Bi Np 1616. Asking an unrelated person for a robe
Pāli / Sanskrit:Aññātakaviññatti
A nun who asks a lay person for robe-cloth, except if her robes are lost or destroyed, must relinquish the robe-cloth and confess the offense.
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Exposition of the Aññātakaviññatti
Requesting Cloth from a Lay Person
Background
The Aññātakaviññatti (requesting cloth from an unrelated person) appears in the Bhikkhunī Pāṭimokkha — the monastic code for Theravāda Buddhist nuns. This forms an essential part of the Vinaya Piṭaka, which records the rules and instructions established to maintain discipline within the Sangha.
During the time of the Buddha, nuns lived in dependence upon the support of the lay community (upāsikā). However, in order to preserve the purity of worldly relations and to avoid unnecessary entanglements, the Buddha established clear principles governing how nuns should request silk, cloth, or materials for making robes. This was not a matter of greed, but rather a means of maintaining wholesome social relationships and sustaining focus upon spiritual practice.
This rule reflects a fundamental principle of the Vinaya: actions that appear harmless at first glance but may lead to misconduct or cause difficulty for the community must be regulated. The historical context indicates that certain nuns had requested cloth from unrelated lay persons (aññātaka) — that is, those who were neither relatives nor close friends — thereby giving rise to misunderstandings or inappropriate relationships.
Main Content
Rule Bi Np 16 states clearly: a nun may not request cloth from an unrelated lay person, unless her robes have been lost or completely destroyed. The term "aññātaka" means "one who is unacquainted" — referring to those who are neither blood relatives, close friends, nor persons having a special connection with that nun.
If a nun violates this rule by requesting cloth from an unrelated lay person without a legitimate reason, she must undertake two acts of rectification: first, she must relinquish or return the cloth in question; second, she must confess her fault openly before the Sangha through a formal acknowledgment of wrongdoing (pabbājana).
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