Confession 180

Origin Story

At that time, the bhikkhunīs thought: “The Buddha doesn’t allow us to shave the hair in the hidden place. Now we’ll burn it off.” Then they burnt it off. At that time, there was a brahmin who had lost a sheep and was searching for it. He came to the street of the bhikkhunīs and smelled the odor of burning hair. He said that the bhikkhunīs had stolen and killed his sheep, and then he went to the king and informed him of this matter. The king then summoned the bhikkhunīs and asked them: “Venerables, did you kill the brahmin’s sheep?” They answered: “We didn’t kill it.” He asked: “If you didn’t kill it, how come there was the odor of burning sheep hair?” Then they truthfully answered. When the king heard it, he laughed loudly and let them go. The high officials heard it and criticized them: “Why don’t the bhikkhunīs think about practising the path, and burn the hair in the hidden place?” 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 burns off the hair in the hidden place, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

The remainder is as explained in “shaving the hair in the hidden place”.

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