Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 127Not Guiding Disciple After Ordination

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 127

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, at the city of Śrāvastī. At that time, certain bhikṣuṇīs ordained prostitutes, conferring full ordination upon them. Women who were acquainted with those prostitutes saw this and spoke among themselves, saying: "This prostitute previously did such and such things together with us." The newly ordained bhikṣuṇī and the other bhikṣuṇīs heard this and were all filled with shame.

The bhikṣuṇīs heard of this, and among them were those of few desires and contentment, who practiced the austere dhūta qualities, delighted in training in the precepts, and knew shame and remorse; these censured the bhikṣuṇīs, saying: "How could you ordain prostitutes and confer full ordination upon them?"

The nuns reported this to the bhikṣus. The bhikṣus went and reported it to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this matter, convened the assembly of bhikṣus and rebuked the bhikṣuṇīs:

"What you have done is wrong, unseemly, unbefitting a śramaṇa, impure in conduct, contrary to proper practice — something that ought not to be done. Why did you ordain prostitutes and confer full ordination upon them?"

Having rebuked them with countless expedient means, the Blessed One said to the bhikṣus:

"These bhikṣuṇīs are a field for planting many seeds of the tainted; they are the first to commit this offense. From this day forward, I shall lay down a precept for the bhikṣuṇīs, comprising ten points of meaning, up to and including the phrase 'for the long endurance of the true Dharma.'"

The precept should be proclaimed as follows:

Whatever bhikṣuṇī confers full ordination upon such a person, there is a pācittiya offense.

The Blessed One having thus laid down this precept for the bhikṣuṇīs, some bhikṣuṇīs did not know whether a person was or was not such a person, and came to know only afterward; accordingly those bhikṣuṇīs performed the pācittiya act of confession, while others were uncertain. The Buddha instructed:

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

From this day forward, the precept should be proclaimed as follows:

Whatever bhikṣuṇī, knowing that a person is such a person, confers full ordination upon her, there is a pācittiya offense.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE OFFENSE

Bhikṣuṇī: as explained above.

Such a person: refers to a prostitute.

That person may have a husband, or brothers of the husband, or even a former secret lover. When a bhikṣuṇī confers full ordination upon such a person, she should take her to a distant place five or six yojanas away. If that is not possible, she should have her withdraw to a secluded, hidden place. If a bhikṣuṇī ordains such a person, confers full ordination upon her, and thereafter neither takes her to a distant place five or six yojanas away nor has her withdraw to a secluded, hidden place, there is a pācittiya offense.

For a bhikṣu, it is a duṣkṛta offense. This is called committing an offense.

Non-offense: if one did not previously know that the person was such a person and then conferred full ordination upon her; or if one takes that person to a distant place five or six yojanas away; or if one has someone else conduct her to a place five or six yojanas away; or if she dwells in a secluded, hidden place.

Those not guilty of an offense: one who commits the act for the first time before the precept has been promulgated; one who is insane; one whose mind is disordered; one who is afflicted with pain and distress; one who acts under compulsion.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated: Bhikṣu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Publishing Committee, 2002