The First Khandhaka Sections 41–45
Admission to the Order of Bhikkhus

The First Khandhaka is the first part of the Mahavagga.
The Mahavagga is the first part of the Khandhaka.
The Khandhaka is the second part of the Vinaya Pitaka ("Basket of Discipline").
The Vinaya Pitaka is the first part of the Tipitaka ("Three Baskets"), a.k.a. the Pali Canon.
The Tipitaka is the major religious text of Theravada Buddhism.

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The First Khandhaka (Pali for "Expositions") is quite a long piece (the longest of the four Khandhakas in the Mahavagga), divided into seventy-nine parts, containing stories concerning the origin of the rules of the Patimokkha by giving an account of what the Buddha did following his enlightenment. This excerpt contains some specifics about the pabbaggâ ordination and who may or may not receive it. And there's a guy who cuts off people's fingers.

The text was translated by T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg in 1881; the translation is in the public domain. It was taken from http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe13/index.htm. Text in [square brackets] (and all pipelinks) was added and does not appear in the translation; text in (parentheses) does appear in the translation.


41

At that time the robber Angulimâla [real name Ahimsaka; his nickname means "he who wears a necklace of fingers" as he would wear the fingers of his victims around his neck] had embraced religious life among the Bhikkhus. When the people saw that, they became alarmed and terrified; they fled away, went elsewhere, turned away their heads, and shut their doors. The people were annoyed, murmured, and became angry: 'How can the Sakyaputtiya Samanas ordain a robber who openly wears the emblems (of his deeds)?'

Some Bhikkhus heard those people that were annoyed, murmured, and had become angry; these Bhikkhus told the thing to the Blessed One.

The Blessed One thus addressed the Bhikkhus: 'Let no robber, O Bhikkhus, who wears the emblems (of his deeds), receive the pabbaggâ ordination. He who confers the pabbaggâ ordination (on such a person), is guilty of a dukkata offence.'

42

1 At that time the Magadha king Seniya Bimbisâra had issued the following decree: 'No one is to do any harm to those who are ordained among the Sakyaputtiya Samanas; well taught is their doctrine; let them lead a holy life for the sake of the complete extinction of suffering.'

Now at that time a certain person who had committed robbery was imprisoned in the jail. He broke out of the jail, ran away, and received the pabbaggâ ordination with the Bhikkhus.

2 The people who saw him, said: 'Here is the robber who has broken out of jail; come, let us bring him (before the authorities).'

But some people replied: 'Do not say so, Sirs. A decree has been issued by the Magadha king Seniya Bimbisâra: 'No one is to do any harm to those who are ordained, &c.'

People were annoyed, murmured, and became angry, thinking: 'Indeed these Sakyaputtiya Samanas are secure from anything; it is not allowed to do any harm to them. How can they ordain a robber who has broken out of jail?'

They told this thing to the Blessed One.

'Let no robber, O Bhikkhus, who has broken out of jail, receive the pabbaggâ ordination. He who confers the pabbaggâ ordination (on such a person), is guilty of a dukkata offence.'

43

At that time a certain person who had committed robbery had run away and had become ordained with the Bhikkhus. At the royal palace a proclamation was written: 'Wherever he is seen, he is to be killed.'

The people who saw him, said: 'Here is the proclaimed robber; come, let us kill him' (&c., as in [1st Khandhaka 42]).

'Let no proclaimed robber, O Bhikkhus, receive the pabbaggâ ordination. He who confers the pabbaggâ ordination (on such a robber), is guilty of a dukkata offence.'

44

At that time a certain person who had been punished by scourging had been ordained with the Bhikkhus. People were annoyed, &c.: 'How can these Sakyaputtiya Samanas ordain a person that has been punished by scourging?'

They told this thing to the Blessed One.

'Let no one, O Bhikkhus, who has been punished by scourging, receive the pabbaggâ ordination. He who confers the pabbaggâ ordination (on such a person), is guilty of dukkata offence.'

45

At that time a certain person who had been punished by branding (&c., as in [1st Khandhaka 44], down to the end).

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