Bu Sk 3939. Making an overlarge mouthful
Pāli / Sanskrit:Nātimahanta
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Great Analysis
The chapter on training The subchapter on respectfully 39. Making an overlarge mouthful
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 eating, making large mouthfuls. …
Final ruling
“‘I will not make mouthfuls that are too large,’ this is how you should train.”
One should not make mouthfuls that are too large. If a monk, out of disrespect, makes a large mouthful, 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 it is a fresh food; if it is any kind of fruit; if it is a non-bean curry; 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.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.