17.8 The Story about the Group of Six
Chabbaggiyavatthu
Dhp 231-234
Burlingame: The Group of Six
Compare: Vin Mv 5.6
The Group of Six bhikkhus, whose unrestrained behaviour was the occasion for the Buddha laying down many of the Vinaya Regulations, put on clogs and clattered around on a rock; the Buddha advised them with some verses.
Keywords: Discipline, Restraint
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This Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Veḷuvana with reference to the bhikkhus of the Group of Six.
For one day the bhikkhus of the Group of Six put wooden shoes on their feet, and taking staffs in their two hands, walked up and down on the surface of a flat rock.
The Teacher hearing the clatter, asked Elder Ānanda: “Ānanda, what is that noise?” The elder replied: “The bhikkhus of the Group of Six are walking about in wooden shoes; they are making the clatter you hear.” When the Teacher heard this, he promulgated the following precept: “A bhikkhu should control his deeds, his words, and his thoughts.” So saying, he expounded the Dhamma by pronouncing the following verses:
231. Kāyappakopaṁ rakkheyya, kāyena saṁvuto siyā,
kāyaduccaritaṁ hitvā, kāyena sucaritaṁ care.
One should guard one’s bodily anger,
one should be restrained bodily,
abandoning wrong bodily conduct,
one should have good bodily conduct.
232. Vacīpakopaṁ rakkheyya, vācāya saṁvuto siyā,
vacīduccaritaṁ hitvā, vācāya sucaritaṁ care.
One should guard one’s verbal anger,
one should be restrained verbally,
abandoning wrong verbal conduct,
one should have good verbal conduct.
233. Manopakopaṁ rakkheyya, manasā saṁvuto siyā,
manoduccaritaṁ hitvā, manasā sucaritaṁ care.
One should guard one’s mental anger,
one should be restrained mentally,
abandoning wrong mental conduct,
one should have good mental conduct.
234. Kāyena saṁvutā dhīrā, atho vācāya saṁvutā,
manasā saṁvutā dhīrā, te ve suparisaṁvutā.
The wise are restrained bodily,
then they are restrained verbally,
the wise are restrained mentally,
the wise are indeed well-restrained.
At the end of the teaching many reached the fruition of Stream-entry and so on.