Bi Pc 1313. Meeting a man in the open
Pāli / Sanskrit:Ajjhokāsasallapana
A nun who, seeking privacy, stands alone with a man out in the open must confess the offense.
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Nuns’ Analysis
The chapter on offenses entailing confession The subchapter on the dark of the night 13. Meeting a man in the open
Origin story
At one time when the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery, a male relative of a nun who was a pupil of Bhaddā Kāpilānī went from his own village to Sāvatthī on some business. Then, knowing that the Buddha had prohibited standing or talking alone with a man in a concealed place, she instead stood and talked alone with that man out in the open.
The nuns of few desires complained and criticized her, “How could a nun do such a thing?” … “Is it true, monks, that a nun did this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked her … “How could a nun do such a thing? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Final ruling
‘If a nun stands or talks alone with a man out in the open, she commits an offense entailing 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. Out in the open: not concealed by a wall, a door, a screen, a cloth screen, a tree, a pillar, a grain container, or anything else. A man: a human male, not a male spirit, not a male ghost, not a male animal. He understands and is capable of standing together and talking. With: together. Alone: just the man and the nun. Stands with: if she stands within arm’s reach of the man, she commits an offense entailing confession. Talks with: if she stands talking within arm’s reach of the man, she commits an offense entailing confession.
If she stands or talks outside of arm’s reach, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If she stands or talks with a male spirit, a male ghost, a paṇḍaka, or a male animal in human form, she commits an offense of wrong conduct.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if she has a companion who understands; if she is not seeking privacy; if she stands or talks thinking of something else; if she is insane; if she is the first offender.
The third 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.
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.