Lzh Dg Bi KamNuns’ Legal Proceedings
Pāli / Sanskrit:Bhikkhunī Kammavācā
The Bhikkhunī-kammavācā (“the nuns’ legal proceedings”) are compilations of the formulas that are recited by nuns to carry out the legal proceedings of the Sangha. They were excerpted from the Vibhaṅga.
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Explanation of the Bhikkhunī Kammavācā (Nuns' Legal Proceedings)
Background
The Bhikkhunī Kammavācā is a collection of standard verbal formulas recited by bhikkhunīs (female monastics) in order to perform legal proceedings in the Sangha. This text is extracted from the Vibhaṅga (Analysis of Discipline), the core section of the Vinaya Piṭaka--one of the three baskets of the early Buddhist canon.
From the earliest days of Buddhism, while Buddha Śākyamuni was still alive, he established two communities of training: the Sangha (monks) and the Bhikkhunī Saṅgha (the community of female monastics). This community needed rules of action and legal procedures to maintain order, purity, and the healthy development of the Dharma. Kammavācā (legal formula) was therefore established as a solemn instrument, ensuring that every collective decision and action of the Sangha was performed correctly, with the clear attestation of the community and with full awareness.
Main Content
The Bhikkhunī Kammavācā includes recited formulas used to carry out various kinds of legal proceedings. They are not prayers or sermons, but procedural formulas with legal force, performed solemnly by female monastics in order to formalize collective decisions.
These kammavācā include formulas for acts such as ordination (admission and different stages of going forth), appointment (designating persons to fulfill certain roles), withdrawal from those roles, confirmation or rejection of disciplinary acts, and other decisions related to the internal administration of the community of female monastics.
Each formula has a strict structure: the opening announces the matter to be handled, the middle presents the reason and content of the act, and the ending declares that if no one objects within the prescribed time, that decision is considered passed. Silence is regarded as tacit acceptance--a wise legal principle of the Buddha-Dharma.
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