[144] Now at that time bhikkhus, having given full ordination to a certain bhikkhu, departed leaving him behind alone. Coming along afterward all alone, he met his former wife on the road. She said: "Have you now gone forth?" "Yes, I have gone forth." "Sexual intercourse is hard for those gone forth to come by; come, engage in sexual intercourse." Having engaged in sexual intercourse with her, he arrived afterward, after a long delay. The bhikkhus said: "Why, friend, did you take so long?" Then that bhikkhu informed the bhikkhus of this matter. The bhikkhus reported this matter to the Blessed One. Then the Blessed One, on that occasion, in that connection, having given a talk on the Dhamma, addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus, I allow that, when full ordination has been given, a companion be provided and the four things never to be done (akaraṇīya) be explained:
"A bhikkhu who has received full ordination should not engage in sexual intercourse, even with a female animal. Whatever bhikkhu engages in sexual intercourse is not an ascetic, not a son of the Sakyan. Just as a man whose head has been cut off is incapable of living by the rejoining of it to the body, even so a bhikkhu who has engaged in sexual intercourse is not an ascetic, not a son of the Sakyan. That is not to be done by you for as long as life lasts.
"A bhikkhu who has received full ordination should not take what is not given, in a manner reckoned as theft, even down to a blade of grass. Whatever bhikkhu takes what is not given, reckoned as theft — whether a pāda, the worth of a pāda, or more than a pāda — is not an ascetic, not a son of the Sakyan. Just as a withered leaf, released from its stem, is incapable of becoming green again, even so a bhikkhu who has taken what is not given, reckoned as theft — whether a pāda, the worth of a pāda, or more than a pāda — is not an ascetic, not a son of the Sakyan. That is not to be done by you for as long as life lasts.
"A bhikkhu who has received full ordination should not intentionally deprive a living being of life, even down to a tiny ant. Whatever bhikkhu intentionally deprives a human being of life, even to the extent of causing an abortion, is not an ascetic, not a son of the Sakyan. Just as a thick stone, broken in two, cannot be joined together again, even so a bhikkhu who has intentionally deprived a human being of life is not an ascetic, not a son of the Sakyan. That is not to be done by you for as long as life lasts.
"A bhikkhu who has received full ordination should not lay claim to a superhuman state, even so much as saying, 'I delight in an empty dwelling.' Whatever bhikkhu, of evil desires, overcome by desire, lays claim to a superhuman state that is nonexistent and unreal — a jhāna, a liberation, a concentration (samādhi), an attainment, a path (magga), or a fruit — is not an ascetic, not a son of the Sakyan. Just as a palmyra tree cut off at the crown is incapable of growing again, even so a bhikkhu, of evil desires, overcome by desire, who has laid claim to a superhuman state that is nonexistent and unreal, is not an ascetic, not a son of the Sakyan. That is not to be done by you for as long as life lasts."
The Four Things Never To Be Done are finished.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.