Chulavagga 5.20

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Adapted from the Translation by T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg

CHULAVAGGA (THE MINOR SECTION)

FIFTH KHANDHAKA (ON THE DAILY LIFE OF THE BHIKKHUS)

Chapter-20.

1. Now at that time Vaddha the Licchavi was a friend of the Bhikkhus who were followers of Mettiya and Bhummagaka. Now Vaddha the Licchavi 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].

'How have I offended you, Sirs? Why do you give me no reply?'

'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 Lord Buddha 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 Lord Buddha 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,

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 Licchavi, accepting the word of the followers of Mettiya and Bhummagaka. And he went up to the Lord Buddha [and spoke even as he had been directed].

Then the Lord Buddha, on that occasion and in that connection, convened a meeting of the Bhikkhu-sangha, and asked the venerable Dabba the Mallian:

'Are you conscious, Dabba, of having done such a thing as this Vaddha says?'

'As my Lord, the Lord Buddha, knows.'

[And a second, and a third time, the Lord Buddha 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 Lord Buddha addressed the Bhikkhus, and said: 'Let then the Sangha, O Bhikkhus, turn the bowl down in respect of Vaddha the Licchavi,

and make him incapable of granting an alms to the Sangha.

'There are eight things, O Bhikkhus, which when they characterise an Upasaka, 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 Sangha. I allow you, O Bhikkhus, to turn down the bowl in respect of an Upasaka who is characterised by these eight things.'

4. 'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is the bowl to be turned down. Some able and discreet Bhikkhu is to lay the matter before the Sangha, saying,

'"Let the venerable Sangha hear me. Vaddha the Licchavi has brought a groundless charge against the venerable Dabba the Mallian of a breach of morality. If the time seems meet to the Sangha, let the Sangha turn down the bowl as respects Vaddha the Licchavi, and make him as one who has no dealings with the Sangha.

'"This is the motion (natti).

'"Vaddha the Licchavi has brought a groundless charge against Dabba the Mallian of a breach of morality. The Sangha turns down the bowl as respects Vaddha the Licchavi, and makes him as one who has no dealings with the Sangha. Whosoever of the venerable ones approves of the bowl being turned down as regards Vaddha the Licchavi, and of making him as one who has no dealings with the Sangha, let him keep silence. Whosoever approves not of that, let him speak.

'"The bowl is turned down by the Sangha as regards Vaddha the Licchavi, he is as one who has no dealings with the Sangha. The Sangha approves of that. Therefore is it silent. Thus do I understand."'

5. Then the venerable Ananda, having dressed himself early in the morning, went, duly bowled and robed, to the residence of Vaddha the Licchavi. And when he had come there he spoke to Vaddha the Licchavi, and said: 'The bowl, friend Vaddha, has been turned down by the Sangha as regards you, and you are as one who has no dealings with the Sangha.' And Vaddha the Licchavi, on hearing that saying, immediately fainted and fell.

'Then the friends and companions of Vaddha the Licchavi, and his relatives of one blood with him, said to him: 'It is enough, friend Vaddha. Weep not, neither lament. We will reconcile the Lord Buddha to you, and the Order of Bhikkhus.'

And Vaddha the Licchavi, 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 Lord Buddha was; and when he had come there, he cast himself down with his head at the feet of the Lord Buddha, 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 of that may my Lord the Lord Buddha accept the confession I make of my sin in its sinfulness, to the end that I may in future restrain myself from that'

'Verily, O friend Vaddha, sin has 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

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 from that.'

6. Then the Lord Buddha addressed the Bhikkhus, and said: 'Let then the Sangha turn up the bowl again as regards Vaddha the Licchavi, and make him as one who has dealings with the Sangha.

'There are eight things, O Bhikkhus, which when they characterise an Upasaka 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 Sangha.

7. 'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is the bowl to be turned up. That Vaddha the Licchavi should go before the Sangha, with his upper robe arranged over one shoulder, and squatting down, and raising

his hands with the palms joined together, should speak as follows:

'"The bowl has been turned down against me, Sirs, by the Sangha, and I am become as one having no dealings with the Sangha. I am conducting myself, Sirs, aright in accordance to that, and am broken in spirit, and I seek for release; and I request the Sangha 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 Sangha, saying,

'"Let the venerable Sangha hear me. The bowl has been turned down by the Sangha against Vaddha the Licchavi, and he is conducting himself aright in accordance to that, and is broken in spirit, and seeks for release, and requests the Sangha for a turning up again of the bowl. If the time seems meet to the Sangha, let the Sangha turn up the bowl again as regards Vaddha the Licchavi, and make him as one who has dealings with the Sangha.

'"This is the motion (natti).

'"Let the venerable Sangha hear me. The bowl has been turned down (&c., as before), and he is conducting himself (&c., as before), and he requests the Sangha (&c., as before). The Sangha turns up again the bowl as regards Vaddha the Licchavi, and makes him as one who has dealings with the

Sangha. Whosoever of the venerable ones approves of that, let him keep silence; whosoever approves not of that, let him speak.

'"The bowl is turned up again by the Sangha as regards Vaddha the Licchavi, and he is as one who has dealings with the Sangha. The Sangha approves of that. Therefore is it silent. Thus do I understand."'