Lzh Mu Bi Vb Pc 100Lying on the Same Bed
Pāli / Sanskrit:Ekamañcatuvaṭṭana
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Sutta on Lying on the Same Bed (Ekamañcatuvaṭṭana)
Background
The Vinaya Piṭaka is one of the most sacred collections of teaching in the Pāli Canon, recording the rules of practice that the Buddha Śākyamuni established for the Saṅgha. The Sutta on Lying on the Same Bed (Ekamañcatuvaṭṭana) is a specific offense recorded in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, the Vinaya for nuns, under the category of Pācittiya offenses.
This offense is related to restrictions concerning dwelling places and shared living between male and female renunciants. The background arose from specific events in the early community, when nuns did not observe rules preventing improper conduct, thereby affecting the honor of the Saṅgha and the trust of the community.
Main Content
The text prescribes that a nun may not lie on the same bed (mañca) as a man, whether he is a monastic or a layman. This act is considered a violation of a basic prohibition that nuns must observe. If a nun performs this act, she must confess the offense, a Pācittiya offense, one of the offenses requiring confession and the reestablishment of discipline.
This rule is not merely out of fear of improper bodily activity, but in order to maintain purity, avoid suspicion from others, and protect the honor of both the nun and the Saṅgha. The Buddha emphasized that these rules were laid down for the governance of the Saṅgha, for the comfort of the Saṅgha, to restrain troublemakers, and so that good monastics may live at ease.
The conditions of the offense include: the object must be a male person, of any age; the action must be lying on the same bed; and the nun must have clear awareness of this action. Only when these three factors are complete is the offense established.
Practical Meaning
Ekamañcatuvaṭṭana is not merely an external rule of conduct, but an expression of wakefulness and respect for the body.
🌏 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.