The great chapter (PLI-TV-KD1)

64. The four supports

“Straightaway the time should be noted and the date should be pointed out. These should be declared jointly to everyone. And the four supports should be pointed out to him:⁶⁸

‘One gone forth is supported by almsfood.

You should persevere with this for life.

There are these additional allowances:

a meal for the Sangha, a meal for designated monks, an invitational meal, a meal for which lots are drawn, a half-monthly meal, a meal on the observance day, and a meal on the day after the observance day.

One gone forth is supported by rag robes.

You should persevere with this for life.

There are these additional allowances:

linen, cotton, silk, wool, sunn hemp, and hemp.

One gone forth is supported by the foot of a tree as a resting place.

You should persevere with this for life.

There are these additional allowances:

a dwelling, a stilt house, and a cave.⁶⁹

One gone forth is supported by medicine of fermented urine.

You should persevere with this for life.

There are these additional allowances:

ghee, butter, oil, honey, and syrup.’”

The four supports are finished.

65. The four things not to be done

On one occasion, the monks gave the full ordination to someone and then departed.

The newly ordained monk lagged behind, walking by himself. On the way he met his old wife.

She said,

“Have you now gone forth?”

“Yes.”

“It’s difficult for those gone forth to get sex.

Come, let’s have intercourse.”

He had intercourse with her.

When he caught up with the monks, they asked him what had taken him so long.

He told them what had happened,

and they told the Buddha.

“When you have given the full ordination to someone, you should give him a companion and point out the four things not to be done:

A monk who’s fully ordained shouldn’t have sexual intercourse, not even with an animal.

If he has sexual intercourse, he’s not an ascetic, not a Sakyan monastic.

Just as a man with his head cut off is unable to continue living by reconnecting it to the body,

so too is a monk who has had sexual intercourse not an ascetic, not a Sakyan monastic.

You shouldn’t do this for as long as you live.

A monk who’s fully ordained shouldn’t steal, not even a straw.

If he steals a pāda coin, the value of a pāda, or more than a pāda, he’s not an ascetic, not a Sakyan monastic.

Just as a fallen, withered leaf is incapable of becoming green again,

so too is a monk who, intending to steal, takes an ungiven pāda coin, the value of a pāda, or more than a pāda not an ascetic, not a Sakyan monastic.

You shouldn’t do this for as long as you live.

A monk who’s fully ordained shouldn’t intentionally kill a living being, not even a small insect.

If he intentionally kills a human being, even causing an abortion, he’s not an ascetic, not a Sakyan monastic.

Just as an ordinary stone that has broken in half cannot be put back together again,

so too is a monk who has intentionally killed a human being not an ascetic, not a Sakyan monastic.

You shouldn’t do this for as long as you live.

A monk who’s fully ordained shouldn’t claim a superhuman quality, not even just saying, ‘I delight in solitude.’

If, because he has bad desires and is overcome by desire, he claims to have a non-existent superhuman quality—whether absorption, release, stillness, attainment, path, or fruit—he’s not an ascetic, not a Sakyan monastic.

Just as a palm tree with its crown cut off is incapable of further growth,

so too is a monk with bad desires, overcome by desire, who claims to have non-existent superhuman quality not an ascetic, not a Sakyan monastic.

You shouldn’t do this for as long as you live.”

The four things not to be done are finished.

66. The one ejected for not recognizing an offense

At one time a certain monk disrobed after being ejected for not recognizing an offense.

He then returned and asked the monks for the full ordination.

They told the Buddha.

“When a monk disrobes after being ejected for not recognizing an offense,

but then returns and asks the monks for the full ordination,

he should be asked,

‘Will you recognize that offense?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be given the going forth.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been given the going forth, he should be asked again,

‘Will you recognize that offense?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be given the full ordination.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been given the full ordination, he should be asked again,

‘Will you recognize that offense?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be readmitted.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been readmitted, he should be asked again,

‘Do you recognize that offense?’

If he recognizes it, it’s good.

If he doesn’t recognize it and you’re unanimous, he should be ejected once more.

If you’re not unanimous, there’s no offense in living with him or in doing formal meetings of the community together.⁷⁰

“When a monk disrobes after being ejected for not making amends for an offense,

but then returns and asks the monks for the full ordination,

he should be asked,

‘Will you make amends for that offense?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be given the going forth.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been given the going forth, he should be asked again,

‘Will you make amends for that offense?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be given the full ordination.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been given the full ordination, he should be asked again,

‘Will you make amends for that offense?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be readmitted.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been readmitted, he should be told,

‘Make amends for that offense.’

If he does, it’s good.

If he doesn’t and you’re unanimous, he should be ejected once more.

If you’re not unanimous, there’s no offense in living with him or in doing formal meetings of the community together.

“When a monk disrobes after being ejected for not giving up a bad view,

but then returns and asks the monks for the full ordination,

he should be asked,

‘Will you give up that bad view?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be given the going forth.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been given the going forth, he should be asked again,

‘Will you give up that bad view?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be given the full ordination.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been given the full ordination, he should be asked again,

‘Will you give up that bad view?’

If he says, ‘I will,’ he should be readmitted.

If he says, ‘I won’t,’ he should not.

When he’s been readmitted, he should be told,

‘Give up that bad view.’

If he does, it’s good.

If he doesn’t and you’re unanimous, he should be ejected once more.

If you’re not unanimous, there’s no offense in living with him or in doing formal meetings of the community together.”

The great chapter, the first, is finished.

This is the summary:⁷¹

“In the great Monastic Law,⁷²

Which brings happiness to those who are good,

Restrains those who have bad desires,⁷³

And helps those with a sense of conscience;⁷⁴

And which is for the upkeep of Buddhism,

In the sphere of the Omniscient Victor,

Not within range of anyone else;

Which is safe, carefully laid down, without doubt—

That is, the Chapters and the Monastic Law,

The Compendium and the Key Terms—⁷⁵

In this the skillful who does what’s beneficial,

Practices wisely.

One who doesn’t understand cattle,

Doesn’t guard the herd;

In the same way, not understanding virtue,

How would one guard restraint?

When the discourses are forgotten,

And the same for philosophy,

But the Monastic Law isn’t lost,

Then Buddhism still remains.

Therefore, for the purpose of making a collection,

I’ll expound the summary, successively,

According to the right method.

Listen to me speak:

Topic, origin story, offense,

Method, and repetition.

It’s hard to complete without remainder—⁷⁶

You should know it from the method.”

“Bodhi tree, and ape-flower tree,

The goatherd’s tree, Sahamapati

The supreme being, Ālāra, Udaka,

And monk, the sage Upaka.

Koṇḍañña, Vappa, Bhaddiya,

And Mahānāma, Assaji;

Yasa, four, fifty,

He sent all to the districts.

Topic, with the lords of death, and thirty,

Uruvelā, three dreadlocked ascetics;

Fire hut, great kings,

Sakka, and the supreme being, the whole.

Rag, pond,

And boulder, arjun tree, boulder;

Rose-apple tree, and mango tree, emblic myrobalan tree,

And he brought an orchid tree flower.

May they split, may they be lit,

And may they be extinguished, Kassapa;

They immersed themselves, coal pans, cloud,

Gayā, and Cane, of Magadha.

Upatissa and Kolita,

And the well-known went forth;

Shabbily dressed, dismissal,

The thin and haggard brahmin.

He misbehaved,

Stomach, young brahmin, group;

Seniority, by those who are ignorant, went away,

Ten years of formal support.

They did not conduct themselves, to dismiss,

The ignorant, ending, five, six;

He who was from another religion, and naked,

Uncut, dreadlocked ascetic, and Sakyan.

The five diseases in Magadha,

And one king, finger;⁷⁷

And (the king) of Magadha declared,

Prison, wanted, whipped.

Branded, debt, and slave,

Shaven, Upāli, deadly disease;

Family with faith, and Kaṇṭaka,

And the obscure.

To live, the boy, the training,

And they were, which;

The whole, the mouth, the preceptors,

Luring away, Kaṇṭaka.

Paṇḍakas, theft, and left,

And serpent, about mother, father;

Perfected one, nun, and schism,

And with blood, gynandromorph.

Without preceptor, and with the Sangha,

Group, paṇḍaka, and one without almsbowl;

Without robe, both of them,

Also the same three with borrowed.

Hand, foot, hand and foot,

Ear, nose, both of them;

Finger, toe, and tendon,

Joined, and hunchback, dwarf.

Goiter, and branded,

Whipped, wanted, and elephantiasis;

Serious, and abnormal appearance,

Blind in one eye, and so crooked limb.

Lame, and paralyzed on one side,

Who is crippled;

Old age, blind, mute, and deaf,

And in regard to the blind and mute.

What is called blind and deaf,

And mute and deaf;

And blind, mute, and deaf,

And formal support for the shameless.

And should live, so traveling,

By one who is asked, notice;⁷⁸

Please come, they argued,

With one preceptor, Kassapa.

And ordained people were seen

Oppressed by sicknesses;

The uninstructed were embarrassed,

Instructing just there.

And so in the Sangha, then the ignorant,

And not appointed, together;

Please lift up, full ordination,

Support, by himself, three.”

In this chapter there are one hundred and seventy-two topics.

The great chapter is finished.