Bu Sk 6767. Covering the head
Pāli / Sanskrit:Oguṇṭhita
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Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Great Analysis
The chapter on training The subchapter on shoes 67. Covering 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 gave teachings to people with covered heads. …
Final ruling
“‘I will not give a teaching to anyone with a covered head who is not sick,’ this is how you should train.”
Definitions
With a covered head: the upper robe covering the head is what is meant.
One should not give a teaching to anyone with a covered head who is not sick. If a monk, out of disrespect, gives a teaching to someone with a covered head 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 he teaches the person after having them uncover their head; if there is an emergency; if he is insane; if he is the first offender.
The seventh 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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