Confession 187

Origin Story

At that time, Upananda often went in and out of Thullanandā bhikkhunī’s place. At a later time, he put on his robes, took his bowl, and went to her. They sat down and got up frivolously, and looked at each other’s bodies. Upananda thereupon emitted semen. Thullanandā took his lower robe to wash it, and inserted the semen into her body. Thereupon, she became pregnant. When the bhikkhunīs saw it, they asked: “Aren’t you practising celibacy?” She answered: “It’s not that I’m not practising celibacy. I inserted a man’s semen into my body, and became pregnant from that.” When the senior bhikkhunīs heard it, they 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 inserts a man’s semen into her body, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

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

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