Confession 171

The 171st training precept: Leading each other while bathing.

Origin Story

Location as before. Then the group-of-twelve bhikkhunīs lead each other by the hand while bathing in the river Aciravatī. They playfully swung each other around and splashed water. Brahmin householders saw them and were upset: “This is against the rules of renunciates who have shaved their heads and gone forth for tranquility.” The bhikkhunīs told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus told the Buddha. The Buddha asked the group of bhikkhunīs: “Did you really lead each other by the hand while bathing in the river in this way?” They answered: “We really did.” The World-honored One criticized them, as explained in detail, down to: “I’ll lay down another training precept. You should recite it like this:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī leads another by the hand while bathing in a river, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

“A bhikkhunī” means the group-of-twelve etc.

“Leading another by the hand while bathing” means holding hands with someone and entering the river.

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