Bi Pc 5353. Reviling the community
Pāli / Sanskrit:Gaṇaparibhāsana
A nun who in anger abuses an order 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 monasteries 53. Reviling the community
Origin story
At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery. At that time the nun Caṇḍakāḷī was quarrelsome and argumentative, and she created legal issues in the Sangha. But when a legal procedure was being done against her, the nun Thullanandā objected.
Soon afterwards when Thullanandā went to a village on some business, the Sangha of nuns took the opportunity to eject Caṇḍakāḷī for not recognizing an offense. When Thullanandā had finished her business, she returned to Sāvatthī. As she was approaching, Caṇḍakāḷī neither prepared a seat for her, nor set out a foot stool, a foot scraper, or water for washing the feet; and she did not go out to meet her to receive her bowl and robe or to ask whether she wanted water to drink. Thullanandā asked her why she was acting like this. She replied, “That’s how it is, venerable, when one doesn’t have a protector.”
“But how is it, venerable, that you don’t have a protector?”
“When these nuns knew that no-one would speak up for me because I am not esteemed by them and I didn’t have a protector, they ejected me for not recognizing an offense.” “They are incompetent fools! They don’t understand legal procedures, nor what makes them fail or succeed.” And being furious, she reviled the community.
The nuns of few desires complained and criticized her, “How could Venerable Thullanandā revile the community because she is furious?” … “Is it true, monks, that the nun Thullanandā did this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked her … “How could the nun Thullanandā do this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Final ruling
‘If a furious nun reviles the community, 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. Furious: angry is what is meant. The community: the Sangha of nuns is what is meant. Reviles: if she reviles them, saying, “They are incompetent fools. They don’t understand legal procedures, nor what makes them fail or succeed,” she commits an offense entailing confession. If she reviles several nuns, a single nun, or someone who is not fully ordained, she commits an offense of wrong conduct.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if she is aiming at something beneficial; if she is aiming at giving a teaching; if she is aiming at giving an instruction; 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.
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