Bi Pc 2222. Making an oversize bathing robe
Pāli / Sanskrit:Udakasāṭika
A nun who makes a bathing robe that is too large must confess the offense.
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Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Nuns’ Analysis
The chapter on offenses entailing confession The subchapter on nakedness 22. Making an oversize bathing robe
Origin story
At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery. At that time the Buddha had allowed bathing robes for the nuns. Knowing this, the nuns from the group of six wore bathing robes of inappropriate size. As they were walking about, they were dragging them along, both in front and behind.
The nuns of few desires complained and criticized them, “How can the nuns from the group of six wear such bathing robes?” … “Is it true, monks, that the nuns from the group of six do this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked them … “How can the nuns from the group of six wear such bathing robes? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Final ruling
‘If a nun is having a bathing robe made, it should be made the right size. This is the right size: four standard handspans long and two wide. If it exceeds that, it is to be cut down, and she commits an offense entailing confession.’”
Definitions
A bathing robe: wearing it as a sarong, she bathes. Is having made: making it herself or having someone else make it, it should be made the right size. This is the right size: four standard handspans long and two wide. If she makes one or has one made that exceeds that, then for the effort there is an act of wrong conduct. When she gets it, it is to be cut down, and she is then to confess an offense entailing confession.
Permutations
If she finishes what she began herself, she commits an offense entailing confession. If she has others finish what she began herself, she commits an offense entailing confession. If she finishes herself what was begun by others, she commits an offense entailing confession. If she has others finish what was begun by others, she commits an offense entailing confession.
If she makes one or has one made for the benefit of someone else, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If she gets one that was made by someone else and then uses it, she commits an offense of wrong conduct.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if she makes it the right size; if she makes it smaller than the right size; if she gets one made by someone else that exceeds the right size and she cuts it down before using it; if she makes a canopy, a floor cover, a cloth screen, a mattress, or a pillow; if she is insane; if she is the first offender.
The second 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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