BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1mixture is regarded as something else — candy, for instance — it counts as a foodand may not be eaten after noon of the day on which it is received.Sugar substitutes that have no food value would apparently not be classed as afood or a tonic, and thus would come under the category of life-long medicines.Proper use. According to Mv.VI.40.3, any tonic received today may be eaten mixedwith food or juice drinks received today, but not with food or juice drinks receivedon a later day. Thus, as the Commentary points out, tonics received in the morningmay be eaten with food that morning; if received in the afternoon, they may not beeaten mixed with food at all.Also, the Commentary to this rule says at one point that one may take the tonic atany time during those seven days regardless of whether one is ill. At another point,though — in line with the Vibhaṅga to Pc 37 & 38, which assigns a dukkaṭa fortaking a tonic as food — it says that one may take the tonic after the morning of theday on which it is received only if one has a reason. This statement the Subcommentaryexplains as meaning that any reason suffices — e.g., hunger,weakness — as long as one is not taking the tonic for nourishment as food. In otherwords, one may take enough to assuage one's hunger, but not to fill oneself up.Mv.VI.27, however, contains a special stipulation for the use of sugar. If one is ill,one may take it "as is" at any time during the seven days; if not, then after noon ofthe first day one may take it only if it is mixed with water.Effort. If a bhikkhu keeps a tonic past the seventh dawnrise after it has beenreceived — either by himself or another bhikkhu — he is to forfeit it and confess thenissaggiya pācittiya offense. Perception is not a mitigating factor here. Even if hethinks that seven days have not yet passed when they actually have — or thinks thatthe tonic is no longer in his possession when it actually is — he incurs the penaltyall the same (§).Offenses. The procedures for forfeiture, confession, and return of the tonic are thesame as under NP 1. The formula to use in forfeiting the tonic is given in AppendixVI. Once the bhikkhu receives the tonic in return, he may not use it to eat or toapply to his body, although he may use it for other external purposes, such as oilfor a lamp, etc. Other bhikkhus may not eat the tonic either, but they may apply it totheir bodies — for example, as oil to rub down their limbs.The Vibhaṅga states that, in the case of a tonic that has not been kept more thanseven days, if one perceives it to have been kept more than seven days or if one isin doubt about it, the penalty is a dukkaṭa. As under NP 1, this dukkaṭa is apparentlyfor using the tonic.Non-offenses. According to the Vibhaṅga, there is no offense if within seven daysthe tonic gets lost, destroyed, burnt, snatched away, or taken on trust; or if thebhikkhu determines it for use, abandons it, or — having given it away to anunordained person, abandoning desire for it — he receives it in return and makesuse of it (§).212