Lzh Sarv Bi Pm Pc 166Adorning like a wife
Pāli / Sanskrit:Adorning like a wife
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Explanation of the Sutra “Adorning Like a Wife”
From the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Pāli Tradition
Background
This text is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, the collection of training regulations for the community of bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs in Theravāda Buddhism. The Vinaya Piṭaka is not only a set of basic standards for conduct, but a profound expression of the Buddha’s teaching on ethics, self-discipline, and pure practice.
The Pātimokkha section, the basic rules to which this text belongs, was formulated to guide those who have gone forth to live apart from the world, with standards entirely different from ordinary household life. The text “Adorning Like a Wife” points especially to an important area: the use of clothing and bodily adornment.
Main Content
This text stipulates that bhikkhunīs must not decorate, adorn, or care for their appearance in a way similar to a householder woman intentionally beautifying herself or attracting attention. Specifically, the use of materials to brighten the skin, dye the hair, braid the hair into elaborate styles, or use cosmetics is prohibited.
The deeper reason for this rule does not lie in the idea that the body is bad or shameful, but in the purpose of renunciation. When a person has left household life to pursue the path, she no longer has any need or purpose to adorn herself in order to attract or maintain a marriage relationship. Maintaining simplicity, cleanliness, and ordinariness in physical appearance is a way of expressing the abandonment of desires and worldly aims.
This rule is also related to the principle of “sense restraint” (aparihanata), that is, the guarding of the sense faculties. By not adorning herself to become attractive, a bhikkhunī avoids situations that could lead to distraction, desire, or unsuitable relationships with those around her.
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