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Bu Pc 632 min read

63. Reopening a settled legal issue

Ukkoṭana

A monk who tries to reopen an issue of monastic law that has been properly settled must confess the offense.

Translated by Bhikkhu Brahmali · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Theravāda VinayaTheravāda Collection on Monastic Law
  • 0.2MahāvibhaṅgaThe Great Analysis
  • 0.3PācittiyakaṇḍaThe chapter on offenses entailing confession
  • 0.4SappāṇakavaggaThe subchapter on containing living beings

0.563. UkkoṭanasikkhāpadaReopening a settled legal issue

1.0Origin story

1.1PTS 4.126Tena samayena buddho bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery.1.2Tena kho pana samayena chabbaggiyā bhikkhū jānaṁ yathādhammaṁ nihatādhikaraṇaṁ punakammāya ukkoṭenti—At that time the monks from the group of six were reopening a legal issue that they knew had been legitimately settled, saying,1.3“akataṁ kammaṁ dukkaṭaṁ kammaṁ puna kātabbaṁ kammaṁ anihataṁ dunnihataṁ puna nihanitabban”ti.“The legal procedure hasn’t been done;” “It’s been done badly;” “It should be done again;” “It hasn’t been settled;” “It’s been badly settled;” “It should be settled again.”1

1.4Ye te bhikkhū appicchā …pe… te ujjhāyanti khiyyanti vipācenti—The monks of few desires complained and criticized them,1.5“kathañhi nāma chabbaggiyā bhikkhū jānaṁ yathādhammaṁ nihatādhikaraṇaṁ punakammāya ukkoṭessantī”ti …pe…“How can the monks from the group of six reopen a legal issue that they know has been legitimately settled?” …1.6“saccaṁ kira tumhe, bhikkhave, jānaṁ yathādhammaṁ nihatādhikaraṇaṁ punakammāya ukkoṭethā”ti?“Is it true, monks, that you’re doing this?”

1.7“Saccaṁ, bhagavā”ti.“It’s true, sir.”

1.8Vigarahi buddho bhagavā …pe…The Buddha rebuked them …1.9kathañhi nāma tumhe, moghapurisā, jānaṁ yathādhammaṁ nihatādhikaraṇaṁ punakammāya ukkoṭessatha.“Foolish men, how can you do this?1.10Netaṁ, moghapurisā, appasannānaṁ vā pasādāya …pe…This will affect people’s confidence …” …1.11evañca pana, bhikkhave, imaṁ sikkhāpadaṁ uddiseyyātha—“And, monks, this training rule should be recited like this:

1.12.0Final ruling

1.12.1“Yo pana bhikkhu jānaṁ yathādhammaṁ nihatādhikaraṇaṁ punakammāya ukkoṭeyya, pācittiyan”ti.‘If a monk reopens a legal issue that he knows has been legitimately settled, he commits an offense entailing confession.’”

2.1.0Definitions

2.1.1Yo panātiA:
2.1.2yo yādiso …pe…whoever …
2.1.3bhikkhūtiMonk:
2.1.4…pe… ayaṁ imasmiṁ atthe adhippeto bhikkhūti.… The monk who has been given the full ordination by a unanimous Sangha through a legal procedure consisting of one motion and three announcements that is irreversible and fit to stand—this sort of monk is meant in this case.
2.1.5Jānāti nāmaHe knows:
2.1.6sāmaṁ vā jānāti, aññe vā tassa ārocenti, so vā āroceti.he knows by himself or others have told him or the Sangha has told him.2
2.1.7Yathādhammaṁ nāmaLegitimately:
2.1.8dhammena vinayena satthusāsanena kataṁ, etaṁ yathādhammaṁ nāma.done according to the Teaching, according to the Monastic Law, according to the Teacher’s instruction—this is called “legitimately”.
2.1.9Adhikaraṇaṁ nāmaA legal issue:
2.1.10cattāri adhikaraṇāni— vivādādhikaraṇaṁ, anuvādādhikaraṇaṁ, āpattādhikaraṇaṁ, kiccādhikaraṇaṁ.there are four kinds of legal issues: legal issues arising from disputes, legal issues arising from accusations, legal issues arising from offenses, legal issues arising from business.
2.1.11Punakammāya ukkoṭeyyātiReopens:
2.1.12“akataṁ kammaṁ dukkaṭaṁ kammaṁ punakātabbaṁ kammaṁ anihataṁ dunnihataṁ puna nihanitabban”ti ukkoṭeti, āpatti pācittiyassa.if he reopens it, saying, “The legal procedure hasn’t been done;” “It’s been done badly;” “It should be done again;” “It hasn’t been settled;” “It’s been badly settled;” “It should be settled again,” he commits an offense entailing confession.

2.2.0Permutations

2.2.1Dhammakamme dhammakammasaññī ukkoṭeti, āpatti pācittiyassa.If it is a legitimate legal procedure, and he perceives it as such, and he reopens it, he commits an offense entailing confession.2.2.2Dhammakamme vematiko ukkoṭeti, āpatti dukkaṭassa.If it is a legitimate legal procedure, but he is unsure of it, and he reopens it, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.2.2.3Dhammakamme adhammakammasaññī ukkoṭeti, anāpatti.If it is a legitimate legal procedure, but he perceives it as illegitimate, and he reopens it, there is no offense.

2.2.4Adhammakamme dhammakammasaññī, āpatti dukkaṭassa.If it is an illegitimate legal procedure, but he perceives it as legitimate, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.2.2.5Adhammakamme vematiko, āpatti dukkaṭassa.If it is an illegitimate legal procedure, but he is unsure of it, he commits an offense of wrong conduct.2.2.6Adhammakamme adhammakammasaññī, anāpatti.If it is an illegitimate legal procedure, and he perceives it as such, there is no offense.

2.3.0Non-offenses

2.3.1Anāpatti—There is no offense:2.3.2“adhammena vā vaggena vā na kammārahassa vā kammaṁ katan”ti jānanto ukkoṭeti,if he reopens it because he knows that the legal procedure was illegitimate, done by an incomplete assembly, or done against one who did not deserve it; 2.3.3ummattakassa,if he is insane; 2.3.4ādikammikassāti.if he is the first offender.

2.3.5Ukkoṭanasikkhāpadaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ tatiyaṁ.The training rule on reopening a settled legal issue, the third, is finished.

Translator’s notes

  1. The Pali appears as a single sentence enclosed in quotes. Yet it is hard to see how this could have been spoken in one go, since some of the constituent clauses are mutually contradictory. For instance, the same legal procedure cannot have been both not done and badly done. I therefore take it that the individual clauses were spoken at different times. This method of putting together a number of independent utterances into a single quote is in fact quite common in the Vinaya Piṭaka. In most such cases I separate out the individual quotes.

    ↩ pli-tv-bu-vb-pc63:1.3

  2. The meaning of the last of these three ways of knowing, so vā āroceti, is not clear. CPD suggests: “sa (sā) āroceti (?). Perhaps this last form is conformable to sa. ārocayate med. caus. in the meaning: he or she makes inquiries (of others).” However, this does not fit with the parallel usage at Bu Pc 29:3.1.6 where the text says that she tells (sā vā āroceti) him, presumably referring to the nun telling the monk. In this case āroceti cannot refer to the monk making inquiries. The commentaries are silent, and I therefore assume that a straightforward meaning is the most likely one. I would suggest, then, that it refers to the Sangha, or perhaps one of the monks who participated in the saṅghakamma, having told him directly.

    ↩ pli-tv-bu-vb-pc63:2.1.6