THE ANUD¢PAN¢
showed its teeth and fangs which were like the rice-grains in your pot. The foamy saliva
mixed with poison of the angry snake was like the butter in your jar.‛ Caught inextricably
in the web of words which glaringly indicates his wish, the woman thought to herself:
‚Here is no way to deceive the shaven head!‛ And she reluctantly gave him the sugarcane,
cooked the rice and offered it to him together with the butter, jaggery and dried fish.
(4) NippesikatÈ, another form of wickedness, means pursuit of gain by wiping off or
grinding or pulverising the virtuous qualities of a lay devotee like pursuit of perfume by
grinding or pulverising scented materials. Such pursuit is made in many ways: use of
abusive language to compel one to give; reproach by saying: ‚You are a fellow with no
faith at all‛, ‚You are not like other devotees‛; sarcasm, by saying to one who does not
give: ‚Oh, what a donor! Oh, what a great donor‛; ridiculing remark made to a non-giver
in the midst of people by saying: ‚Why do you say that this man does not offer any thing?
He always gives the words: ‘I have nothing’ to everyone who comes for alms.‛ Such
pursuit of gain by belittling the virtuous qualities of lay devotees is called NippesikatÈ.
(5) LÈbbhena lÈbham nijigisanatÈ means pursuit of gain with gain motivated by
covetousness. For example, after receiving some food offered at a
dayaka's
house, a
bhikkhu
gives it away to the children in the neighbourhood. He does so just to make the
families of children give him more in return to express their thanks and delight (for his
seeming interest in their children). In brief, seeking for more alms from another house by
giving away the few offerings he has already received is called LÈbbhena lÈbham
nijigisanatÈ.
The five kinds of wrong livelihood, such as
Kuhana
, etc. described above, are different
from one another only in the manner of pursuance in their nature, they are all the same, i.e.
beguiling lay devotees into giving him offerings reluctantly.
Thus living on things obtained by infringing the six
sikkhÈpadas
laid down by the Buddha
with regard to livelihood as stated before and so things obtained by evil practices of
kuhana, lapana, nemittikatÈ, nippesikatÈ and lÈbhena lÈbham nijigisanatÈ
, is called
MicchÈjiva (Wrong Livelihood). Refraining from all forms of wrong livelihood and
becoming pure in means of living is called AjivapÈrisuddhi-sÊla.
(d) Paccayasannissita-sÊla
Morality fulfilled by depending on the four requisites is called Paccayasannissita-sÊla.
The four requisites are robes, food, dwelling place and medicine. They are indispensable;
living is impossible without them. But when using them, one should reflect on the nature of
the requisite concerned so that such evils as greed, hatred, etc. may not arise.
The way in which one should reflect: (While using robes) without considering it as an
embellishment (which will cause arising of demeritorious thoughts), one reflects on it
wisely: ‚For the purpose of protection from the cold, I wear this robe; for the purpose of
protection from the heat of the sun, I wear this robe; for the purpose of protection from
contact with mosquitoes, gad-flies, wind, heat of the sun, snakes, scorpions, fleas, etc. I
wear this robe; for the purpose of concealing the private parts of the body (that would
disturb conscience), I wear this robe.‛
(While using alms-food) one reflects wisely: ‚I take this
alms-food
not for amusement as
children do; I take this
alms-food
not for intoxication with manliness; I take this
alms-food
not for development of body beauty; I take this
alms-food
not for a clear skin and
complexion. I take this
alms-food
only for long endurance and maintenance of the body; I
take this
alms-food
for warding off the oppression of hunger; I take this
alms-food
for
facilitating the noble practice. By thus taking
alms-food
, the old suffering of hunger and
thirst will be got rid of; I will also ward off the new suffering of indigestion due to
overeating, etc. By moderate eating, the old suffering of hunger and thirst and the new
suffering of indigestion due to over-eating cannot arise, and my body will be maintained.
This
alms-food
is sought properly and eaten in a blameless manner and by taking it
moderately I shall live in comfort.‛