1. Now at that time Vaddha the Likkhavi was a friend of the Bhikkhus who were
followers of Mettiya and Bhummagaka 1. Now Vaddha the Likkhavi 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 Bhummagaka 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 Vaddha. 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,
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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 Vaddha the Likkhavi, accepting the word of the
followers of Mettiya and Bhummagaka. 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-samgha, and asked the venerable Dabba the Mallian:
'Are you conscious 1, Dabba, of having done such a thing as this Vaddha 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 Samgha,
O Bhikkhus, turn the bowl down 2 in respect of Vaddha the Likkhavi,
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and make him incapable of granting an alms to the Samgha 1.
'There are eight things, O Bhikkhus, which when they characterise an Upâsaka,
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 Samgha. I allow
you, O Bhikkhus, to turn down the bowl in respect of an Upâsaka who is
characterised by these eight things 2.'
4. 'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is the bowl to be turned down. Some able and discreet
Bhikkhu is to lay the matter before the Samgha, saying,
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'"Let the venerable Samgha hear me. Vaddha the Likkhavi has brought a groundless
charge against the venerable Dabba the Mallian of a breach of morality. If the
time seems meet to the Samgha, let the Samgha turn down the bowl as respects
Vaddha the Likkhavi, and make him as one who has no dealings with the Samgha.
'"This is the motion (ñatti).
'"Vaddha the Likkhavi has brought a groundless charge against Dabba the Mallian
of a breach of morality. The Samgha turns down the bowl as respects Vaddha the
Likkhavi, and makes him as one who has no dealings with the Samgha. Whosoever of
the venerable ones approves of the bowl being turned down as regards Vaddha the
Likkhavi, and of making him as one who has no dealings with the Samgha, let him
keep silence. Whosoever approves not thereof, let him speak.
'"The bowl is turned down by the Samgha as regards Vaddha the Likkhavi, he is as
one who has no dealings with the Samgha. The Samgha approves thereof. Therefore
is it silent. Thus do I understand."'
5. Then the venerable Ânanda, having dressed himself early in the morning, went,
duly bowled and robed, to the residence of Vaddha the Likkhavi. And when he had
come there he spake to Vaddha the Likkhavi, and said: 'The bowl, friend Vaddha,
has been turned down by the Samgha as regards you, and you are as one who has no
dealings with the Samgha.' And Vaddha the Likkhavi, on hearing that saying,
immediately 1 fainted and fell.
p. 122
'Then the friends and companions of Vaddha the Likkhavi, and his relatives of
one blood with him, said to him: 'It is enough, friend Vaddha. Weep not, neither
lament. We will reconcile 1 the Blessed One to you, and the Order of Bhikkhus.'
And Vaddha the Likkhavi, 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 2, to the end that I may in future restrain
myself therefrom 3.'
'Verily, O friend Vaddha, 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 Vaddha, 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 Vaddha, is the advantage of
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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 1.'
6. Then the Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus, and said: 'Let then the Samgha
turn up the bowl again as regards Vaddha the Likkhavi, and make him as one who
has dealings with the Samgha.
'There are eight things, O Bhikkhus, which when they characterise an Upâsaka 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 Samgha.
7. 'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is the bowl to be turned up 2. That Vaddha the
Likkhavi should go before the Samgha, with his upper robe arranged over one
shoulder 3, and squatting down, and raising
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his hands with the palms joined together, should speak as follows:
'"The bowl has been turned down against me, Sirs, by the Samgha, and I am become
as one having no dealings with the Samgha. I am conducting myself, Sirs, aright
in accordance thereto, and am broken in spirit 1, and I seek for release; and I
request the Samgha 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 Samgha,
saying,
'"Let the venerable Samgha hear me. The bowl has been turned down by the Samgha
against Vaddha the Likkhavi, and he is conducting himself aright in accordance
thereto, and is broken in spirit, and seeks for release, and requests the Samgha
for a turning up again of the bowl. If the time seems meet to the Samgha, let
the Samgha turn up the bowl again as regards Vaddha the Likkhavi, and make him
as one who has dealings with the Samgha.
'"This is the motion (ñatti).
'"Let the venerable Samgha hear me. The bowl has been turned down (&c., as
before), and he is conducting himself (&c., as before), and he requests the
Samgha (&c., as before). The Samgha turns up again the bowl as regards Vaddha
the Likkhavi, and makes him as one who has dealings with the
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[paragraph continues] Samgha. 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 Samgha as regards Vaddha the Likkhavi, and
he is as one who has dealings with the Samgha. The Samgha approves thereof.
Therefore is it silent. Thus do I understand."'
Footnotes
118:1 These are two of the Khabbaggiya Bhikkhus; and the evil deeds of the
followers form the subject of Kullavagga IV, 4, 5 and following sections. Our
sections 1, 2 are nearly the same as g 8, 9 there.
119:1 See the note above on IV, 4, 9.
119:2 Pattam nikkuggatu. 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 agokaro, 'an unlawful resort.' (Kullavagga VIII,
1, 2.)
120:1 Asambhogam samghena karotu. This phrase is used in regard to a Bhikkhu at
Kullavagga 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 anâpatti at Mahâvagga 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 Upâsaka
never, under any circumstances, either eats or dwells together with the Bhikkhus
(in Pâkittiya 5 the reference is to sâmaneras), the meaning here must be to make
him one who has no dealings with the Samgha, to withdraw his privilege of
providing food or lodging for the Samgha. The sabhoganam kulam in the 43rd
Pâkittiya has probably nothing to do with this.
120:2 When a Bhikkhu behaves towards the laity in any one of the first five of
these eight ways the Patisâraniya-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.
121:1 Literally, 'on that very spot.'
122:1 This is precisely the expression made use of in the converse case, when a
Bhikkhu has offended against the laity. See I, 22, 3.
122:2 Akkayam akkayato patiganhâtu. See the parallel passages in Mahâvagga IX,
1, 9; Kullavagga VII, 3, 6, &c.
122:3 Âyatim samvarâya. So also above of an offending Bhikkhu, IV, 14, 30.
123:1 Samvaram âpaggati. Compare the use of vikappam âpaggeyya in the 8th
Nissaggiya.
123:2 The following paragraphs are precisely the same as those in which the
revocation of the Tagganiya-kamma is described in the reverse case of a Bhikkhu,
above, I, 8.
123:3 Ekamsam uttarâsaṅgam karitvâ. Unless these words have been introduced by
mistake from the corresponding passage in I, 8 (which is not probable), they
show that the uttarâsaṅga (on which see the note on Mahâvagga VIII, 13, 4) was
also worn by laymen. But this is the only passage known to p. 124 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.
124:1 Lomam pâtemi. See the note on Cullavagga I, 6, 1.
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