Various Offenses of Stealing

Original text of the Sūtra on the Precepts for Upāsakas, Section Two: 若居士蒱博。以盗心转齿。胜他得五钱者。犯不可悔。若有居士以盗心偷舍利。犯中可悔。若以恭敬心而作是念。佛亦我师。清净心取者。无犯。若居士以盗心取经卷。犯不可悔。计直轻重。

Explanation: If a layman, while gambling, cheats by turning the gears of the gambling device with a thieving mind and wins more than five coins from his opponent, he commits an unredeemable offense. If a layman steals relics (śarīra) with a thieving mind, he commits a moderately redeemable offense. If, out of a respectful mind, he has this thought—"The Buddha is also my teacher, and I should make offerings as well"—and takes the relics with a pure mind, there is no offense of stealing. If a layman takes sūtra scrolls with a thieving mind, he commits an unredeemable offense; the severity is determined by their value.

Why is the offense for stealing relics judged more lightly? Because relics belong to the Buddha, and the Buddha has no attachment to relics and claims no ownership of them; therefore relics also belong to all the Buddha's disciples—everyone has a share. In stolen relics, one's own portion is also included. Moreover, the purpose of stealing relics is also to make offerings, not to use them for profit, so the offense is light. Why does stealing sūtra books constitute an unredeemable offense? Because printing sūtra books requires ink, paper, labor, and other costs; that is, sūtra books have a certain value, so stealing them incurs an offense, and if the value exceeds five coins, the offense is unredeemable.

Original text: 夫盗田者。有二因缘。夺他田地。一者相言。二者作相。若居士为地故。言他得胜。若作异相。过分得地。直五钱者。犯不可悔。

Explanation: For those who steal and encroach upon farmland, there are two causes and conditions by which the encroachment upon another's land can occur. One is litigation: by filing a lawsuit and winning the case, the land becomes one's own. The other is setting boundary markers: placing the boundary lines within the other party's land in order to illegally appropriate their fields. If a layman, in order to obtain more land, sues another and wins, he commits an unredeemable offense. Or, if he sets boundary markers to occupy more land than his due, and the excess portion is worth five coins, he commits an unredeemable offense.

 Original text: 有诸居士。应输估税而不输。至五钱者。犯不可悔。复有居士至关税处。语诸居士。汝为我过此物。与汝半税。为持过者。违税五钱。犯不可悔。居士若示人异道。使令失税。物直五钱。犯中可悔。

若税处有贼及恶兽或饥饿。故示异道。令免斯害。不犯。又有居士。与贼共谋。破诸村落得物。共分直五钱者。犯不可悔。

Explanation: There are some laymen who should pay taxes but do not; if the evaded tax amounts to five coins, they commit an unredeemable offense. There are also laymen who, arriving at a customs checkpoint, tell other laymen: "Smuggle this item across for me, and I will give you half the tax money." If one smuggles goods for another and evades taxes amounting to five coins, one commits an unredeemable offense.

If a layman points out a side route—not the road to the customs checkpoint—so that the other person has no way to pay the tax, and the evaded tax on goods worth five coins, he commits a moderately redeemable offense. If he knows there are bandits and vicious beasts at the checkpoint—and the vicious beasts may well be hungry—and therefore deliberately points out another route so that the layman can avoid harm, then there is no offense. There are also laymen who conspire with bandits to plunder villages and obtain goods; if they divide the spoils amounting to five coins, they commit an unredeemable offense.