[Note: “Both Pātimokkhas” refers to the two overlapping sets of monastic training rules for male and female monastics.]
“Bhante, how many qualities should a bhikkhu possess to be agreed upon to adjudicate in a disciplinary issue?”
“A bhikkhu who possesses ten qualities, Upāli, may be agreed upon to adjudicate in a disciplinary issue. What ten? (1) Here, a bhikkhu is virtuous; he dwells restrained by the Pātimokkha, possessed of good conduct and resort, seeing danger in minute faults. Having undertaken the training rules, he trains in them. (2) He has learned much, remembers what he has learned, and accumulates what he has learned. Those teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing, which proclaim the perfectly complete and pure spiritual life—such teachings as these he has learned much of, retained in mind, recited verbally, investigated mentally, and penetrated well by view. (3) Both Pātimokkhas have been well transmitted to him in detail, well analyzed, well mastered, well determined in terms of the rules and their detailed explication. (4) He is firm in the discipline, immovable. (5) He is able to convince those on both sides of the issue, to describe matters to them, to persuade them, to demonstrate to them, and to placate them. (6) He is skilled in the origination and settlement of disciplinary issues. (7) He knows what a disciplinary issue is. (8) He knows the origin of a disciplinary issue. (9) He knows the cessation of a disciplinary issue. (10) He knows the way leading to the cessation of a disciplinary issue. A bhikkhu who possesses these ten qualities may be agreed upon to adjudicate in a disciplinary issue.”
Read this translation of Aṅguttara Nikāya 10.33 Ubbāhikāsutta: Adjudication by Bhikkhu Bodhi on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net. Or listen on SC-Voice.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.
Or read a translation in Deutsch, বাংলা, Bahasa Indonesia, 日本語, မြန်မာဘာသာ, Русский, සිංහල, ไทย, Tiếng Việt, or 汉语. Learn how to find your language.
All translations on this site by Bhikkhu Bodhi are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2009), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000), The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2012).