Lecture 7, Lesson 1.

[Seventh lecture (uddesaya, uddeśaka): Regulation of possession (oggahapaḍimā)]

‘I shall become a Śramaṇa who owns no house, no property, no sons, no cattle, who eats what others give him; I shall commit no sinful action; Master, I renounce to accept anything that has not been given.’ Having taken such vows, (a mendicant) should not, on entering a village or scot-free town, &c., take himself, or induce others to take, or allow others to take, what has not been given. A mendicant should not take or appropriate any property, viz. an umbrella^[1] or vessel or stick, &c. (see II, 2, 3, § 2), of those monks together with whom he stays, without getting their permission, and without having inspected and wiped (the object in question); but having got their permission, and having inspected and wiped (the object in question), he may take or appropriate it^[2]. (1)

He may beg for a domicile in a traveller’s hall, &c.

(see II, 1, 8, § 2), having reflected (on its fitness for a stay); he should ask permission to take possession of it from him who is the landlord or the steward of that place: ‘Indeed, O long-lived one! for the time, and in the space which you concede us, we shall dwell here. We shall take possession of the place for as long a time as the place belongs to you; and of as much of it as belongs to you; for as many fellow-ascetics (as shall stand in need of it); afterwards we shall take to wandering^[3].’ (2)

Having got possession of some place, a mendicant should invite to that food, &c., which he himself has collected, any fellow-ascetics arriving there who follow the same rules and are zealous brethren; but he should not invite them to anything of which he has taken possession for the sake of somebody else. (3)

Having got possession of some place (in a traveller’s hall, &c.), a mendicant should offer a footstool or bench or bed or couch, which he himself has begged, to any fellow-ascetics arriving there who follow other rules than he, yet are zealous brethren; but he should not offer them anything of which he has taken possession for the sake of somebody else. (4)

Having got possession of some place in a traveller’s hall, &c., a mendicant might ask from a householder or his sons the loan of a needle or a Pippalaka^[4] or an ear-picker or a nail-parer, he should not give or lend it to somebody else; but having done that for which he wanted one of the above articles, he should go with that article there (where the householder, &c., is), and stretching out his hands or laying the article on the ground, he should, after consideration, say: ‘Here it is! here it is!’ But he should not with his own hand put it in the hand of the householder. (5)

A monk or a nun should not take possession of anything^[5] on the bare ground, on wet ground, where there are eggs, &c.; nor on pillars or such an above-ground place (II, 2, 1, § 7); nor on a wall, &c.; nor on the trunk of a tree, &c.; nor where the householder or fire or water, or women or children or cattle are, and where it is not fit for a wise man to enter or to leave, &c., nor to meditate on the law; nor where they have to pass through the householder’s abode or to which there is no road, and where it is not fit, &c.; nor where the householder or his wife, &c., bully or scold each other, &c. (see II, 2, 1, § 9, and 3, § 7); nor where they rub or anoint each other’s body with oil or ghee or butter or grease; nor where they take a bath, &c.; nor where they go about naked, &c. (all as in II, 2, 3, §§ 7-12).

This is the whole duty, &c.

Thus I say. (6-12)

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The commentator (Śīlāṅka) states that the monks in Kuṅkaṇadeśa, &c., are allowed to carry umbrellas, because of the heavy rains in that country.

[2]:

Ogiṇhejjā vā paggiṇhejjā vā. The commentators explain these words 'to take for once' (sakṛt) and 'to take repeatedly' (anekaśas). Later on the Guzerati commentator explains oggiṇhejjā by mage, he should ask.'

[3]:

Compare the corresponding precept in II, 2, 3, § 3.

[4]:

The Guzerati commentator only says that pippalaka is some utensil. The older commentators do not explain this passage.

[5]:

Oggaha.