Bi Pc 5858. Not going to the instruction
Pāli / Sanskrit:Ovāda
A nun who does not go to the instruction or formal meetings of the 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 58. Not going to the instruction
Origin story
At one time when the Buddha was staying in the Sakyan country in the Banyan Tree Monastery at Kapilavatthu, the monks from the group of six went to the nunnery to instruct the nuns from the group of six. Soon afterwards other nuns said to those nuns, “Come, venerables, let’s go to the instruction.”
“There’s no need. The monks from the group of six came and instructed us right here.”
The nuns of few desires complained and criticized them, “How could the nuns from the group of six not go to the instruction?” … “Is it true, monks, that those nuns didn’t do this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked them … “How could the nuns from the group of six not do this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Final ruling
‘If a nun does not go to the instruction or to a formal meeting of 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. The instruction: the eight important principles. The community: joint legal procedures, a joint recitation, the same training. If she thinks, “I won’t go to the instruction or to formal meetings of the community,” then by the mere fact of abandoning her duty, she commits an offense entailing confession.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if there is an obstacle; if she searches for a companion nun, but does not find one; if she is sick; if there is an emergency; if she is insane; if she is the first offender.
The eighth 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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