Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 119Ordaining a Pregnant Woman

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 119

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in the Anāthapiṇḍika garden, Jeta's Grove, in the country of Śrāvastī. At that time, a bhikkhunī named Bālā ordained a pregnant woman, conferring full ordination upon her. Afterward, that woman gave birth to a son and carried him into the village while going on alms rounds. The laypeople saw this and expressed their disapproval: "This bhikkhunī has no sense of shame or remorse; she has violated the conduct of purity. She outwardly claims to practice the true Dharma. What kind of true Dharma is this? Look at this one who has gone forth — she has just given birth to a child!"

The bhikkhunīs heard of this, and among them those who were of few desires, who were content, who practiced the austere dhūta qualities, who were fond of training in the precepts, and who had a sense of shame and remorse, rebuked bhikkhunī Bālā: "Why did you ordain a pregnant woman?"

The bhikkhunīs went and reported the matter to the bhikkhus. The bhikkhus went and reported it to the Buddha. The Buddha, on account of this incident, assembled the community of bhikkhus and rebuked bhikkhunī Bālā:

"What you have done is wrong — it is not proper conduct, not the practice of a renunciant, not pure conduct, not conformable behavior; it is something that should not have been done. Why did you ordain a pregnant woman?"

Having rebuked her with countless means of admonition, the Buddha said to the bhikkhus:

"This bhikkhunī is a source of many kinds of defiled seeds, and she is the first to have committed this offense. From now on, I shall lay down a rule for the bhikkhunīs, based on ten reasons, up to and including the purpose of making the true Dharma endure long."

The precept should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikkhunī ordains a pregnant woman, conferring full ordination upon her, it is a pācittiya offense.

The Blessed One thus laid down this precept for the bhikkhunīs. But the bhikkhunīs did not know whether a woman was pregnant or not, and only came to know afterward; some among them therefore performed the act of confession for the pācittiya offense, while others were uncertain. The Buddha instructed:

"If one did not know, there is no offense."

From now on the precept should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikkhunī, knowing that a woman is pregnant, ordains her by conferring full ordination upon her, it is a pācittiya offense.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE OFFENSE

Bhikkhunī: as explained above.

If a bhikkhunī, knowing that a woman is pregnant, ordains her by conferring full ordination: upon the completion of the third act of the kammavācā, the preceptor bhikkhunī incurs a pācittiya offense. Upon completion of the second act of the kammavācā, she commits three offenses of duṣkṛta. Upon completion of the first act of the kammavācā, she commits two offenses of duṣkṛta. Upon completion of the announcement, one offense of duṣkṛta. Before the announcement is completed, a duṣkṛta offense. Before the announcement has been made, if she has had the woman's head shaved, has had robes prepared, or has made preparations for conferring full ordination, or if the assembly has already gathered — all of these constitute duṣkṛta offenses.

For a bhikkhu, a duṣkṛta offense. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: If one did not know; or if one trusted the words of that person herself; or if one trusted the words of someone reliable; or if one trusted what her parents said — if full ordination was conferred and she later gave birth to a child, there is no offense. If afterward one was uncertain and did not dare to hold or carry the infant, the Buddha instructed: "If the child is not yet able to be separated from the mother, the bhikkhunī herself must care for the infant;

she is permitted to perform all the duties of a mother — to nurse it, to pre-chew food for it, and to raise it." Afterward, if there was uncertainty about whether one dared to sleep in the same dwelling as this male child, the Buddha instructed: "If the male child is not yet able to be separated from the mother, she is permitted to sleep in the same place; there is no offense."

Those who do not commit an offense: one who commits it for the first time before the rule has been laid down; one who is mentally deranged, one whose mind is disturbed, one who is afflicted with acute pain and is compelled by distress.

Vietnamese translation: Bhikkhu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA, PART ONE

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated by: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

(Chinese translation, fascicles 1–21; Vietnamese translation, volumes 1 and 2)

Buddhist Studies Publication Committee, 2002