The introductory verse to the grounds of expulsion, naming the incident that led the Buddha to allow a novice to be expelled.
- When chanted
- Chanted immediately before the ten grounds for expelling a novice.
A note on this chant. The book prints this chant in Pali only, with no Thai translation. The English here is a working translation prepared for this edition — it is not the book's own, and has not yet been checked by a teacher.
Historical background
The second of the three introductory verses on these pages, and the shortest. Where the first gave a general history, this one gives a single case.
It names names, which chants rarely do: a novice called Kaṇṭaka, belonging to Upananda the Sakyan son, and the nun Kaṇṭakī. The offence is stated without euphemism and without elaboration.
Meaning and purpose
Five lines carry an entire case. An offence occurred. The Blessed One learnt of it from the monks themselves. And on that occasion he allowed the expulsion of a novice on ten grounds. Then the handover: let us now recite the grounds.
The phrase ญัท๎วา ตะมัตถัง — having learnt of that matter — is the hinge of all three of these introductions, and it says something about how this tradition understands its own rules. Nothing is legislated in advance. Each rule has an occasion, and the occasion is remembered alongside it.
That is why the case is chanted and not merely known. A list of ten grounds with no story attached would be a code, and codes invite lawyers. Kept with its occasion, the rule stays what it was — a response — and the reciter is reminded that something had to go wrong before anybody thought of it.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 58 →
เตนะ โข ปะนะ สะมะเยนะ สัก๎ยะปุตโต ปะนันทะสะ,
Tena kho pana samayena sakyaputto panandassa,
Now at that time, belonging to Upananda the Sakyan son,
สามะเณโร กัณฏะโก นามะ กัณฏะกิง ภิกขุนิง ทุสิ.
Sāmaṇero kaṇṭako nāma kaṇṭakiṃ bhikkhuniṃ dusi.
a novice named Kaṇṭaka seduced the nun Kaṇṭakī.
ญัต๎วา ตะมัตถัง ภะคะวา ภิกขูนัญเญวะ สันติกา,
Ñatvā tamatthaṃ bhagavā bhikkhūnaññeva santikā,
The Blessed One, having learnt of that matter from the monks themselves,
อะนุญญาสิ โข นาเสตุง สามะเณรัง ทะสังคิกัง,
Anuññāsi kho nāsetuṃ sāmaṇeraṃ dasaṅgikaṃ,
allowed the expulsion of a novice on ten grounds;
สามะเณรานัง นาสะนะการะณังคัง ภะณามะ เส.
Sāmaṇerānaṃ nāsanakāraṇaṅgaṃ bhaṇāma se.
let us now recite the grounds that cause a novice's expulsion.