Confession 97

Sarvāstivāda Vinaya, fascicle 45 (Part four of the seventh recitation chapter.)

Translated by the northern Indian Tipiṭaka master Puṇyatāra together with Kumārajīva during the later Qin dynasty.

Part four of the Bhikkhunī Vinaya — (Part two of the 178 simple pācittiyas.)

Origin Story

The Buddha was in Sāvatthī. At that time, a small country rebeled against the ruler of Kosala, king Pasenadi. The king assembled four kinds of soldiers: elephant troops, cavalry, charioteers, and infantry. Having assembled four kinds of soldiers, the king himself went out to battle. The bhikkhunīs were wandering in Kosala towards Sāvatthī. On the way, they saw this army. Among the bhikkhunī sangha, there were senior bhikkhunīs who knew the dhamma and said: “Let’s avoid them a little.” The young bhikkhunīs said: “Why avoid them? King Pasenadi has faith in the Buddha’s dhamma, prince Jeta, and the householders Anāthapiṇḍika, Isidatta, and Purāṇa, etc. all have faith in the Buddha’s dhamma. Who could obstruct us? We’ll just go straight there.” Having spoken, they went straight there, and they were robbed by the advance party and their bodies were exposed. The bhikkhunīs told the king: “The advance party robbed and undressed us.” The king said: “I provide villages, gold, silver, and grain as rewards to these troops. Only then they fight for me. Now the robes they’ve stolen from you can’t be returned. There are troops in this country now, why did you wander here? If the Buddha hears of this, he must lay down a precept for you: ‘You shouldn’t wander in a dubious, frightening place within the country.’”

Among the bhikkhunīs were those of few wishes, who knew moderation and practised the austerities. When they heard of this matter, their minds weren’t pleased, and they explained it to the Buddha in detail. The Buddha gathered both sanghas because of this matter. He knew, and intentionally asked the bhikkhunīs: “Did you really do this?” They answered: “We really did this, World-honored One.” The Buddha criticized them with all kinds of reasons: “How can you be called bhikkhunīs when you wander in a dubious, frightening place within the country?” Having criticized them with all kinds of reasons, he said to the bhikkhus: “For 10 benefits, I’ll lay down a precept for the bhikkhunīs. From now on, this precept should be recited thus:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī wanders in a dubious, frightening place within the country, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

“Pācittiya” means burn, cook, cover, obstruct. If she doesn’t confess the offense, it can obstruct the path. In this fascicle, as well as in some rules lateron, pācittiya is transliterated as 波逸提, instead of as 波夜提, as before. It seems quite unusual that technical terminology isn’t standardized.*

Herein, this is an offense: If a bhikkhunī wanders in a dubious, frightening place within the country, it’s a pācittiya. Whenever she wanders, she incurs a pācittiya. (End of rule 97.)