Bi Pc 9595. Asking a question without permission
Pāli / Sanskrit:Pañhāpucchana
A nun who asks a monk a question without obtaining leave 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 sunshades and sandals 95. Asking a question without permission
Origin story
At one time when the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery, the nuns asked questions of a monk who had not given them permission. The monks complained and criticized them, “How can nuns ask questions of a monk who hasn’t given them permission?” … “Is it true, monks, that nuns do this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked them … “How can nuns do this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Final ruling
‘If a nun asks a question of a monk who has not given her permission, 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.
Who has not given her permission: without asking permission. A monk: one who is fully ordained. Asks a question: if she gets permission to ask about the discourses, but she asks about the Monastic Law or philosophy, she commits an offense entailing confession.
If she gets permission to ask about the Monastic Law, but she asks about the discourses or philosophy, she commits an offense entailing confession. If she gets permission to ask about philosophy, but she asks about the discourses or the Monastic Law, she commits an offense entailing confession.
Permutations
If she has not asked permission, and she does not perceive that she has, and she asks a question, she commits an offense entailing confession. If she has not asked permission, but she is unsure of it, and she asks a question, she commits an offense entailing confession. If she has not asked permission, but she perceives that she has, and she asks a question, she commits an offense entailing confession.
If she has asked permission, but she does not perceive that she has, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If she has asked permission, but she is unsure of it, she commits an offense of wrong conduct. If she has asked permission, and she perceives that she has, there is no offense.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if she asks after getting permission; if she gets permission, but not in regard to a specific subject, and she then asks about any subject; if she is insane; if she is the first offender.
The twelfth 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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