Reverend Sirs, a novice monk asked me the following: Are novice monks allowed to cut down trees or dig the ground? If a monk instructs a novice monk to cut down a tree or dig the ground, but the process might involve killing animals, and the novice monk doesn’t dare refuse and still does it, and some animals die while doing so, causing him to feel remorse. If the monk doesn’t dig the ground to avoid killing animals but asks a novice monk or layperson to do it, are the novice monks and layperson creating karma on behalf of the monk? How should I explain this?
Welcome to the forum!
pacittiya 10
If a monk digs the earth or has it dug, he commits an offense entailing confession.’”
Yo pana bhikkhu pathaviṁ khaṇeyya vā khaṇāpeyya vā, pācittiyan”ti.
( I used Ai to search for this. The wise bhikkhus on this forum will understand much more about the details of this).