Bu Sk 5959. Holding a knife
Pāli / Sanskrit:Satthapāṇi
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 slurping 59. Holding a knife
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 gave teachings to people holding knives. …
Final ruling
“‘I will not give a teaching to anyone holding a knife who is not sick,’ this is how you should train.”
Definitions
A knife: a weapon with a single-edged or double-edged blade.
One should not give a teaching to anyone holding a knife who is not sick. If a monk, out of disrespect, gives a teaching to someone holding a knife who is not sick, 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.
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.