Confession 174

Origin Story

At that time, the bhikkhunīs went to watch singing, dancing, and plays. Defiled attachment arose in their minds and they were no longer happy on the path. Thereupon, they returned to lay life, or became non-Buddhist renunciates. When the lay people saw it, they criticized them: “These people watch singing, dancing, and plays, like prostitutes! This isn’t the practice of renunciates. They’ve broken the rules of 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 watches singing, dancing, and plays, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

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

The non-offenses are as explained above in “visiting kings’ palaces and galleries”.