Confession 151

Origin Story

At that time, the Blessed One was in Sāvatthī in Jeta’s grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s park.

Then the group-of-six bhikkhunī applied sesame dregs on their bodies. When the householders saw this, they were all upset: “These bhikkhunīs have no shame, they’ve broken celibacy. Outwardly, they praise themselves: ‘We know the true dhamma’, how is that the true dhamma? Why do they take sesame dregs and rub them on their bodies? There’s no difference to criminals and prostitutes.”

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 the group-of-six bhikkhunīs: “Why did you rub sesame dregs on your bodies?” Then they told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus went and told the World-honored One. The World-honored One for this reason gathered the bhikkhu sangha, and criticized the group-of-six bhikkhunīs: “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, bhikkhunīs, did you rub sesame dregs on your bodies?” When he had criticized them in countless ways, he said to the bhikkhus: “These bhikkhunīs have all kinds of taints, and are 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 applies sesame dregs on her body, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanation

The meaning of “bhikkhunī” is as above.

If a bhikkhunī applies sesame dregs on her body, it’s a pācittiya.

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 has a certain illness at that time, or if she’s held by force, 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 151st rule.)