Lzh Mi Bi Vb Pc 189Nakedness

Explanation of the Sutta on Nakedness (Nagga)

Background

The Nagga Sutta is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, the section analyzing the rules for bhikkhunīs. This is an important part of the early Vinaya Piṭaka, intended to regulate a pure way of life and prevent conduct that could damage the Dharma and the community of monks and nuns.

The background of the sutta concerns the Buddha Gotama’s establishment of disciplinary rules for bhikkhunīs in the Sangha. The Vinaya Piṭaka developed gradually, with each rule (sikkhāpada) set forth in response to specific situations that occurred in the monastic community. The Nagga Sutta is directly related to decorum and purity in conduct, especially matters concerning the body.

Main Content

The sutta on Nakedness deals with exposing or displaying the body in a way unsuitable to the renunciant life. In the Vinaya Piṭaka, bhikkhunīs are required to maintain propriety (vinaya) in all actions, speech, and thought. This includes wearing underclothing appropriately and not exposing the body in an indecorous or provocative way.

This sutta states that a bhikkhunī must not expose sensitive areas of the body. This does not arise from shame toward the body, but from a deeper principle: the mind of a practitioner should always be directed toward the Path, not distracted by sensual pleasures or attention from others. Proper clothing and the preservation of decorum are supports for keeping the mind focused on study and practice.

The sutta also implicitly points out that the life of a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī is not for attracting attention or special favor from others, but for practicing what leads to the cessation of suffering. External decorum is also an expression of inner decorum, the restraint of the sense faculties (indriya-saṃvara).

Practical Meaning

For modern practitioners, the Nagga Sutta teaches us that discipline in clothing and the body is an essential part of the path of practice.