The Bhikkhus Rules

A Guide for Laypeople

by Bhikkhu Ariyesako | 1998 | 50,970 words

The Theravadin Buddhist Monk's Rules compiled and explained by: Bhikkhu Ariyesako Discipline is for the sake of restraint, restraint for the sake of freedom from remorse, freedom from remorse for the sake of joy, joy for the sake of rapture, rapture for the sake of tranquillity, tranquillity for the sake of pleasure, pleasure for the sake of conce...

The above sections have dealt with food (yaavakaalika) but as has been already mentioned fruit juices are considered under a different category. (See above, The Four Sorts of Edibles.) Although bhikkhus should not eat fruit — which is food — after midday, they can drink the fruit juice any time throughout the day. However, they cannot store fruit juice beyond that single day. This is called yaamakaalika and is a juice drink made from crushed fruit, which is then carefully strained of any pulp or particles.[1] (The Vinayamukha (EV) Commentary suggests that it could not be stored beyond the next dawn because sugar mixed in with the fruit juice might lead to slight fermentation.)

When offering fruit juice it is important that it is well strained so that no pulp or fruit particles remain, for the fruit itself counts as food and so cannot be consumed in the afternoon. Some places in Thailand will strain the juice in a cloth filter seven times to make sure, but the main point is that the filter is fine enough.[2]

"Juice drinks include the freshly squeezed juice of sugar cane, lotus root, all fruits except grain, all leaves except cooked vegetables, and all flowers except the [bassia latifolia] (Mahaavagga.VI.35.6). According to the Commentary, the juice must be strained, and may be warmed by sunlight but not heated over a fire."

(BMC p.339)

Some communities will not accept fruit juice made from large fruits:

"In discussing the Great Standards, the Commentary says that grain is a "great fruit," and thus the juice of any one of nine large fruits — palmyra fruit, coconut, jack fruit, breadfruit, bottle gourd, white gourd, musk melon, water melon, and squash — would fall under the same class as the juice of grain... From this judgment, many Communities [in Thailand] infer that the juice of any large fruit, such as pineapple or grapefruit, would also be classed as a non staple food [and therefore could not be consumed in the afternoon.]"

(BMC p.339)

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Eight varieties are mentioned in the Paali: mango juice, roseapple juice, juice from two types of bananas, honey tree juice, persimmon or grape juice, lotus root juice, marian plum or lychee juice.

[2]:

The traditional way of making these juices is that "the ripe fruit should be peeled or cut open and the flesh removed and bound up in a cloth and then squeezed hard so that the juice comes out, leaving the (remains of the) flesh in the cloth, after which sufficient water should be added, mixing in other things such as sugar or salt to taste. Other [than for the honey tree juice, water need not be added]. The fruit should be fresh and it is prohibited to cook it over a fire." (EV,II,p.137)

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