Confession 142

The 142nd training precept: Just giving a robe to a lay person.

Origin Story

At Rājagaha. Then Happy Boy A non-Buddhist.* asked for a robe from Thullā bhikkhunī, and the bhikkhunī gave him one. When he had obtained it, he wore this robe like a sāmaṇera, and made fun of the group-of-six bhikkhus. The group-of-six investigated and found out that Thullā bhikkhunī had given Happy Boy the robe. Angrily, each of them said: “It’s just that bhikkhunī making fun of us, not that Happy Boy.” One time, they met Thullā bhikkhunī in a remote place, and they all beat her severely. With her body bruised everywhere, she lay down on her bed. The bhikkhunīs asked: “Noble one, why are you hurt?” She answered: “I’ve been beaten by the group-of-six. He’s my older brother. If I don’t instruct him, who could blame me?” She can’t restrain her older brother and has to obey his wishes.* 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 just gives a renunciate’s dhamma robe to a lay person, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

“A bhikkhunī” means Thullanandā.

“A renunciate’s dhamma robe” means a bhikkhu’s or bhikkhunī’s dhamma robe.

“Giving to a lay person” means giving to a lay person and letting them wear and use it.

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