entailing confession. If he has others finish what he began himself, he commits an offense entailing confession. If he finishes himself what was begun by others, he commits an offense entailing confession. If he has others finish what was begun by others, he commits an offense entailing confession.
If he makes one or has one made for the benefit of someone else, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.
If he gets one that was made by someone else and then uses it, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if he makes it the right height; if he makes it lower than the right height; if he gets one made by another that exceeds the right height and then cuts the legs down before using it; if he is insane; if he is the first offender.
The training rule on making an inappropriate bed or bench, the fifth, 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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