Bu Sk 2626. Clasping the knees
Pāli / Sanskrit:Pallatthika
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Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Great Analysis
The chapter on training The subchapter on hands on hips 26. Clasping the knees
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 clasping their knees while sitting in inhabited areas. …
Final ruling
“‘I will not clasp my knees while sitting in inhabited areas,’ this is how you should train.”
One should not clasp one’s knees while sitting in an inhabited area. If a monk, out of disrespect, clasps his knees with his hands or with a cloth while sitting 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 he has entered his dwelling; if there is an emergency; if he is insane; if he is the first offender.
The sixth 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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