Bu Sk 1919. Swaying the head
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sīsappacālaka
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Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Great Analysis
The chapter on training The subchapter on laughing loudly 19. Swaying the head
Origin story
At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery. At that time the monks from the group of six were swaying and tilting their heads while walking in inhabited areas. …
Final ruling
“‘I will not sway my head while walking in inhabited areas,’ this is how you should train.”
One should not sway one’s head while walking in an inhabited area; one should walk keeping one’s head straight. If a monk, out of disrespect, sways and tilts his head while walking in an inhabited area, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if it is unintentional; if he is not mindful; if he does not know; if he is sick; if there is an emergency; if he is insane; if he is the first offender.
The ninth training rule 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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