Confession 83

Origin Story

At that time, Chandasumanā bhikkhunī’s student obtained five new robes for herself. She told her preceptor: “Wear it for me first, and let me make merit.” Then the preceptor wore it, and didn’t give it back again. The student walked around wearing coarse, worn out robes. When the other bhikkhunīs saw it, they asked: “You obtained five new robes for yourself. Why don’t you wear them?” She answered: “I used them to offer to my preceptor first, and my precepter didn’t see to returning them.” The bhikkhunīs criticized Chandasumanā: “Why did you, when your student obtained new robes and offered them to you first, not return them?” The senior bhikkhunīs told the Buddha of this matter. … “I now lay down a precept for the bhikkhunīs, as explained above. From now on, this precept should be recited thus:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī obtains a new robe as a first-use offering, and then doesn’t return it, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

If a bhikkhunī obtains a new robe and offers it to another bhikkhunī, that bhikkhunī should wear it for one day. If she still has her wear it for longer, she should again wear it, according to the duration the owner intended. If she exceeds that limit, it’s a pācittiya.

For a sikkhamānā and a sāmaṇerī, it’s a dukkaṭa.