At one time when the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery, the monks from the group of six were misbehaving. They said to each other, “Let’s make the other monks think that we committed these offenses because we didn’t know the rules.” Then, during the recitation of the Monastic Code, they said, “Just now did we find out that this rule too is included in the Monastic Code and comes up for recitation every half-month.” The monks of few desires complained and criticized them, “How could the monks from the group of six say this during the recitation of the Monastic Code?” … “Is it true, monks, that you said this?” “It’s true, sir.” The Buddha rebuked them … “Foolish men, how could you say this during the recitation of the Monastic Code? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, this training rule should be recited like this:

Final ruling