Bi Pc 6565. Ordaining a married girl under twelve
Pāli / Sanskrit:Ūnadvādasavassa-gihigata
A nun who ordains a married girl less than twelve years old must confess the offense.
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Exposition of the Bhikkhunī Pācittiya 65: Ordaining a Married Girl Who Has Not Yet Reached Twelve Years of Age
Background
This text belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha — the code of discipline for bhikkhunīs. In the early period of Buddhism, the Buddha established the Bhikkhunī Sangha with detailed regulations aimed at protecting the purity, stability, and long-term development of the Dharma.
This matter arose from the social reality of ancient India, where child marriage and early family formation were customary. Some women who already had husbands but were still very young (under twelve years of age) wished to go forth and become bhikkhunīs. A legal and ethical question was thus raised: would it be appropriate to receive such girls into the Bhikkhunī Sangha?
The Buddha recognized that ordaining a married girl who had not yet reached twelve years of age would give rise to legal and social difficulties, as well as negatively affecting the purity of the Bhikkhunī Sangha. Accordingly, he established a minimum age requirement and the necessary qualifications for admission.
Main Content
Bhikkhunī Pācittiya 65 (Ūnadvādasavassa-gihigata) clearly stipulates: a bhikkhunī is not permitted to confer the higher ordination (upasampadā — ordaining and conferring the Bhikkhunī Precepts) upon a girl who is under twelve years of age if that girl has already entered household life, that is, if she already has a husband. Should any bhikkhunī violate this rule, she must acknowledge her offense — an act called "Pācittiya" (here rendered as Bhikkhunī Pācittiya), meaning an offense that must be confessed and expiated before the Bhikkhunī Sangha.
The particular reasons involved are as follows:
Protection of legal rights: A girl who has not yet reached the required age does not possess full legal capacity to make a major decision such as going forth into homelessness, especially when she is already married. Her husband or her family may put forward legal claims.
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