The Offense of Sending Someone to Kill on the Way

Original text of the Sūtra on the Precepts for Upāsakas, Section One: 遣令道中死者。知是道中有恶兽饥饿。遣令往至恶道中。作如是念。令彼恶道中死。死者犯不可悔。余者亦犯。同如上说。是名恶道中杀。

Explanation: The method of sending someone to be killed along the way is this: the upāsaka knows in advance that there are ferocious beasts hungry along that road, and sends the person he wants to kill onto that perilous road, thinking in his mind: "Let him die on that dangerous road." If that person dies, the upāsaka commits an irredeemable offense. If that person does not die immediately but later dies because of this, the upāsaka also commits an irredeemable offense. If that person does not die immediately, and later does not die because of this either, it is a middling expiable offense. This is the manner of killing on a dangerous road.

Although the person was killed and devoured by wild beasts, and not killed by the upāsaka's own hand, because it was brought about by the upāsaka's deliberate scheming, it is still equivalent to the upāsaka killing him—indeed this is even more serious than killing with one's own hands. It innocently causes the wild beasts to form an evil karmic bond with that person, and in the future, when the beasts repay that debt, the suffering will be far more grievous than one life for one life.