Bi Pc 6666. Ordaining an untrained married girl
Pāli / Sanskrit:Paripuṇṇadvādasavassa-asikkhita-gihigata
A nun who ordains a married girl who has not completed her training must confess the offense.
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Bhikkhunī Pācittiya 66: Ordaining an Untrained Married Girl
Background
This rule appears in the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha, in the Pācittiya section, and reflects the Buddha's deep concern for the discipline and maturity of the community of bhikkhunīs. In the early period of Buddhism, the going forth to become a bhikkhunī was a weighty decision, requiring adequate psychological and spiritual preparation. Those who wished to take ordination had to undergo a period of training known as the Sikkhamānā-kamma (the act of appointing a female probationer), typically lasting two years, in order to verify one's motivation, character, and capacity to uphold the precepts.
However, a complex problem arose: if a girl who had already married had not yet completed the full twelve-month preliminary training period (or the full lunar cycle of training), and a senior bhikkhunī nonetheless conferred upon her the higher ordination (upasampadā), this was considered a violation of the Vinaya. The crux of the matter here was not merely age or marriage, but the lack of the necessary preparation time for the woman to demonstrate that she had genuinely relinquished the bonds of household life and was truly ready to enter the path of liberation.
Main Content
Bhikkhunī Pācittiya 66 stipulates that: if a bhikkhunī knows clearly that a girl has recently married and has not yet completed the required period of training (Paripuṇṇadvādasavassa), then conferring the higher ordination upon her constitutes a Pācittiya — a minor offense requiring public confession before the community of bhikkhunīs.
This offense is constructed upon three essential factors: (1) the one who commits the violation must be a fully trained bhikkhunī; (2) the one receiving higher ordination must be a girl who is already married; (3) that person has not yet completed the twelve-month preliminary training period (or, more simply, has not yet completed the Sikkhamānā stage). If any one of these factors is absent, the offense is not constituted.
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