Bi Sk 7575. Defecating in water
Pāli / Sanskrit:Udakeuccāra
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Theravāda Collection on Monastic Law The Nuns’ Analysis
The chapter on training The subchapter on shoes 75. Defecating in water
Origin story First sub-story At one time when the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery, the nuns from the group of six were defecating, urinating, and spitting in water. People complained and criticized them, “How can nuns defecate, urinate, and spit in water? They’re just like householders who indulge in worldly pleasures!”
The nuns heard the complaints of those people, and the nuns of few desires complained and criticized them, “How can the nuns from the group of six defecate, urinate, and spit in water?” The nuns told the monks, who in turn told the Buddha. Soon afterwards the Buddha had the Sangha gathered and questioned the monks: “Is it true, monks, that those nuns do this?”
“It’s true, sir.”
The Buddha rebuked them … “How can the nuns from the group of six do this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Preliminary ruling
‘“I will not defecate, urinate, or spit in water,” this is how you should train.’”
In this way the Buddha laid down this training rule for the nuns. Second sub-story Soon afterwards, being afraid of wrongdoing, sick nuns did not defecate, urinate, or spit in water. They told the Buddha. He then had the Sangha gathered and addressed the monks:
“Monks, I allow a sick nun to defecate, urinate, and spit in water.
And so, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:
Final ruling
‘“When not sick, I will not defecate, urinate, or spit in water,” this is how you should train.’”
If one is not sick, one should not defecate, urinate, or spit in water. If, out of disrespect, a nun who is not sick defecates, urinates, or spits in water, she commits an offense of wrong conduct.
Non-offenses
There is no offense: if it is unintentional; if she is not mindful; if she does not know; if she is sick; if she does it on dry ground, but it then spreads to water; if there is an emergency; if she is insane; if she is deranged; if she is overwhelmed by pain; if she is the first offender.
The fifteenth training rule is finished.
The seventh subchapter on shoes is finished.
“Venerables, the rules of training have been recited. In regard to this I ask you, ‘Are you pure in this?’ A second time I ask, ‘Are you pure in this?’ A third time I ask, ‘Are you pure in this?’ You are pure in this and therefore silent. I will remember it thus.”
The chapter on training 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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