Cullavagga, Khandaka 5, Chapter 20

1. Now at that time Vaḍḍha the Licchavi was a friend of the Bhikkhus who were followers of Mettiya and Bhummajaka^[1]. Now Vaḍḍha the Licchavi went up to the place where those Bhikkhus were, and on arriving there he said to them, 'My salutation to you, Sirs!' When he had thus spoken, the Bhikkhus who were followers of Mettiya and Bhummajaka gave him no reply. And a second and a third time [he said the same words, and still received no reply].

'Wherein have I offended you, Sirs? Why do you give me no reply?'

'Therein, that you, friend, sit contented while we are being molested by Dabba the Mallian.'

'But what, Sirs, can I do?'

'If you wished it, friend, to-day even would the Blessed One expel Dabba the Mallian.'

'But what shall I do, Sirs? What is that it is in my power to do?'

'Come then, friend Vaḍḍha. Do you go up to the place where the Blessed One is, and when you have come there, say as follows: "This, Lord, is neither fit nor becoming that the very quarter of the heavens which ought to be safe, secure, and free from danger, that from that very quarter should arise danger, calamity, and distress—that where one ought to expect a calm, that just there one should meet a gale! Methinks the very water has taken fire! My wife has been defiled by Dabba the Mallian!"'

2. 'Very well, Sirs!' said Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, accepting the word of the followers of Mettiya and Bhummajaka. And he went up to the Blessed One [and spake even as he had been directed].

Then the Blessed One, on that occasion and in that connection, convened a meeting of the Bhikkhu-saṃgha, and asked the venerable Dabba the Mallian:

'Are you conscious^[2], Dabba, of having done such a thing as this Vaḍḍha says?'

'As my Lord, the Blessed One, knows.'

[And a second, and a third time, the Blessed One asked the same question, and received the same reply.]

'The Dabbas, O Dabba, do not thus repudiate. If you have done it, say so. If you have not done it, say you have not.'

'Since I was born, Lord, I cannot call to mind that I have practised sexual intercourse, even in a dream, much less when I was awake!'

3. Then the Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus, and said: 'Let then the Saṃgha, O Bhikkhus, turn the bowl down^[3] in respect of Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and make him incapable of granting an alms to the Saṃgha^[4].

'There are eight things, O Bhikkhus, which when they characterise an Upāsaka, the bowl is to be turned down in respect of him;—when he goes about to bring loss of gifts on the Bhikkhus, when he goes about to bring harm to the Bhikkhus, when he goes about to cause the Bhikkhus to want a place of residence, when he reviles or slanders the Bhikkhus, when he causes divisions between Bhikkhus and Bhikkhus;—when he speaks in dispraise of the Buddha,;—when he speaks in dispraise of the Dhamma;—when he speaks in dispraise of the Saṃgha. I allow you, O Bhikkhus, to turn down the bowl in respect of an Upāsaka who is characterised by these eight things^[5].'

4. 'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is the bowl to be turned down. Some able and discreet Bhikkhu is to lay the matter before the Saṃgha, saying,

'"Let the venerable Saṃgha hear me. Vaddha the Licchavi has brought a groundless charge against the venerable Dabba the Mallian of a breach of morality. If the time seems meet to the Saṃgha, let the Saṃgha turn down the bowl as respects Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and make him as one who has no dealings with the Saṃgha.

'"This is the motion (ñatti).

'"Vaddha the Licchavi has brought a groundless charge against Dabba the Mallian of a breach of morality. The Saṃgha turns down the bowl as respects Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and makes him as one who has no dealings with the Saṃgha. Whosoever of the venerable ones approves of the bowl being turned down as regards Vaddha the Licchavi, and of making him as one who has no dealings with the Saṃgha, let him keep silence. Whosoever approves not thereof, let him speak.

'"The bowl is turned down by the Saṃgha as regards Vaddha the Licchavi, he is as one who has no dealings with the Saṃgha. The Saṃgha approves thereof. Therefore is it silent. Thus do I understand."'

5. Then the venerable Ānanda, having dressed himself early in the morning, went, duly bowled and robed, to the residence of Vaddha the Licchavi. And when he had come there he spake to Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and said: 'The bowl, friend Vaḍḍha, has been turned down by the Saṃgha as regards you, and you are as one who has no dealings with the Saṃgha.' And Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, on hearing that saying, immediately^[6] fainted and fell.

'Then the friends and companions of Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and his relatives of one blood with him, said to him: 'It is enough, friend Vaḍḍha. Weep not, neither lament. We will reconcile^[7] the Blessed One to you, and the Order of Bhikkhus.'

And Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, with his wife and his children, and with his friends and companions, and with his relatives of one blood with him, went up, with wet garments and with streaming hair, to the place where the Blessed One was; and when he had come there, he cast himself down with his head at the feet of the Blessed One, and said: 'Sin has overcome me, Lord—even according to my weakness, according to my folly, according to my unrighteousness—in that without ground I brought a charge against Dabba the Mallian of a breach of morality. In respect thereof may my Lord the Blessed One accept the confession I make of my sin in its sinfulness^[8], to the end that I may in future restrain myself therefrom^[9].'

'Verily, O friend Vaḍḍha, sin hath overcome you—even according to your weakness, and according to your folly, and according to your unrighteousness—in that you brought without ground against Dabba the Mallian a charge of breach of morality. But since you, O friend Vaḍḍha, look upon your sin as sin, and make amends for it as is meet, we do accept at your hands your confession of it. For this, O friend Vaḍḍha, is the advantage of the discipline of the noble one, that he who looks upon his sin as sin, and makes amends for it as is meet, he becomes able in future to restrain himself therefrom^[10].'

6. Then the Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus, and said: 'Let then the Saṃgha turn up the bowl again as regards Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and make him as one who has dealings with the Saṃgha.

'There are eight things, O Bhikkhus, which when they characterise an Upāsaka the bowl should be turned up again as regards him;—when he goes not about to bring loss of gifts on the Bhikkhus, when he goes not about to bring harm to the Bhikkhus, when he goes not about to cause the Bhikkhus to want a place of residence, when he reviles or slanders not the Bhikkhus, when he causes not divisions between Bhikkhus and Bhikkhus;—when he speaks not in dispraise of the Buddha;—when he speaks not in dispraise of the Dhamma;—when he speaks not in dispraise of the Saṃgha.

7. 'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is the bowl to be turned up^[11]. That Vaḍḍha the Licchavi should go before the Saṃgha, with his upper robe arranged over one shoulder^[12], and squatting down, and raising his hands with the palms joined together, should speak as follows:

'"The bowl has been turned down against me, Sirs, by the Saṃgha, and I am become as one having no dealings with the Saṃgha. I am conducting myself, Sirs, aright in accordance thereto, and am broken in spirit^[13], and I seek for release; and I request the Saṃgha for a turning up again of the bowl."

'And a second time he is to prefer the same request, and a third time he is to prefer the same request in the same words.

'Then some discreet and able Bhikkhu should lay the matter before the Saṃgha, saying,

'"Let the venerable Saṃgha hear me. The bowl has been turned down by the Saṃgha against Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and he is conducting himself aright in accordance thereto, and is broken in spirit, and seeks for release, and requests the Saṃgha for a turning up again of the bowl. If the time seems meet to the Saṃgha, let the Saṃgha turn up the bowl again as regards Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and make him as one who has dealings with the Saṃgha.

'"This is the motion (ñatti).

'"Let the venerable Saṃgha hear me. The bowl has been turned down (&c., as before), and he is conducting himself (&c., as before), and he requests the Saṃgha (&c., as before). The Saṃgha turns up again the bowl as regards Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and makes him as one who has dealings with the Saṃgha. Whosoever of the venerable ones approves thereof, let him keep silence; whosoever approves not thereof, let him speak.

'"The bowl is turned up again by the Saṃgha as regards Vaḍḍha the Licchavi, and he is as one who has dealings with the Saṃgha. The Saṃgha approves thereof. Therefore is it silent. Thus do I understand."'

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

These are two of the Chabbaggiya Bhikkhus; and the evil deeds of the followers form the subject of Cullavagga IV, 4, 5 and following sections. Our sections 1, 2 are nearly the same as g 8, 9 there.

[2]:

See the note above on IV, 4, 9.

[3]:

Pattaṃ nikkujjatu. This phrase is used in the ordinary signification above, V, 9, 4. It is characteristic of the mildness of early Buddhism that this should be the only penalty imposed upon a layman. Compare H.O.'s remarks in his 'Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde,' pp. 391-393. The house of such a layman becomes then an agocaro, 'an unlawful resort.' (Cullavagga VIII, 1, 2.)

[4]:

Asambhogaṃ saṃghena karotu. This phrase is used in regard to a Bhikkhu at Cullavagga I, 25, 1, as the distinctive mark of the Act of Suspension (Ukkhepaniya-kamma), and there means 'depriving him of his right to eat and dwell with the other Bhikkhus.' Sambhoge anāpatti at Mahāvagga I, 79, 2 (at the end), means that it is not an offence for the Bhikkhus to eat and dwell together with a guilty Bhikkhu under certain conditions there specified. As an Upāsaka never, under any circumstances, either eats or dwells together with the Bhikkhus (in Pācittiya 5 the reference is to sāmaṇeras), the meaning here must be to make him one who has no dealings with the Saṃgha, to withdraw his privilege of providing food or lodging for the Saṃgha. The sabhojanaṃ kulaṃ in the 43rd Pācittiya has probably nothing to do with this.

[5]:

When a Bhikkhu behaves towards the laity in any one of the first five of these eight ways the Paṭisāraṇiya-kamma is to be carried out against him--that is to say, he has to ask pardon of the layman against whom he has offended. See I, 20. The whole eight recur below, § 6.

[6]:

Literally, 'on that very spot.'

[7]:

This is precisely the expression made use of in the converse case, when a Bhikkhu has offended against the laity. See I, 22, 3.

[8]:

Accayaṃ accayato paṭigaṇhātu. See the parallel passages in Mahāvagga IX, 1, 9; Cullavagga VII, 3, 6, &c.

[9]:

Āyatiṃ saṃvarāya. So also above of an offending Bhikkhu, IV, 14, 30.

[10]:

Saṃvaraṃ āpajjati. Compare the use of vikappaṃ āpajjeyya in the 8th Nissaggiya.

[11]:

The following paragraphs are precisely the same as those in which the revocation of the Tajjaniya-kamma is described in the reverse case of a Bhikkhu, above, I, 8.

[12]:

Ekaṃsaṃ uttarāsaṅgaṃ karitvā. Unless these words have been introduced by mistake from the corresponding passage in I, 8 (which is not probable), they show that the uttarāsaṅga (on which see the note on Mahāvagga VIII, 13, 4) was also worn by laymen. But this is the only passage known to us in the earlier literature in which such a use of it is mentioned or implied. Compare Rh. D.'s note on the 'Book of the Great Decease,' VI, 26.

[13]:

Lomaṃ pātemi. See the note on Cullavagga I, 6, 1.