Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 171Not Going Away After Expulsion

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 171

A. ORIGIN

At one time, the Bhagavā was dwelling in the country of Cūḷanī. At that time, the group of six bhikkhunīs, having been expelled, did not depart.

The bhikkhunīs heard of this, and among them those who were of few desires, who were content, who practiced the austere dhūta practices, who were fond of training in the precepts, and who had a sense of shame, rebuked the group of six bhikkhunīs: "Why, when you have been expelled, do you not go?"

The bhikkhunīs reported the matter to the bhikkhus. The bhikkhus went and reported it to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this cause and condition, convened the Bhikkhu Saṅgha and rebuked the group of six bhikkhunīs:

"What you have done is wrong, improper, not in accordance with proper conduct, not in accordance with the practice of a renunciant, not in accordance with pure conduct, not in accordance with right behavior—it is something that ought not to be done. Why, when you have been expelled, do you not go?"

Having rebuked them with countless means, the Buddha said to the bhikkhus:

"These bhikkhunīs are a field in which many kinds of defiled seeds are sown; they are the first to commit this offense. From now on, I shall lay down a precept for the bhikkhunīs, comprising ten principles of meaning, up to and including the phrase 'for the long endurance of the true Dharma.'"

The precept should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikkhunī, having been expelled, does not depart—pācittiya.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE PRECEPT

Bhikkhunī: as explained above.

If any bhikkhunī, having been expelled, does not depart—pācittiya.

For a bhikkhu, dukkhaṭa. For a sikkhāmānā, sāmaṇera, or sāmaṇerī, dukkhaṭa. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: She departs immediately upon being expelled; or she yields without opposition, humbles herself in repentance, and seeks the revocation of the act of expulsion; or she is ill; or there is no companion with whom to travel; or the road is obstructed; or there is danger from bandits, or from wild animals, or from flooding; or she is seized by force; or she is imprisoned and bound; or there is danger to her life, or danger to her celibate practice, on account of which she does not depart after being expelled. In all such cases there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: one who offends for the first time before the precept has been promulgated; one who is insane, mentally deranged, or overcome and oppressed by severe pain.

Vietnamese translation: Bhikkhu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. FOUR-PART 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, fascicles 1–2)

Buddhist Publication Committee, 2002