Cullavagga - Ninth Khandhaka: Chapter 2

1. Now the Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus, and said: 'Now henceforth I, O
Bhikkhus, will not hold Uposatha, nor recite the Pâtimokkha; let you yourselves,
O Bhikkhus, henceforth hold Uposatha and recite the Pâtimokkha. It is, O
Bhikkhus, an impossible thing and an inexpedient that the Tathâgata should hold
Uposatha and recite the Pâtimokkha before an assembly which is not pure. And the
Pâtimokkha, O Bhikkhus, is not to be listened to by one who has committed an
offence. Whosoever shall so listen to it, shall be guilty of a dukkata. I allow
you, O Bhikkhus, for whomsoever shall listen to the Pâtimokkha at a time when he
is guilty, to interdict for him the Pâtimokkha 1.
'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is it to be interdicted. On the day of Uposatha, on the
fourteenth or fifteenth day of the month, and at a time when that individual is
present, thus shall it be proposed in the midst of the Samgha:
'"Let the venerable Samgha hear me. Such and such an individual is guilty of an
offence. For him
p. 307
do I interdict the Pâtimokkha to the effect that it shall not be recited when he
is present. The Pâtimokkha is accordingly interdicted."'



Footnotes
306:1 Pâtimokkham thapetum: exactly analogous to pavâranam thapetum at Mahâvagga
IV, 16, 2. H.O. has already pointed out (in his 'Buddha,' p. 381, note 2) that
we have evidently here a later innovation. The whole frame of the Pâtimokkha
shows that it was at first intended that a guilty Bhikkhu should confess his
offence during the recitation, if he had not done so before,