Confession 177

The 177th training precept: Keeping a fine comb.

Origin Story

Location as before. Then Thullanandā bhikkhunī entered someone’s house on almsround. She took a woman’s fine comb and combed (her hair). She said: “Great!”, and then kept one herself. The lay people saw it and were upset. The bhikkhunīs told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus told the Buddha. The Buddha asked Thullanandā: “Did you really keep a fine comb in this way?” She answered: “I really did.” The World-honored One criticized her, as explained in detail, down to: “I’ll lay down another training precept. You should recite it like this:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī keeps a fine comb, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

“A bhikkhunī” means Thullanandā etc.

“Keeping a fine comb” means keeping a comb.

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