Confession 104

Origin Story

At that time, the Blessed One was in Vesālī, in the hall with the peaked roof near the monkey pond.

Then the sangha received many offerings. There was a bhikkhunī who placed a saṅghāṭī in a building and didn’t look after, sun, or take care of it. Insects spoiled it and the color faded. At a later time, the offerings to the sangha stopped. This bhikkhunī, without looking at the saṅghāṭī, approached the village and put it on. When she wanted to enter the village, she saw that the saṅghāṭī had been spoiled by insects and that the color had faded.

When the bhikkhunīs heard this, there were among them those with few wishes, who knew moderation, who practised the austerities, who were keen on training in the precepts, and who knew shame. They criticized this bhikkhunī: “Why did you place a saṅghāṭī in a building and didn’t look after, sun, and take care of it, which caused it to be spoiled by insects and made the color fade?” Then the bhikkhunīs went and told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus went and told the World-honored One. The World-honored One then for this reason gathered the bhikkhu sangha, and criticized this bhikkhunī: “What you did is wrong, is improper conduct, against the rules of renunciates, an impure practice, a practice not to be followed, shouldn’t be done. Why did you place a saṅghāṭī in a building and didn’t look after, sun, and take care of it? It was spoiled by insects and the color faded.” Then, when the World-honored One had criticized her in countless ways, he said to the bhikkhus: “This bhikkhunī has all kinds of taints, and is the first to break this precept. From now on, I’ll lay down a precept for the bhikkhunīs, and state the 10 principles: … So that the true dhamma may last long. Someone wishing to recite the precept should recite like this:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī doesn’t look after her saṅghāṭī for more than five days, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanation

The meaning of “bhikkhunī” is as above.

If a bhikkhunī places a saṅghāṭī in a building, she should go there and look after it every five days. If she doesn’t look after it, it it a pācittiya. If she doesn’t look after robes other than the saṅghāṭī every five days, it’s a dukkaṭa. If she doesn’t look after necessary items other than the robes every five days, which causes them to be lost, to be spoiled by insects, and their color to fade, it’s a dukkaṭa.

For a bhikkhu, it’s a dukkaṭa. For a sikkhamānā, a sāmaṇera, and a sāmaṇerī, it’s a dukkaṭa. This is called “to commit”.

“Not committed” means if she places a saṅghāṭī in a building and looks after it every five days, if she secures it in an elevated place, or if she entrusts it to someone and the person receiving it says: “Just be at peace, I’ll look after it for you,” and they look after it and worry that it might be lost, and (the bhikkhunī) doesn’t look after it every five days, the offense isn’t committed.

“Not committed” means if she’s the first offender when the precept hadn’t yet been laid down, if she’s mad, if she’s distracted, or if she’s overcome with pain. (End of the 104th rule.)

Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, fascicle 26.