Confession 125

Mūlasarvāstivāda bhikkhunī vinaya, fascicle 19.

Respectfully translated by the Tipiṭaka master Yìjìng.

The 125th training precept: Giving consent the previous day.

Origin Story

Location as before. Then Thullanandā bhikkhunī and the sangha were dealing with an urgent and important matter. The whole bhikkhunī sangha gathered and told Thullā bhikkhunī: “Noble one, the whole bhikkhunī sangha has gathered. Please come to the assembly.” Thullā bhikkhunī said: “I’ve given consent according to dhamma, so I’ve done what was to be done.” The next day, the bhikkhunī sangha needed to gather again. Thullā bhikkhunī didn’t go to the assembly to attend to the matter. The bhikkhunīs said: “Noble one, it’s appropriate to give consent.” Thullā bhikkhunī said: “I gave consent according to dhamma yesterday.” The bhikkhunīs said: “Is consent given the previous day still valid?” She answered: “Can consent expire and become invalid?” The bhikkhunīs told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus told the Buddha. The Buddha asked and criticized, as explained in detail, down to: “I’ll lay down another training precept. You should recite it like this:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī gives consent the previous day, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

“A bhikkhunī” means Thullanandā, or any other bhikkhunī.

“The previous day” means the day that just passed.

“Giving consent” means stating one’s mental delight.

The explanations of the rule factors etc. are as explained before.