The Offense of Causing Premature Death, The Offense of Killing a Perfected One

Original text from Section One of the Sutra on the Five Precepts for Upasakas: Again, there was a man whose hands and feet were cut off and he was placed in a city moat. Then, a group of women entered the city. Hearing the sound of crying, they went to look. Seeing the man, they said to each other: "If anyone can give this man medicinal liquid to drink, enabling him to die quickly, he will not suffer long." Among them, a simple-minded woman gave him the medicinal liquid, and he died immediately. The other women said: "You have violated a precept, an unpardonable offense." She immediately confessed.

Explanation: A man had his limbs severed by someone and was thrown into a ditch within the city walls. A group of women, entering the city and hearing the sound of crying, went to investigate. Upon seeing the man in the ditch, they discussed amongst themselves, saying: "If anyone could give this man some poison to make him die immediately, he would no longer suffer." Among this group, a foolish and simple-minded woman immediately brought poison and fed it to the man in the ditch. After drinking the poison, the man died. Then the other women said: "You have violated a precept, committing an unpardonable offense." The foolish woman immediately confessed her transgression before the assembly.

Original text: If a person catches a thief intending to kill him, but the thief manages to escape. If, using official force or the force of the community, they pursue this thief, and a lay devotee comes from the opposite direction on the path. The pursuers ask the lay devotee: "Did you see the thief?" If this lay devotee previously harbored malicious hatred towards the thief and says: "I saw him over there," and because of this statement, the thief loses his life, the lay devotee commits an unpardonable offense.

Explanation: If someone catches a thief intending to kill him, but the thief manages to sneak away. If they use government forces or the forces of the village community to pursue this thief, and a lay devotee (upasaka) approaches from the opposite direction on the pursuit path. The pursuers ask the lay devotee: "Did you see the thief?" Because this lay devotee previously held malice and hatred towards the thief, he answers: "I saw him over there." Because the lay devotee revealed the thief's location, the thief was caught and consequently lost his life. The lay devotee then commits an unpardonable offense.

Original text: If a person catches many thieves intending to kill them, but these thieves manage to escape. If, using official force or the force of the community, they pursue them, and a lay devotee comes from the opposite direction on the path. The pursuers ask the lay devotee: "Did you see the thieves?" Among these thieves, there might be one whom the lay devotee hates. If he says: "I saw them over there," and thieves other than the one he hates are killed, this offense is pardonable. The rest is as stated above.

Explanation: If someone catches many thieves intending to kill them all, but these thieves manage to escape. If they use government forces or the forces of the village community to pursue the thieves, and a lay devotee approaches from the opposite direction on the pursuit path. The pursuers ask the lay devotee: "Did you see those thieves?" Because among those thieves there might be one person whom the lay devotee hates, the lay devotee says: "I saw them over there." Consequently, the thieves are caught. If the authorities kill thieves other than the one the lay devotee does not hate (i.e., kills those the lay devotee did not specifically harbor hatred towards), the lay devotee commits a pardonable offense. The rest is the same as explained above and can be referenced accordingly.

Why does the lay devotee commit a pardonable offense? Because the lay devotee did not originally intend for those people to die; the death of those thieves was unintentionally caused by him. Therefore, his offense is pardonable. If the person he hated was killed, the lay devotee would commit an unpardonable offense, because this was what the lay devotee desired; there was subjective intent.