Lzh Dg Bi Pm Pc 153Getting Trainees to Massage
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sikkhamānā-ummaddāpana
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Sutta on Making Female Trainees Perform Massage
Background
This sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, specifically to the sequence of rules for nuns, the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha. It records a disciplinary regulation related to the use of the labor of female trainees (sikkhamānā) in the early Buddhist Sangha.
The background of this sutta arose from practical disputes in the monastic community. As the Sangha developed, questions arose regarding the assignment of communal work, especially service tasks such as massage or bathing for elderly or infirm nuns. The Buddha and senior elders had to provide specific guidance to avoid exploiting the labor of those newly entered upon the path.
Main Content
The sutta states that nuns may not arbitrarily command female trainees (sikkhamānā) to perform bodily massage. Sikkhamānās are women in the stage of mental and disciplinary preparation before formal ordination as nuns; they must observe certain precepts but do not yet have the full status of resident nuns.
This rule has a protective meaning. Massage may involve bodily contact, which is a sensitive area requiring close regulation in the monastic Sangha. Arbitrarily ordering female trainees to do this work could lead to conduct inconsistent with the discipline, or create pressure and mental harm for those in the initial stage of practice.
Therefore, the sutta establishes a clear principle: nuns may command female trainees to perform this task only in proper cases, such as when there is clear consent, or when the task is part of a training program approved by the Sangha.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.