Bi Pc 151151. Deception
Pāli / Sanskrit:Mohana
A nun who deceptively claims that she did not know a rule in the monastic code must confess the offense.
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Discourse on Deception (Mohana - Bi Pc 151)
Context
Within the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, Bi Pc 151 (Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha, rule 151) is found in the Pācittiya section — those offenses that require confession and expiation. This rule arose from specific situations within the monastic community in which a bhikkhunī behaved deceitfully regarding her knowledge of the Vinaya.
The Buddhist Vinaya is not merely a set of dry prohibitions; it consists of guidelines that cultivate the mind, helping the fourfold assembly to avoid suffering and to develop virtue. When a bhikkhunī deliberately feigns ignorance of a particular rule, such an action contains the five defects (deception, conceit, and delusion) — the principal obstacles on the path of practice.
Main Content
This rule stipulates: if a bhikkhunī clearly knows a rule of the Pātimokkha yet deliberately pretends not to know it in order to escape responsibility or behavioral restrictions, that constitutes a Pācittiya offense. This conduct is not a matter of carelessness or forgetfulness, but of intentional deception (mohana).
The distinction here is significant: if a bhikkhunī genuinely does not know a rule, she commits no offense. However, if she knows yet conceals that knowledge, feigning innocence in order to excuse herself or avoid censure from the community, then that is a deceitful act and a violation of the spirit of the Vinaya.
The penalty for this offense is that she must confess before the community of bhikkhunīs (the Saṅgha) during the Pātimokkha ceremony (the monthly recitation of the rules). This public confession is not intended for humiliation, but rather to purify the mind, to restore trust within the community, and to help the bhikkhunī recognize her transgression.
Practical Significance
This text teaches us a profound lesson on honesty. In Buddhism, integrity (sacca) is the foundation of all virtues. Deception, even in minor matters, weakens the resolve of one's practice and plants seeds of unwholesome qualities ever more deeply within the mind.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.