Ka Bu Pm Pc 60Bathing
Pāli / Sanskrit:Nahāna
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
NAHĀNA SUTTA - BATHING
Background
The Bathing Sutta (Nahāna) belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, containing regulations related to the daily life of bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs. This is not a narrative sutta of the Buddha’s teaching, but a set of disciplinary rules laid down by the Buddha to protect cleanliness, health, and focused mindfulness in the monastic community.
The background for the arising of these rules is usually connected with specific situations. Some bhikkhus bathed improperly, causing unsuitable conduct or affecting practice. Seeing these shortcomings, Buddha Śākyamuni instructed and established appropriate regulations to guide his disciples on the path of practice.
The Vinaya Piṭaka is regarded as the foundational part of the Dharma, helping preserve the Sangha and ensuring an environment conducive to awakening. These regulations reflect the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha, for they protect not only the bhikkhus, but also the reputation of the Dharma before the people.
Main Content
The Bathing Sutta prescribes rules concerning the personal hygiene of monastics. In the Theravāda tradition, bathing is regarded as a legitimate daily activity, but it must follow certain principles.
According to the rules in this collection, bhikkhus may not bathe carelessly or mindlessly. Bathing must be performed with mindfulness (sati), that is, with full awareness of each action. When bathing, the practitioner should be aware of the impermanence (anicca) of the body, its non-self (anattā), and the impure aspect of the physical form (kāya). This is not only material hygiene, but the maintenance of spiritual cleanliness.
Specific regulations include limits regarding time, place, and manner of bathing. A bhikkhu should not bathe alone in unsafe deserted places, or bathe at an inappropriate time that affects practice. The rule also emphasizes that excessively hot water or substances harmful to the body should not be used.
🌏 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.