The Blessed Buddha was staying in Śrāvastī, in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, when a householder living in Śrāvastī took a wife of equal caste and together they played with, took pleasure in, and amused one another. The wife with whom he had played, taken pleasure, and amused himself then gave birth to a son who was nurtured and grew until he was big.
EN
At a certain point, the householder insulted his son, prompting his son to think, “This father of mine is hard to please and I cannot guard my mind against his abuse. I ought to run away. But leaving one’s own land behind is hard, so instead I shall go forth among the ascetic sons of the Śākya, for they have secured from the king the liberty of a prince.”
EN
With that he went to Jetavana, where he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I want to go forth.”
EN
After the monk gave him refuge and the precepts, the son requested him to serve as his monk petitioner, as the monk who cuts his hair and beard, as the monk who oversees bathing, and as the monk who inducts him into the novitiate. Then, after his going forth was allowed, he again requested him, this time to serve as the monk officiant. His final request to him was to serve as the monk privy advisor.
EN
After the son had appealed to the monk to serve in all of these capacities, the householder who was the ordinand’s father arrived during the ordination ceremony, and asked the monk, “Noble one, have you seen a lad fitting the description of my son?”
EN
The monk replied, “I asked on his behalf, I cut his hair and beard, I oversaw his bath, I inducted him into the novitiate, and I ordained him.”
EN
After the son was ordained, they measured the shadows and noted the time of day and the hour. They made sure he knew the foundations, what things brought about offenses, what constituted spiritual practice, how to attain perfect fulfillment of his greatest desire, and how to practice the equally applicable ethical code. They enjoined him to bond with his role model in the renunciant life, to dwell in tranquility, to carry out his obligations, to do what he must do to fully understand his unspoken commitments, to heed what he reveres, and told him:
EN
“You have been ordained Into the teachings of the most wise. To find leisure and opportunity is rare, So heed them perfectly. Knowing all, the Perfectly Awakened One, Whose name denotes truth, proclaimed That going forth is for the beautiful And ordination for the pure.”
EN
And they enjoined him in what he must practice and how.
EN
As the newly ordained monk committed to these things, his father the householder arrived and asked, “Noble one, why are you just sitting there with a razor in your hand? If he has lost faith in me, that will be an impediment to his living the holy life. Goodness! Where is the harm in waiting seven or eight days?”
EN
The monks then asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks not waiting seven or eight days for consent from the parents of one wishing to go forth.”
EN
Then he decreed, “In the light of this, if someone approaches any of you, wishing to go forth, who has parents who are alive but have not granted him consent, wait seven or eight days.”
EN
But later, after the Blessed One had said, “If someone approaches you, wishing to go forth, wait seven or eight days,” others arrived, wishing to go forth, whose parents had granted them consent, as did others coming from afar whose parents could not be consulted. When this occurred, the monks made them, too, wait seven or eight days, and so some left without having been allowed to go forth.
EN
When that proved to be an impediment to monkhood, the state of having gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One decreed, “Whoever comes with his parents’ consent, and whoever comes from so far away that his parents cannot be consulted, their going forth should be allowed. This you need not regret.”
The Blessed Buddha was staying in Śrāvastī, in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, when a householder living in Śrāvastī took a wife of equal caste and together they played with, took pleasure in, and amused one another. The wife with whom he had played, taken pleasure, and amused himself then gave birth to a son who was nurtured and grew until he was big.
EN
At a certain point, the householder insulted his son, prompting his son to think, “This father of mine is hard to please and I cannot guard my mind against his abuse. I ought to run away. But leaving one’s own land behind is hard, so instead I shall go forth among the ascetic sons of the Śākya, for they have secured from the king the liberty of a prince.”
EN
With that he went to Jetavana, where he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I want to go forth.”
EN
After the monk gave him refuge and the precepts, the son requested him to serve as his monk petitioner, as the monk who cuts his hair and beard, as the monk who oversees bathing, and as the monk who inducts him into the novitiate. Then, after his going forth was allowed, he again requested him, this time to serve as the monk officiant. His final request to him was to serve as the monk privy advisor.
EN
After the son had appealed to the monk to serve in all of these capacities, the householder who was the ordinand’s father arrived during the ordination ceremony, and asked the monk, “Noble one, have you seen a lad fitting the description of my son?”
EN
The monk replied, “I asked on his behalf, I cut his hair and beard, I oversaw his bath, I inducted him into the novitiate, and I ordained him.”
EN
After the son was ordained, they measured the shadows and noted the time of day and the hour. They made sure he knew the foundations, what things brought about offenses, what constituted spiritual practice, how to attain perfect fulfillment of his greatest desire, and how to practice the equally applicable ethical code. They enjoined him to bond with his role model in the renunciant life, to dwell in tranquility, to carry out his obligations, to do what he must do to fully understand his unspoken commitments, to heed what he reveres, and told him:
EN
“You have been ordained Into the teachings of the most wise. To find leisure and opportunity is rare, So heed them perfectly. Knowing all, the Perfectly Awakened One, Whose name denotes truth, proclaimed That going forth is for the beautiful And ordination for the pure.”
EN
And they enjoined him in what he must practice and how.
EN
As the newly ordained monk committed to these things, his father the householder arrived and asked, “Noble one, why are you just sitting there with a razor in your hand? If he has lost faith in me, that will be an impediment to his living the holy life. Goodness! Where is the harm in waiting seven or eight days?”
EN
The monks then asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks not waiting seven or eight days for consent from the parents of one wishing to go forth.”
EN
Then he decreed, “In the light of this, if someone approaches any of you, wishing to go forth, who has parents who are alive but have not granted him consent, wait seven or eight days.”
EN
But later, after the Blessed One had said, “If someone approaches you, wishing to go forth, wait seven or eight days,” others arrived, wishing to go forth, whose parents had granted them consent, as did others coming from afar whose parents could not be consulted. When this occurred, the monks made them, too, wait seven or eight days, and so some left without having been allowed to go forth.
EN
When that proved to be an impediment to monkhood, the state of having gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One decreed, “Whoever comes with his parents’ consent, and whoever comes from so far away that his parents cannot be consulted, their going forth should be allowed. This you need not regret.”
Sutraya