Lzh Mi Bu Pm Pc 29Travelling on a Boat With a Nun
Pāli / Sanskrit:Nāvābhiruhana
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
NĀVĀBHIRUHANA SUTTA: TRAVELLING ON A BOAT WITH A NUN
Background
The Nāvābhiruhana Sutta (from nāva = boat, abhiruhana = boarding, entering) is a regulation in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, within the Pātimokkha, the basic code for the community of bhikkhus. This sutta records a specific situation that arose during the time of the Buddha Gotama, when his disciples came into contact with female renunciants in the ordinary circumstances of travel.
The city of Sāvatthi, a center of the Buddha's teaching, is the common setting for many Vinaya rules. These situations did not arise suddenly but from the realities of communal practice: bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs needed to travel and interact, while at the same time protecting concentration (samādhi) and virtue (sīla). The matter of travelling on a boat with a nun is one of the situations requiring special attention to rules of conduct.
Main Content
In the Vinaya Piṭaka, this rule is directly related to Pācittiya, offenses requiring confession, actions that may give rise to suspicion or arouse delight in the community. Specifically, this sutta explains that a bhikkhu should not board a boat alone with a nun, unless there is a valid reason, such as needing to cross a river in order to continue Dharma practice.
The Buddha established this rule not because the act of travel itself is wrong, but for three basic reasons: first, to protect the reputation of the fourfold community of practitioners; second, to avoid unworthy suspicions that might arise in the minds of those who witness it; third, to maintain the purity of mind of the practitioners themselves.
This rule does not completely prohibit communication between bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs. The Buddha recognized the necessity of Dharma exchange and mutual support within the community. However, the rule requires carefulness: there should be a third person present, the action should be for the sake of the Dharma, and private situations that could cause misunderstanding should be avoided.
🌏 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.