Confession 88

Origin Story

At that time, Khemā bhikkhunī wanted to come to Sāvatthī. Chandasumanā bhikkhunī heard that she wanted to come, went to her supporters’ house, and said: “Khemā bhikkhunī will come, please set up some offerings for her.” They answered: “We also heard that she’ll come, and we wanted to fully prepare good drinks and food ourselves, and also offer her robes.” The bhikkhunī then said: “Why don’t you offer robes to the sangha? In the sangha, there are people who are going in the right direction and are practising well, and there’s nothing (wholesome) they don’t include. What’s the use of offering to one bhikkhunī?” When the supporters heard this, they directed their offering to the sangha. When Khemā bhikkhunī arrived, they set up many good drinks and food, and served her with their own hands. After the meal, they privately said: “Now is really a time for offering robes, but Chandasumanā bhikkhunī has prevented us from this activity.” The bhikkhunīs asked: “What were you saying?” They explained this matter in full. The senior bhikkhunīs criticized her in all kinds of ways: “Why did you prevent an offering of an item to an individual, and gave it to the sangha?” Having criticized her 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 prevents an offering of an item to an individual, and gives it to the sangha, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

“An offering to an individual” means that which is given to someone separate from the sangha. This is called “an offering to an individual”.

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