Confession 87

Origin Story

At that time, the bhikkhunīs gave bhikkhunī robes to lay women and non-Buddhist female renunciates. They then put them on and walked around. When the other lay people saw them and paid respect to them, they said: “I’m a lay person. I’m a non-Buddhist renunciate.” Then the lay people criticized them: “Why does a bhikkhunī give bhikkhunī robes to lay women and non-Buddhist female renunciates?” When the senior bhikkhunīs heard it, they criticized them in all kinds of ways, … “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 gives a bhikkhunī robe to a lay woman or a non-Buddhist female renunciate, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

“A bhikkhunī robe” means it has cloth panels, borders, and strips.

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

If they have a bhikkhunī robe from an exchange, or if they borrow, use, and return it, in both cases the offense isn’t committed.