Derived Offence
From Wikivinaya
A derived offence is an offence concerning behaviour which does not fulfill all the the factors of offence for the specific rule (to the full extent), but which still confirms to other limits which have been defined in the Vibhanga concerning that rule. Some derived offences have their origin in the khandhakas, others are mentioned in commentaries. A derived offence is a less serious offence than the full offence which one incurs when fulfilling all the factors.
Examples concerning derived offences can be found in many of the more heavy rules. The penalty for derived offences is generally a thullacaya or dukkata. In (almost?) all cases, once the factors have been completed for the full offence, the previous derived offences are nullified. Likewise, once a thullaccaya derived offence has been committed, any previous dukkata offences are removed.
The absence of derived offences for many of less heavy offences (rules?) might explain why the Vibhanga does not specify the specific factors for many of the less heavy offences.
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Three ways in which derived offences occur
There are three ways that derived offences occur:
- When one factor is (completely) not fulfilled but the others are.
- When one factor is fulfilled by a different object.
- When one undertakes only a limited number of the actions required for the full offence, as when performing the acts leading up to the full offence. They are committed in the pubbayoga, or preliminary steps.
Different object
Some of the pacittiya rules have derived offences where the object stated for the full offence is not present, but some other (similar) object is. For example:
- Parajika 2, concerning stealing a valuable object, has a derived offence when the value of the object is not high enough. The derived offence is either a thullacaya or a dukkata.
- Paccittiya 13, maligning a community official is a dukkata if the other factors are present but the object is someone who is not a properly appointed official
- Paccittiya 54, disrespect when corrected by a bhikkhu on a patimokkha rule is only a dukkata when corrected by a non-bhikkhu or about something other than a patimokkha rule.
- Paccittiya 55, frightening a bhikkhu is only a dukkata when frightening a non-bhikkhu
- Paccittiya 64, concealing a bhikkhu's serious (parajika or sanghadisesa) offence is only a dukkata when concealing a lesser offence for a bhikkhu or a transgression for a non-bhikkhu
Preliminary Steps (Actions)
These concern a partial fulfilment of the factor of effort or action:
- For Sanghadisesa 5 the actions leading to the full offence are accepting (the request of one party to convey a proposal), inquiring (with the second party and learning the response), and reporting (the answer back to the first party). All these actions refer to the factor of effort (action). If one undertakes all three roles one commits a sanghadisesa. If one undertakes any two of these roles one commits a thullacaya; undertaking (only) one of these roles, one commits dukkata.
- Parajika 2 has a derived offence of a dukkata for every step taken when walking towards the object one plans to steal. Moving the object partially from its base is a thullaccaya.
