Acharya Mahaprajna
6.100 oe samiyadaṃsaṇe.
The unbiased monk of right faith should propound the religion.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 100
The unbiased monk[1] is a monk who is devoid of attachment and hatred or who is impartial. It has been said in the Niśitha Cūrni that the unbiased monk is described as devoid of attachment and hatred, standing between the two like the balance.[2]
6.101 dayaṃ logassa jāṇittā pāīṇaṃ paḍīṇaṃ dāhiṇaṃ udīṇaṃ, āikkhe vibhae kiṭṭe veyavῑ.
The monk well-versed in the sacred lore should keep in view compassion for the world of living beings in all directions - east, west, south, north and their sub-directions, while propounding the religion, describing its divisions and explaining its results.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 101
In the preceding Sūtra, the nature of the propounder of the religion has been stated. Here in this Sūtra, it is laid down that one should propound the religion in the best interest of the development of non-violence. Here, 'world' means the world consisting of six classes of living beings. The muni and the expounder of religion learned in the sacred lore, should know compassion or non-violence[3] towards the living world and then expound of the religion.
'Sacred lore' means the scripture or the treatises. The knower of the sacred lore is the knower of the scripture. There are three verbal expressions. Among them, the word 'propounded' is intended to indicate the general theme; the word 'should divide' means the application of the method of division,[4] as in the Sutrakrtāṅga, "One should explain by means of divisions of issues;[5] by the word 'explaining' the statement of the result of the practice of discipline is intended.[6]
6.102 se uṭṭhiesu vā aṇuṭṭhiesu vā sussūmāṇesu pavedae—saṃtiṃ, viratiṃ, uvasamaṃ, ṇivvāṇaṃ, soyaviyaṃ, ajjaviyaṃ, maddaviyaṃ, lāghāviyaṃ, aṇaivattiyaṃ.
To the people, desiring to hear the religion, whether they exert for the discipline or do not, the monk should explain tranquillity, dispassion, peacefulness, liberation, purity, uprightness, gentleness, lightness and non-violence.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 102
Here the Sūtra indicates the mutual suitability of the doctrine and the listener. The propounder of the religion should propound it to those who are willing to listen, whether they intend to practice it or not. Now the nature of the religion is explained - it is tranquillity that is non-violence;[7] it is abstinence, that is desisting from the cause of the influx of karma;[8] it is pacification, that is separation of anger[9] and the like; it is liberation, that is inborn bliss, or the stability of the psyche;[10] it is absence of avarice, that is absence of greed;[11] it is straightforwardness, that is absence of deceit:[12] it is gentleness, that is absence of egoism;[13] it is lightness, that is minimisation of the clothing and other outfit;[14] it is non-transgression, that is non-violation of knowledge etc., or non-violence.[15]
6.103 savvesiṃ pāṇāṇaṃ savvesiṃ bhūyāṇaṃ savvesiṃ jīvāṇaṃ savvesiṃ sattāṇaṃ aṇuvīi bhikkhū dhammamāikkhejjā
The monk should preach the religion circumspectly to all animates, living beings, souls and sentient beings.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 103
The monk, propounding religion, should circumspectly expound the principles of religion to all living beings. 'Circumspectly' means discerningly or after full consideration.
6.104 aṇuvīi bhikkhū dhammamāikhamāṇe—ṇo attāṇaṃ āsāejjā, ṇo paraṃ āsāejjā, ṇo aṇṇāiṃ pāṇaiṃ bhūyāiṃ jīvāiṃ sattāiṃ āsāejjā.
Circumspectly preaching the religion, the monk should not offend himself, offend others and offend other animates, living beings, souls and sentient entities.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 104
The monk who preaches the religion circumspectly frees himself from offending himself, others or any other animates etc. 'Offending' means putting obstacle or obstruction. Physical offending refers to the body, the outfit etc., and also food, drink etc. Spiritual offending refers to knowledge, faith, conduct, penance, discipline and the like.
The preaching of religion at mealtime results in offending the food, that is, non-availability of food or insufficient availability. If the monk engages himself in propounding the religion to any person without discrimination, the person may become angry and may cause harm to the body and the outfit etc. and the alms.
The religion should not be propounded in a way that may be harmful to the acquisition of the Sūtra and its meaning or both with "regard to himself and other monk. Nor should he preach the religion to such woman or man, as may be the cause of loss of conduct. This is about offending oneself.
Now comes the statement: one should not offend others. The monk preaching the religion should not speak ill of any other monk, engaged in preaching, by such expression as 'the poor fellow does not even know what is religion, how can he then preach the religion? He is unlike me who am conversant with my own doctrines as well as the doctrines of others'. One should not repudiate others by raising disputable topics. Nor should he abuse others by speaking of his caste, family etc.[16] in the course of his religious discourse. This is about offending others.
Now offending creatures etc. is propounded. He should not preach religion himself standing in rain or other in the same situation, because that causes harm to the water-bodied beings.[17] While preaching, he should neither praise nor deprecate the acts of charity and the like that are conducive to violence. Here both types of expression involve offence to the life of others.[18]
6.105 se aṇāsādae aṇāsādamāṇe vujjhamāṇāṇaṃ pāṇāṇaṃ bhūyāṇaṃ jīvāṇaṃ sattāṇaṃ, jahā se dῑve asaṃdīṇe, evaṃ se bhavai saraṇaṃ mahāmuṇī.
The monk who does not offend others should not preach anything that is conducive to violence to living beings. Such great monk is a shelter like an unflooded island to all animates, living beings, souls and sentient entities.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 105
The religious preacher,[19] refraining from causing offence does never preach the religion in a way that may be offensive to the life of others. This is why he is designated as non-offender. In the Cūrni, the alternative meaning of non-offender is given. "Or while preaching the religion, he should not try to acquire the food or drink, as it has been said—he does not preach for such purpose."[20]
Such monk[21] is a shelter to the people carried in the ocean of saṃsāra, just like the island[22]protected from all sides against inflow of water for the people carried in the waves of the ocean. The island[23] protected from inlet of water has already been explained.
Apte, ojaḥ - odd, uneven.
ekasaṃkhyāpi viṣamasaṃkhyā vartate. tenāsya ekasaṃkhyāparako'rtho'pi nāstyasaṃgataḥ.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 232-33: anena ca mṛṣāvādādiśeṣavratasaṃgrahaḥ.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 232: nivṛttiḥ nirvāṇaṃ mūlaguṇottaraguṇayoraihikāmuṣmikapha-labhūtām.
(c) See, footnote of Uttarajjhayaṇāṇi, 3.12.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 232: śaucaṃ sarvopādhiśucitvaṃ nirvācyavratadhāraṇam.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 232: ārjavaṃ māyāvakratāparityāgāt.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 232: mārdavaṃ mānastabdhatāparityāgāt.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra: lāghavaṃ sabāhyābhyantaraganthaparityāgāt.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 232: anatipatya yathavasthitaṃ vastvagamahitaṃ thata'natikramye-tyarthaḥ.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 233: tathā no paraṃ śuśraṣuṃ āśātyed—hīlayed, yataḥ paro hīlanayā kupitaḥ sannāhāropakaraṇa śarῑrānyatarapīḍāyai pravartteteti, atastadāśātanāṃ vaijjayan dharm-maṃ broyāditi.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 233: yadi laukikakuprāvacanikapārśvasthādidānāni praśaṃsati avaṭataṭāgādῑni vā tataḥ pṛthivikāyādayo vyāpāditā bhaveyuḥ, atha dūṣayati tato'pareṣāṃ antarāyāpādanena tatkṛto bandhavipākānubhavaḥ syāt, uktaṃ ca - 'je u dāṇaṃ pasaṃsati, vahamicchaṃti pāṇiṇaṃ.
je u ṇaṃ paḍisehiṃti, vitticcheaṃ kariṃti te'..
tasmāttaddānāvaṭataḍāgādividhipratiṣedhavyudāsena
yathāvasthitaṃ dānaṃ suddhaṃ prarūpayet sāvadyānuṣṭhānaṃ ceti.
(b) Right perception.
(c) Friendliness with all living-beings.
(d) Mastery of scriptural knowledge.
(e) Not causing hindrance to others.According to the Nāgārjuna's redaction of the Scriptures, only that muni is competent to expound religious doctrines in public who is widely learned and an erudite scholar of the Āgamas, is adept in logic and illustration, able to discourse and sermonize, and understands the proprieties of time, place and audience. In this context, attention is drawn to the aphorism 2.177 (viz. Ke yaṃ purise kaṃ ca ṇaye). Preaching for the sake of earning one's livelihood is forbidden.
