Mahavagga - Sixth Khandhaka: Chapter 22

1. Now when the Blessed One had remained at Sâvatthi as long as he thought fit,
he went forth on his journey to Râgagaha. And wandering straight on he arrived
at Râgagaha: and there at Râgagaha he stayed at the Veluvana in the
Kalandaka-nivâpa.
Now at that time a certain Bhikkhu was suffering from fistula 4. And the
physician (named) Âkâsa-gotta lanced it. And the Blessed One when he
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was going round through the sleeping-places came to the place where that Bhikkhu
dwelt.
2. Âkâsa-gotta, the physician, saw the Blessed One coming from afar; and when he
saw him he said to the Blessed One: 'Let the venerable Gotama come and look at
this Bhikkhu's orifice; it is like the mouth of an iguana!' And the Blessed One
thinking, 'This foolish fellow is making fun of me,' kept silence and turned
away. And in that connection, and on account of that, he called a meeting of the
Bhikkhu-samgha, and asked the Bhikkhus: Is there, O Bhikkhus, in that Vihâra a
Bhikkhu who is sick?'
'There is, Lord.'
'What is the matter, O Bhikkhus, with that Bhikkhu?'
'That venerable one, Lord, has a fistula, and Âkâsa-gotta, the physician, has
been lancing it.'
3. The Blessed Buddha rebuked (that Bhikkhu), saying, 'This is improper, O
Bhikkhus, for that foolish one, unbecoming, indecent, unworthy of Samanas, not
allowable, and ought not to be done. How can this foolish fellow, O Bhikkhus,
allow a surgical operation to be performed in that part of his body 1? The skin
there, O Bhikkhus, is tender, the wound is difficult to treat, the knife is
difficult to guide. This will not redound, O Bhikkhus, to the conversion of the
unconverted.'
And having rebuked him, the Blessed One, after delivering a religious discourse,
said to the Bhikkhus: You are not, O Bhikkhus, to allow a surgical operation to
be performed upon you in that part
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of your bodies. Whosoever allows that, is guilty of a thullakkaya offence.'
4. Now at that time the Khabbaggiya Bhikkhus, since a surgical operation had
been forbidden by the Blessed One, used a clyster 1.
They told this thing to the Blessed One.
'Is it true, as they say, O Bhikkhus, that the Khabbaggiya Bhikkhus use a
clyster?'
'It is true, Lord.'
He rebuked them, and having delivered a religious discourse, said to the
Bhikkhus: 'No surgical operation is to be performed within a distance of two
inches round the anus, and a clyster is not to be used. Whosoever does so, is
guilty of a thullakkaya offence 2.'



Footnotes
78:4 Compare VIII, 1, 14.
79:1 Sambâdhe.
80:1 Vatthikamma. See Wise, 'Hindu Medicine,' pp. 143 and following.
80:2 Surgical operations are allowed in 14. 5 and below.