Bi Np 2828. Bribing weavers
Pāli / Sanskrit:Mahāpesakāra
If a lay person is having robe-cloth woven for a nun and that nun makes demands of the weavers, then she must relinquish the robe-cloth and confess the offense.
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Mahāpesakāra Sutta – The Sutta on the Robe and Taking Advantage
Background
This rule belongs to the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha (the general code for nuns), contained within the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition. The context giving rise to it occurred when nuns spreading the Dhamma required robes woven from linen or other cloth. At that time, lay devotees would commonly select skilled weavers to commission robes as offerings to nuns, intending thereby to cultivate merit.
However, certain nuns, failing to observe the principle of humility, would directly request or suggest to the weavers particular conditions regarding quality, pattern, or price, thereby placing pressure upon or exerting influence over those craftspeople. Such conduct violated the principle of not seeking personal advantage and not exploiting those engaged in the practice of the Dharma for one's own benefit—the very foundation upon which the Vinaya is built.
The Buddha established this rule to protect the humility and purity of nuns, as well as to safeguard the fair interests of working people. This is an expression of compassion and adherence to Buddhist ethics toward all sentient beings.
Main Content
According to the Mahāpesakāra rule, if a nun knows that a lay person has commissioned a weaver to make a robe for her, yet she herself goes to trouble, make demands of, or pressures the weaver according to her own conditions (or intimates her own wishes), that nun commits an offense of Nissaggiya Pācittiya (an offense requiring forfeiture and confession). The Pāli word "Mahāpesakāra" means "applying great pressure" or "negotiating for personal gain," referring to the act of a nun exploiting a relationship in order to act according to her own wishes.
The penalty is clearly defined: the nun must completely forfeit that robe—whether already woven or not—and may not receive or keep it. She must then sincerely confess before the community of bhikkhunīs, publicly declaring her transgression at the uposatha (the recitation day). Confession is not merely a matter of speaking out, but of genuinely acknowledging one's fault, pledging not to repeat the offense, and undertaking practice to correct the wrongful conduct.
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