The Ten Precepts

Reading guide

Ten declarations, one pattern

Each of the ten lines follows the identical grammar of Kp 1's refuges formula: ‘I undertake the precept to refrain from...’, with only the object of restraint changing from line to line.

Built on the five lay precepts

The first four items — killing, stealing, sexual activity, lying — match the first four of the five precepts (pañcasīla) that lay Buddhists keep. But the third item here is worded as full abstinence from sexual activity, not the layperson's narrower vow against sexual misconduct — the first sign that this is a renunciant's list, not a householder's.

Five more restrictions added

The fifth item, avoiding intoxicants, still matches the fifth lay precept. But the text does not stop there: it adds restrictions on eating at the wrong time, on entertainment, on personal adornment, on luxurious beds, and on handling gold and money — five further items lay Buddhists do not undertake.

Between the five precepts and this list

On observance days, lay Buddhists sometimes undertake an eight-precept version drawn from this same set, which merges the entertainment and adornment items into one and stops there, leaving out the tenth item about money entirely. This ten-item list is the fuller, novice-level version.

What follows in the collection

After two formulas — refuges, then precepts — the Khuddakapatha's third text turns from ethical undertakings to a meditation subject: a list of the body's thirty-two parts.

Key terms