Bi Pc 105105. Announcing a nun’s grave offense
Pāli / Sanskrit:Duṭṭhullārocana
A nun who tells an unordained person about another nun’s serious offense must confess the offense.
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Duṭṭhullārocana — Announcing a Nun's Grave Offense
Background
The training rules for nuns (bhikkhunīs) in the Theravāda tradition are systematized through the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha — a code of more than three hundred rules specifically for the community of female monastics. These rules reflect the careful attention of early Buddhism to the governance of the renunciant community, particularly in matters of protecting the honor and trust within the fourfold assembly of monastics and laypeople.
The Duṭṭhullārocana (Announcing a Grave Offense) belongs to the category of Pācittiya — offenses requiring confession and disclosure. This rule arises from a practical situation: a nun reveals the offense of misconduct (duṭṭhulla — a grave or serious act) committed by another nun to those who are not practitioners (ajjhāyaka), thereby spreading rumor, damaging the honor of the Sangha, and undermining the trust of the lay Buddhist community.
Main Content
According to Pācittiya 105, if a nun publicly discloses or reveals a grave offense of misconduct — an act that is a serious or weighty violation — committed by another nun to a person who does not hold monastic status, whether a layperson, a wanderer, or a householder, then that nun incurs a Pācittiya offense.
The offense of misconduct (duṭṭhulla) here does not necessarily refer to Pārājika offenses (entailing defeat) or Saṅghādisesa offenses (involving the Sangha), but encompasses conduct or circumstances that damage the reputation or moral integrity of a nun. Disclosing such information to those who are not nuns — persons who bear neither the responsibility nor the capacity to address the matter according to the rules of the Sangha — is regarded as an act that violates collective trust.
What is of particular importance is the distinction: if a nun discloses the offense of another nun to a senior nun or to those who are able to act within the framework of the Vinaya, or if the disclosure is made with the intention of protecting the monastic community, such a case may be considered differently.
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