Bi Pc 8686. Wearing a hip ornament
Pāli / Sanskrit:Saṅghāṇi
A nun who wears a hip ornament must confess the offense.
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Saṅghāṇi: On Wearing a Hip Ornament
Background
This is one rule in the Pāṭimokkha Saṃvara Sutta — the collection of training rules that bhikkhunīs must uphold. This text appears in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, where the detailed rules designated for nuns are recorded.
This rule was established by the Buddha on account of a specific circumstance. During the time the Buddha was still present in the world, he laid down rules to protect the noble conduct of female monastics, and at the same time to guard against ways of life that had gone astray. Wearing ornaments such as decorative pieces around the hips (saṅghāṇi) was regarded as a manifestation of seeking beauty and of deliberately making oneself conspicuous — something at odds with the attitude of humility and the relinquishment of desire proper to one who has gone forth.
This rule was recorded not to create hardship, but to guard the mind against even the most subtle acts of adorning oneself.
Main Content
According to the rule, a bhikkhunī who wears a saṅghāṇi or any other kind of hip ornament, whether of gold, silver, or other precious materials, commits a Pāṭidesanīya offense — an offense that must be confessed and acknowledged before the Saṅgha.
A saṅghāṇi is a type of ornament worn around the hips or waist, commonly used by women of the world to adorn themselves or to display an affinity for sensual beauty. That one who has gone forth, wearing the pure monastic robe, should put on objects intended to attract attention and beautify outward appearance stands in contradiction to the spirit of humility and the relinquishing of sensual craving that the monastic life aims to achieve.
This offense is not the gravest kind — it is neither a Pārājika nor a Saṅghādisesa — yet it requires the one who has transgressed to confess openly, so as to purify the mind and to express shame for the fault that has been committed.
Practical Significance
This rule teaches us a profound lesson in discernment.
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