Manslaughter

Original text of the first section of the Sūtra on the Precepts for Upāsakas (Upāsaka-pañca-śīla-sūtra):若居士母想杀非母。犯不可悔。非逆罪。若戏笑打他。若死者。是罪可悔。若狂不自忆念杀者。无罪。

Explanation: If an upāsaka intends to kill his mother, but mistakes a non-mother for his own mother and kills her by mistake, he commits an unpardonable offense, but it is not one of the five acts of immediate retribution. The upāsaka's mind intended to kill his mother, but what he actually killed was a non-mother; he did not kill his mother, so he does not commit the act of immediate retribution. If, while joking and playfully hitting someone, the other person dies, it counts as accidental killing, and he commits a pardonable offense. If one's mind becomes deranged and one no longer remembers or is aware, and kills someone, there is no offense, because there was no intention—no mind intending to kill the other person.

Original text:若优婆塞用有虫水及草木中杀虫。皆犯罪。若有虫无虫想用。亦犯。若无虫虫想用者。亦犯。

Explanation: If an upāsaka uses water containing insects—whether drinking it, pouring it out, or watering the land with it—causing the insects to die, or directly kills insects among grass and trees, he commits the offense of killing in all cases. If he clearly knows there are insects in the water, yet deceives himself into thinking there are none, and drinks or uses the water, he also commits the offense of killing. If the water clearly has no insects, yet he deceives himself into thinking there are, and still drinks or uses the water, he also commits the offense of killing, because he has the intention to kill.

There clearly are no insects in the water, yet one insists on imagining insects in it, and then drinks and uses this "insect-containing" water, thereby breaking the precept. Why bring this upon oneself? There were no insects, and in fact no insects were killed—so why does drinking the water still count as breaking the killing precept? Because the mind is not pure; there is an intention to kill. Some water really does contain insects; if you do not know it and drink or use it, and the insects do die, it still does not count as breaking the killing precept. Because there is no intention to kill, and the lives of insects are not precious; without the intention to kill, there is no offense.

Original text:有居士起新舍。在屋上住。手中失梁。堕木师头上。即死。居士生疑。是罪为可悔不。问佛。佛言无罪。屋上梁。人力少不禁故。梁堕木师头上。杀木师。居士即生疑。佛言无罪。从今日作好用心。勿令杀人。

Explanation: There was an upāsaka who, while building a new house, was sitting on the roof holding a roof beam in his hands. It slipped from his hands, fell, and struck a carpenter on the head, killing him. The upāsaka did not understand whether this offense of killing could be repented, so he asked the Buddha. The Buddha said: "You are without offense."

While building a new house, because human strength was insufficient to hold up the beam, a roof beam fell from the roof and struck the carpenter on the head, and the carpenter died. The upāsaka did not understand what offense he had committed. The Buddha said to him: "You are without offense, but from now on, when doing things, be careful and attentive; do not carelessly kill anyone again."

Original text:又一居士屋上作。见泥中有蝎。怖畏跳下。堕木师上。即死。居士生疑。佛言无罪。从今日好用心作。勿令杀人。又一居士。日暮入险道值贼。贼欲取之。舍贼而走。堕岸下织衣人上。织师即死。居士即生疑。佛言无罪。

Explanation: Another upāsaka was working on a roof when he saw a scorpion in the mud. Filled with fear, he jumped down from the roof and happened to land on a carpenter, who was crushed to death. The upāsaka did not understand what offense he had committed. The Buddha said to him: "You are without offense. From now on, be careful in your work, be attentive, and do not carelessly kill anyone again."

Another upāsaka, after nightfall, entered a dangerous road and encountered bandits. The bandits wanted to seize him. He fled from the bandits and, carelessly, fell down the embankment onto a person who was weaving clothes, and the weaver died immediately. The upāsaka did not understand what offense he had committed. The Buddha said to him: "You are without offense."

Original text:又一居士山上推石。石下杀人。生疑。佛言无罪。若欲推石时。当先唱石下。令人知。又一人病痈疮未熟。居士为破而死。即生疑。佛言。痈疮未熟。若破者人死。是中罪可悔。若破熟痈疮死者。无罪。

Explanation: Another upāsaka pushed a stone down from a mountain, and the stone rolled down and crushed a person to death. The upāsaka did not understand what offense he had committed. The Buddha said to him: "You are without offense. In the future, when you want to push a stone down, you should first shout out that a stone is coming down, so that people will know."

There was a sick person whose skin had developed an ulcer; the malignant sore was not yet mature. The upāsaka burst the sore open, causing the patient to die. The upāsaka did not understand what offense he had committed. The Buddha said to him: "When an ulcerated sore is not yet mature, if it is burst open, the person will die; this is a middling pardonable offense. If a mature ulcerated sore is burst open and the person dies, there is no offense."