Mahatma Buddha gave a lot of emphasis on the importance of morality in his teachings. He asked his followers to be pure with their mind, word and action. For this, he asked the householders and the monks to follow the following Panchsheel or moral conduct rules :
- Practising of non-violence (Ahimsa)
- Abandoning lies (truth)
- Prohibition of theft (Asteya)
- Not collecting wealth items (Aprigraha)
- Not indulging in corrupt practices (Brhmacharya). There are also five other rules for the monks. Thus they had to follow ‘Ten sheels’.
