In Buddhism

General definition (in Buddhism)

Source: Dhamma Dana: The 13 Ascetic Practices of Buddhist Monks

One of the Thirteen Dhutaygas.

The Pali term "sapadanacara means "circulating without skipping any house, that is to say proceeding from house to house, while refraining from crossing one without stopping.

"dana = "fact to cross houses (in another context, this term means "donation") ; "apadana" = "not to skip houses"; "sapadana" = "all houses, one after another, without skipping any"

The bhikkhu who cultivates the habit of collecting his food while stopping in front of every house, without skipping any, is therefore called "dhutayga". When this practice is conveniently done, with diligence and steadiness, with the determination of not breaking it, we say that there is "sapadanacarikayga" (a state of mind related to the food collection without skipping any house).

The bhikkhu who adopts this dhutayga stops in front of all houses found on his way, even in front of those where it is likely that nobody will give him anything whatsoever. The bhikkhu can stop in front of the houses of a street, only if he stopped in front of all houses of the street where he finds himself. He can choose the street where to proceed to, but must stop in front of all houses found on his way from his vihara onward. As soon as he obtains his food in sufficient quantity, he stops his collection round. As soon as he already retraced his steps, the bhikkhu can accept the food that people come to bring him, but he mustn stop anywhere whatsoever.

According to restrictions, there do exist three kinds of practitioners of the sapadanacarika dhutayga:

1. ukkattha sapadanacarika, the noble practitioner of the sapadanacarika dhutayga
2. majjhima sapadanacarika, the intermediate practitioner of the sapadanacarika dhutayga
3. mudu sapadanacarika, the ordinary practitioner of the sapadanacarika dhutayga

Languages of India and abroad

Pali-English dictionary

Source: BuddhaSasana: Concise Pali-English Dictionary

sapadānacārikā : (f.) to go on alms-begging not leaving a single house in his course.

context information

Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Ends with: Majjhima Sapadanacarika, Mudu Sapadanacarika, Ukkattha Sapadanacarika.

Full-text: Mudu Sapadanacarika, Majjhima Sapadanacarika, Ukkattha Sapadanacarika, Dhutayga.

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