Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c10.58

c10.58

“An ordained monk may not take what has not been given to him, what is called a theft—not even a blade of grass. The monk, who takes ungiven a pâda* or a pâda’s worth or more than a pâda, (commits) what is called a theft, is no longer a monk; he is no disciple of the son of the Sakya house. As a dry leaf which has separated itself from the stalk cannot again become green, so also a monk, who takes ungiven a pâda or a pâda’s worth or more than a pâda, what is called a theft, is no longer a monk; he is no disciple of the son of the Sakya house. Thou must abstain therefrom all thy life.