Bi Np 55. Exchanging for something else
Pāli / Sanskrit:Aññacetāpana
A nun who gets one thing from a steward but then exchanges it for something else must relinquish the item and confess the offense.
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Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Nuns’ Analysis
The chapter on relinquishment The subchapter on almsbowls 5. Exchanging for something else
Origin story
At one time when the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery, the nun Thullanandā was sick. A lay follower went to her and asked, “I hope you’re bearing up, venerable, I hope you’re getting better?”
“I’m not bearing up, and I’m not getting better.”
“We’ll deposit a kahāpaṇa coin in such-and-such a shop. Please get whatever you wish from there.”
Thullanandā then said to a trainee nun, “Go to such-and-such a shop and bring back a kahāpaṇa’s worth of oil.” That trainee nun did just that and gave it to Thullanandā. Thullanandā said, “I don’t need oil; I need ghee.” The trainee nun returned to the shopkeeper and said, “It seems the nun doesn’t need oil, but ghee. Here’s your oil; please give me ghee.”
“Venerable, if we were to take back goods that have been sold, when would our goods be sold? When oil is bought, oil is taken away. Buying ghee, you receive that, and you’ll take that away.”
The trainee nun started to cry. The nuns asked her why, and she told them what had happened.
The nuns of few desires complained and criticized her, “How could Venerable Thullanandā get one thing in exchange and then something else?” … “Is it true, monks, that the nun Thullanandā did this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked her … “How could the nun Thullanandā get one thing in exchange and then something else? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Final ruling
‘If a nun gets one thing in exchange and then something else, she commits an offense entailing relinquishment and confession.’”
Definitions
A: whoever … Nun: … The nun who has been given the full ordination in unanimity by both Sanghas through a legal procedure consisting of one motion and three announcements that is irreversible and fit to stand—this sort of nun is meant in this case. Gets one thing in exchange: whatever she gets in exchange. Then something else: apart from that thing, if she gets something else in exchange, then for the effort there is an act of wrong conduct. When she gets it, it becomes subject to relinquishment.
It should be relinquished to a sangha, a group, or an individual nun. “And, monks, it should be relinquished like this. …” (To be expanded as in Bi NP 1:2.1.21–2.1.43, with appropriate substitutions.)
“Venerables, this thing, which I got in exchange, having first gotten something else in exchange, is to be relinquished. I relinquish it to the Sangha.” … “the Sangha should give …” “you should give …” “I give this back to you.”
Permutations
If it is something else and she perceives it as such, and she gets that in exchange, she commits an offense entailing relinquishment and confession. If it is something else, but she is unsure of it, and she gets that in exchange, she commits an offense entailing relinquishment and confession. If it is something else, but she does not perceive it as such, and she gets that in exchange, she commits an offense entailing relinquishment and confession.
If it is not something else, but she perceives it as such, and she gets that in exchange, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If it is not something else, but she is unsure of it, and she gets that in exchange, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If it is not something else, and she does not perceive it as such, there is no offense.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if she gets both in exchange at the same time; if she can show a benefit in doing the exchange; if she is insane; if she is the first offender.
The fifth training rule is finished.
The “…” is an abbreviation carried over from the Pāli original itself, called peyyāla. The early canon was memorized and recited, so passages repeated verbatim from a preceding discourse were commonly contracted to an elision mark rather than written out in full. Venerable Thích Minh Châu's translation preserves this convention. Some texts therefore look short — but that is the canonical form, not missing content or a truncated translation. The elided passages can be read in full in the preceding discourses of the same chapter.
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