San Mg Bu Pm Pc 23Instructing Nuns in a Nunnery

COMMENTARY ON THE BHIKKHUNUPASSAYA SUTTA

Instructing Bhikkhunīs in the Nunnery

Background

The Bhikkhunupassaya (Bhikkhu-anu-passaya) is a disciplinary regulation of the Vinaya Piṭaka, belonging to the Pātimokkha — the collection of fundamental precepts in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. The regulations of the Vinaya Piṭaka were taught by the Buddha to protect the harmony, stability, and spiritual progress of the Sangha, particularly of the Bhikkhunī (female monastics).

According to tradition, the Buddha permitted Jaṭilā and subsequently Pajāpatī Gotamī — the Buddha's maternal aunt — to take ordination and establish the order of nuns. However, the order of nuns required stricter legal regulations to ensure respect, maintain internal discipline, and protect the honor of the Sangha in the eyes of ancient Indian society. The Bhikkhunupassaya reflects specific guidance on how the order of nuns should be administered, trained, and instructed in their practice.

Main Content

This sutta sets forth the principles for governing and guiding bhikkhunīs within the nunnery (pasaya). The central content concerns the responsibility of a senior bhikkhunī, one who is of sufficient age and experience in practice, to teach and advise younger bhikkhunīs.

Specifically, this sutta stipulates that a bhikkhunī who is suitable to guide others must satisfy certain conditions. She must be one whose virtue is firmly established, who observes the Pātimokkha (the monastic rules) with diligence, who possesses broad and deep knowledge of the Dhamma and the Vinaya, and who is free from censurable faults or transgressions. Furthermore, she must be capable of teaching, ready to answer questions on the Dhamma, and possessed of genuine compassion toward her female disciples.

The manner of instruction must be respectful and kindly (kalyāṇa), free from arrogance or contempt.