Bu Pc 2929. Eating food prepared on a nun’s instruction
Pāli / Sanskrit:Paripācita
A monk who eats almsfood that a nun has had prepared must confess the offense.
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Paripācita Sutta – Food Prepared According to a Female Renunciant's Instruction
Background
During the formative period of the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, the Buddha established many rules to maintain discipline within the Saṅgha. These rules are recorded in the Pātimokkha — the list of offenses requiring acknowledgment and public confession. The Paripācita rule belongs to the Pācittiya category (offenses requiring expiation), the lightest class of offense within the system of regulations governing the conduct of monastics.
The background from which this rule arose concerns the relationship between male and female monastics. In the Pāli Canon, regulations regarding interaction between bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunīs (nuns) are regarded as highly important, in order to prevent misunderstanding or irregularity. When a female renunciant prepares food with the intention of providing it for a specific monk, this can create unfair preferential treatment or suggest partiality within the community.
Main Content
According to this rule, if a bhikkhu eats food that a female renunciant has prepared, or has instructed another to prepare, specifically for him (paripācita — "properly prepared"), that monk must confess the Pācittiya offense. What is essential is the intention of the female renunciant — if she has deliberately prepared food for a specific monk, then that monk's consumption of it is considered a violation.
This offense arises from the principle of "equitable distribution" within the monastic community. All bhikkhus ought to be treated equally in the reception of offerings. If a female renunciant prepares food designated for particular monks, this violates that principle and may give rise to imbalance, constituting "personal favoritism" within the Saṅgha. The bhikkhu's act in such a case, even if unintentional, nonetheless constitutes a violation, because he has participated in this arrangement by accepting and eating food that was prepared in an inequitable manner.
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