Monks’ Expiation (Pācittiya) 62 (PLI-TV-BU-VB-PC62)

… at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Now at that time the group of six monks knowingly made use of water that contained living things. Those who were modest monks … spread it about, saying:

“How can this group of six monks knowingly make use of water that contains living things?” …

“Is it true, as is said, that you, monks, knowingly made use of water that contained living things?”

“It is true, lord.”

The enlightened one, the lord, rebuked them, saying:

“How can you, foolish men, knowingly make use of water that contains living things? It is not, foolish men, for pleasing those who are not (yet) pleased … And thus, monks, this rule of training should be set forth:

“Whatever monk should knowingly make use of water that contains living things, there is an offence of expiation.”

Whatever means: … monk is to be understood in this case.

He knows means: he knows by himself or others tell him.

That contains living things means: if, knowing (this), he makes use of it knowing that “they will die from (this) use,” there is an offence of expiation.

If he thinks that it contains living things when it contains living things (and) makes use of it, there is an offence of expiation. If he is in doubt as to whether it contains living things (and) makes use of it, there is an offence of wrong-doing. If he thinks that it does not contain living things when it contains living things (and) makes use of it, there is no offence. If he thinks that it contains living things when it does not contain living things, there is an offence of wrong-doing. If he is in doubt as to whether it does not contain living things, there is an offence of wrong-doing. If he thinks that it does not contain living things when it does not contain living things, there is no offence.

There is no offence if he makes use of it not knowing that it contains living things, knowing that it does not contain living things, knowing that they will not die from this use; if he is mad, if he is the first wrongdoer.

The Second

The Book of the Discipline was translated by I.B. Horner.

Digital edition prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato

A complete digital edition can be downloaded here.

Published in 2014 by SuttaCentral.

Originally published by the Pali Text Society in the following years:

Vol. 1: 1938

Vol. 2: 1940

Vol. 3: 1942

Vol. 4: 1951

Vol. 5: 1950

Vol. 6: 1966

In May 2013, these volumes were kindly released by the Pali Text Society under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 licence (CC BY-NC 3.0). The current digital edition, including all revisions, corrections, additions, and modifications, is released under the same terms, which are as follows.

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.