Lzh Mi Bi Vb Pc 206Adorning like a wife
Pāli / Sanskrit:Adorning like a wife
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Discourse on Adorning Like a Wife
Lzh Mi Bi Vb Pc 206 — Vinaya Piṭaka
Background
This discourse appears in the Pātimokkha, the code of precepts, for the bhikkhunīs, specifically in the Pācittiya section, the training rules requiring confession when violated. These are among the most detailed disciplinary rules in the Vinaya Piṭaka, reflecting careful governance of the many aspects of practice life for female bhikkhus.
The background from which this rule arose comes from real situations in the early Sangha community. The Buddha established precepts not in order to impose, but to protect the diligence, purity, and unity of the community of practitioners. The rule concerning adornment and appearance has a deep educational purpose concerning renunciation, training the six faculties, and dispelling states of desire.
Main Content
“Adorning like a wife” refers to bhikkhunīs using means of beautification and altering the appearance excessively in order to create an attractive outward form, similar to married women in households preparing themselves to attract their husbands. This includes using cosmetics, dyeing hair, grooming too carefully, or actions intended to make oneself “beautiful.”
This precept stipulates that bhikkhunīs are not permitted to perform acts of adornment beyond basic hygienic care. If a bhikkhunī adorns herself in this way, she commits a Pācittiya offense, requiring an act of confession before the community.
This rule does not absolutely forbid every form of personal hygiene, but reminds practitioners that the aim of the monastic life is not external beauty, but spiritual cultivation. It reflects a fundamental principle of the Buddha-Dharma: abandoning desire and not being bound by the impermanent elements of form.
Practical Meaning
The deeper meaning of this precept lies in the training of the mind.
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