Lzh Dg Bi Vb Ss 5Ordaining a Criminal

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– SANGHĀDISESA

5. ORDAINING A FEMALE THIEF

A. ORIGIN OF THE RULE

At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in the Kūṭāgārasālā on the banks of the Mahāvana river at Vesālī. At that time, the women of the Licchavi clan went out for recreation. Among the crowd, a female thief had mingled; waiting for a moment of merriment, she stole their valuables and fled.

The women then sent someone to report to the Licchavis: "There are female thieves here who have taken our valuables and escaped; we ask that you pursue them on our behalf." The Licchavis sent people in pursuit, with orders to kill them on sight.

When the female thief heard that people had been sent to find and kill her, she fled from Vesālī and escaped to Rājagaha. She entered the nunnery where the community of bhikkhunīs resided and said to the bhikkhunīs:

"I have faith and wish to go forth."

The bhikkhunīs, upon hearing this, gave her the going-forth and the full ordination.

At that time, the Licchavis, hearing that the female thief had escaped to Rājagaha, went to report to King Bimbisāra of the kingdom of Magadha:

"A female thief who stole the valuables of our women has fled here; we request that the king pursue her on our behalf."

King Bimbisāra thereupon ordered his ministers and officers to track her down and search for her. The officers reported to the king:

"There is a female thief residing in the nunnery of the bhikkhunīs, having gone forth to train in the path."

When King Bimbisāra heard that a female thief had come there and that the bhikkhunīs had given her the going-forth, he sent a messenger to inform the Licchavis:

"I understand there is a female thief in the nunnery of the bhikkhunīs, but she has already gone forth to train in the path. I am unable to act in this matter."

The Licchavis then reproached one another, saying: "The bhikkhunīs are without shame. They are all female thieves. Outwardly they proclaim, 'We know the true Dharma.' Yet why have they given the going-forth and full ordination to a female thief whose crime is worthy of death and is known by everyone? What sort of true Dharma is this?"

The bhikkhunīs heard this, and among them those who were of few desires, content, who practiced the ascetic rules, who were fond of training in the precepts, and who had a sense of shame, criticized that bhikkhunī: "Why did you give the going-forth to a female thief?"

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 matter, assembled the community of bhikkhus and rebuked that bhikkhunī:

"What you have done is wrong, not in keeping with proper conduct, not in keeping with the practice of a renunciant, not in keeping with pure conduct, not in keeping with proper behavior; it is something that should not have been done. Why, knowing she was a female thief, did you give her the going-forth and full ordination?"

After reproaching that bhikkhunī with countless means, the Blessed One said to the bhikkhus:

"This bhikkhunī is a field for the cultivation of many defiled seeds; she is the first to have transgressed this rule. From this day forward, I shall lay down a rule for the bhikkhunīs, encompassing ten principles, including that the true Dharma may long endure."

The rule should be stated thus:

Whatever bhikkhunī, knowing that a woman is a thief guilty of a crime worthy of death and known by many, gives her the going-forth and full ordination — that bhikkhunī, in committing this offense for the first time, incurs a sanghādisesa and must be expelled from knowledge of the matter.

The Blessed One thus laid down this rule for the bhikkhunīs. There were those who committed theft within a city and then went to a village, or who committed theft in a village and then entered the city. At that time, the bhikkhunīs did not know whether they were thieves or not, whether their crime was worthy of death or not, or whether it was publicly known or not. Only afterward did they learn that such persons were thieves whose crime was worthy of death and publicly known. Thus it was said they had committed a sanghādisesa, or perhaps it was uncertain. The Buddha instructed:

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

From this day forward, the rule should be stated thus:

Whatever bhikkhunī, knowing a woman to be a thief whose crime is worthy of death and is known by many, without inquiring of the king's ministers and without inquiring of the clans, gives her the going-forth and full ordination — that bhikkhunī, in committing this offense for the first time, incurs a sanghādisesa and must be expelled from knowledge of the matter.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE RULE

Bhikkhunī: as explained above.

Thief: one who steals five māsakas or more than five māsakas.

Worthy of death: subject to the penalty of death.

Known by many: known to the king, known to the ministers, known to the people.

King: one who does not depend upon another for his subsistence.

Ministers: those who hold a position of importance conferred by the king and assist in administering affairs of state.

Clans: the Sākyas, the Koliyas, the Vajjis, the Mallas, the Sumbhas.

If that bhikkhunī, knowing the woman to be a female thief whose crime is worthy of death and is publicly known, without inquiring of the king's ministers or relatives, gives her the going-forth to train in the path, then: upon completion of the third motion of the kammavācā, the preceptor bhikkhunī incurs a sanghādisesa; upon completion of the second motion, she incurs two thullaccayas; upon completion of the first motion, she incurs two thullaccayas; upon completion of the proclamation, she incurs one thullaccaya; if the proclamation is not yet complete, she incurs a dukkaṭa. Before the proclamation, if she has shaved the head, or given the going-forth, or conferred ordination, or assembled the Sangha — all of these constitute dukkaṭas; even a complete quorum incurs a dukkaṭa.

A bhikkhu incurs a dukkaṭa. A sikkhamānā, a sāmaṇera, a sāmaṇerī — all incur a dukkaṭa. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: If one did not know; or if one has reported the matter to the king, the ministers, or the clans; or if the offense is worthy of death but the king permits the going-forth; or if there is an offense but the going-forth is given; or if the person is imprisoned and then released and allowed to go forth; or if one seeks refuge for her so that she is delivered. In all these cases there is no offense.

Those who do not incur an offense: the first offender before the rule was laid down; one who is insane, of deranged mind, or afflicted with 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: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Studies Editorial Committee, 2002