BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1but not to the letter would also incur only a thullaccaya, this judgment seemsconsistent with the Vibhaṅga's pattern of assigning penalties.In addition to the four above categories of means of killing, the Commentaryincludes two of its own:— Magical formulae: reciting passages that call on malevolent spirits to bring abouta person's death, using voodoo, etc.— Psychic powers: using the "evil eye" or other similar innate powers.The Canon contains a number of passages — MN 56 is one example — describingpeople who, "developed in mind," use their powers to kill. The Commentary notesthe existence of these passages and of "some teachers" who cite them as proofthat meditative powers can be used in this way, but it dismisses the idea on thegrounds that meditative powers are skillful and based on pleasant mental states,whereas the act of killing is unskillful and based on painful mental states. The Subcommentaryadds that the powers described in the Canon are actually based onmagical formulae. Still, because the success of these formulae depends on acertain level of concentration, it would seem that using one's powers ofconcentration to kill would fulfil the factor of effort here.b) Arranging an assassin. As the rule indicates, a bhikkhu may commit an offenseunder this rule not only by using any of the six above-mentioned means of takinglife but also by "searching for an assassin." The Vibhaṅga explains this phrase in therule simply with a list of weapons: a sword, a spear, a harpoon (§ — BD omits thisitem), a skewer/stake, a club, a stone, a knife, poison, or a rope. There are twoways of making sense of this list. One is that, because the Pali word for assassin isliterally "knife-carrier" (satthahāraka), the Vibhaṅga is taking pains to explain that anassassin might also use other weapons aside from a knife. The other way ofinterpreting the list, favored by the Commentary, is to view the Vibhaṅga's list as anattempt to define the word satthahāraka — which, according to the Commentary, isa general term for a murderous weapon. The Commentary then goes on to say thatthe entire phrase searching for an assassin means setting up a stationary device, asdescribed above. There are two problems with this interpretation, the first being thatthe word satthahāraka clearly means "assassin" in other parts of the Canon (see, forexample, MN 145); the second being that this interpretation makes the phraseentirely superfluous: setting up a stationary device is already covered by anotherpart of the rule. Thus we will follow the first interpretation of the Vibhaṅga'sexplanation of the phrase: It is indicating that an assassin may use any weapon atall.The question remains, however, as to how this interpretation is not redundant withcommanding under the explanation of the ways of taking life. The answer appearsto be this: The word satthahāraka is most commonly used in the Canon in thecontext of an assisted suicide, in which a person who wants to die but cannot bringhimself to commit suicide arranges for someone else, a satthahāraka, to kill him.This term may be related to a common phrase for committing suicide, "to take aknife" (see SN IV.33 — satthaṃ āharissāmi, "I will take a knife"). Thus the inclusion56