Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Entering a royal compound carries ten drawbacks: a misread smile, being blamed for an unremembered pregnancy, a lost gem, a leaked secret, a father or son's grief, a promotion or demotion, an army dispatched wrongly or recalled, and unavoidable sensory temptation — each capable of ruining a mendicant's reputation through no fault of their own.
Suspicion, not misconduct
Strikingly, none of the first nine drawbacks describes actual wrongdoing by the monk: each is a case of circumstantial suspicion falling on him simply because he was present, illustrating how a monastic's mere proximity to power creates risk regardless of conduct.
A repeated narrative engine
Drawbacks two through nine share a near-identical structure: something goes wrong in the palace, and the king or courtiers reason, “no-one else has entered here except that monk — could this be his doing?” — a refrain repeated eight times with only the misfortune changing.
A tenth drawback of a different kind
Only the final drawback breaks the pattern: rather than another incident of misplaced blame, it names the plain sensory temptation — the trampling of elephants, horses, and chariots, and arousing sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches — that simply does not belong in a monastic life, closing the list on an internal rather than reputational risk.
Key terms
The text
Ten drawbacks of entering a royal compound
§1“Mendicants, there are ten drawbacks to entering a royal compound. What ten? Firstly, a king is sitting with his chief queen when a monk enters. When the queen sees the monk she smiles, or when the monk sees the queen he smiles. So the king thinks: ‘They’ve done it for sure, or they will do it.’ This is the first drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, a king has many duties, and much to do. He has sex with one of the women but doesn’t remember. She gets pregnant from that. So the king thinks: ‘No-one else has entered here, except for that monk. Could this be the monk’s doing?’ This is the second drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, a gem is lost somewhere in the royal compound. So the king thinks: ‘No-one else has entered here, except for that monk. Could this be the monk’s doing?’ This is the third drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, secret deliberations in the royal compound are leaked outside. So the king thinks: ‘No-one else has entered here, except for that monk. Could this be the monk’s doing?’ This is the fourth drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, in a royal compound, a father longs for their son, or a son longs for his father. They think: ‘No-one else has entered here, except for that monk. Could this be the monk’s doing?’ This is the fifth drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, the king promotes someone to a higher position. Those who are upset by this think: ‘The king is close to that monk. Could this be the monk’s doing?’ This is the sixth drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, the king demotes someone to a lower position. Those who are upset by this think: ‘The king is close to that monk. Could this be the monk’s doing?’ This is the seventh drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, the king dispatches the army at the wrong time. Those who are upset by this think: ‘The king is close to that monk. Could this be the monk’s doing?’ This is the eighth drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, the king dispatches the army at the right time, but orders it to turn back while still on the road. Those who are upset by this think: ‘The king is close to that monk. Could this be the monk’s doing?’ This is the ninth drawback of entering a royal compound. Furthermore, in the royal compound there is a trampling of elephants, horses, and chariots, as well as arousing sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches that do not befit a monk. This is the tenth drawback of entering a royal compound. These are the ten drawbacks of entering a royal compound.”
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