Bi Pc 1515. Departing without taking leave
Pāli / Sanskrit:Anāpucchāpakkamana
A nun who leaves a house without informing the owners 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 15. Departing without taking leave
Origin story
At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery. At that time a certain nun was associating with a family from which she received a regular meal. Then, after robing up one morning, she took her bowl and robe and went to that family where she sat down on a seat. She then departed without informing the owners. A slave-woman who was sweeping the house put that seat in between some vessels. Not seeing the seat, soon afterwards the people there asked that nun, “Venerable, where’s that seat?”
“I don’t know.”
“Give back the seat, venerable.” And after scolding her, they made an end of her regular meal. Then, while those people were cleaning the house, they saw that seat in between those vessels. They asked that nun for forgiveness and restored her regular meal.
That nun then told the nuns what had happened. The nuns of few desires complained and criticized her, “How could a nun visit a family before the meal, sit down on a seat, and then depart without informing the owners?” … “Is it true, monks, that a nun did this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked her … “How could a nun act like this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Final ruling
‘If a nun visits families before the meal, sits down on a seat, and then departs without informing the owners, 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.
Before the meal: from dawn until midday. A family: there are four kinds of families: the aristocratic family, the brahmin family, the merchant family, the worker family. Visits: goes there.
A seat: a place for sitting cross-legged is what is meant. Sits down: sits down on that seat. Departs without informing the owners: if, without informing a person who understands in that family, she goes beyond the roof cover of that house, she commits an offense entailing confession.
If it is out in the open and she goes beyond the vicinity of the seat, she commits an offense entailing confession.
Permutations
If she has not informed, and she does not perceive that she has, and she departs, she commits an offense entailing confession. If she has not informed, but she is unsure of it, and she departs, she commits an offense entailing confession. If she has not informed, but she perceives that she has, and she departs, she commits an offense entailing confession.
If it is not a place for sitting cross-legged, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If she has informed, but she does not perceive that she has, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If she has informed, but she is unsure of it, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If she has informed, and she perceives that she has, there is no offense.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if she departs after informing someone; if the seat is not movable; if she is sick; if there is an emergency; 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.
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.