Tenth Khandhaka. Chapter 25
25.
1. Now at that time a certain woman who had already conceived, but did not know it, was received into the Order among the Bhikkhuns. Afterwards her womb moved within her 2. Then that Bhikkhun thought: 'How shall I now conduct myself towards this child?'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow her, O Bhikkhus, to bring it up till it have attained to years of discretion 3.'
Then the Bhikkhun thought: 'It is not permissible for me to live alone, nor for any other Bhikkhun to live with a male child. What course ought I to pursue?'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow the Bhikkhuns, O Bhikkhus, to depute any one Bhikkhun, and give her as a companion to that (first-mentioned) Bhikkhun.'
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'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is she "t"o be appointed: First that Bhikkhun ought to be asked (whether she be willing to undertake the duty). After she has been asked, a learned and competent Bhikkhun ought to lay the motion before the Sa"m"gha, saying:
'"Let the Sa"m"gha, venerable Ladies, hear me. If it seem meet to the Sa"m"gha, let the Sa"m"gha depute N. N. as a companion to M. M. That is the motion.
'"Let the Sa"m"gha,"' [&c., as usual, to the end of the Kammav"k".]
2. Then that companion Bhikkhun thought: 'Now how should I conduct myself towards this child?'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I prescribe that the Bhikkhuns, O Bhikkhus, conduct themselves towards that child precisely as they would towards other men, save only as regards the sleeping under the same roof 1.'
3. Now at that time a certain Bhikkhun, who had been guilty of a grievous offence, was living subject to the Mnatta penance 2. Then that Bhikkhun thought: 'It is not permissible for me to live alone, and it is not permissible for any other Bhikkhun to live with me. What now ought I to do?'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
I allow the Bhikkhuns, O Bhikkhus, to depute any one Bhikkhun, and to give her as a companion to that Bhikkhun. And thus, O Bhikkhus, ought
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she to be deputed [&c., as in last section but one, down to the end of the Kammav"k"].'
Footnotes
364:2 There is a touching story founded on a similar incident which is given as the Introductory Story to No. 12 of the "G"takas, translated in Rh. D.'s 'Buddhist Birth Stories,' pp. 199-205. By the 61st Bhikkhun P"k"ittiya it is lawful or unlawful to initiate a pregnant woman according as she is unconscious or conscious of the fact of her conception.
364:3 Vi"utam ppu"n"ti. That is, no doubt, to puberty. Compare the opening phrases of the Introductory Story referred to in the last note ("G"taka I, 231) and also "G"taka Iii, 437.
365:1 Sgra"m"; on which Buddhaghosa has no note.
365:2 For what this implied, see "K"ullavagga Ii, 1, 2, and Ii, 6, 1, and compare the 5th Garudhamma above, X, 1, 4.
1. Now at that time a certain woman who had already conceived, but did not know it, was received into the Order among the Bhikkhuns. Afterwards her womb moved within her 2. Then that Bhikkhun thought: 'How shall I now conduct myself towards this child?'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow her, O Bhikkhus, to bring it up till it have attained to years of discretion 3.'
Then the Bhikkhun thought: 'It is not permissible for me to live alone, nor for any other Bhikkhun to live with a male child. What course ought I to pursue?'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow the Bhikkhuns, O Bhikkhus, to depute any one Bhikkhun, and give her as a companion to that (first-mentioned) Bhikkhun.'
p. 365
'And thus, O Bhikkhus, is she "t"o be appointed: First that Bhikkhun ought to be asked (whether she be willing to undertake the duty). After she has been asked, a learned and competent Bhikkhun ought to lay the motion before the Sa"m"gha, saying:
'"Let the Sa"m"gha, venerable Ladies, hear me. If it seem meet to the Sa"m"gha, let the Sa"m"gha depute N. N. as a companion to M. M. That is the motion.
'"Let the Sa"m"gha,"' [&c., as usual, to the end of the Kammav"k".]
2. Then that companion Bhikkhun thought: 'Now how should I conduct myself towards this child?'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I prescribe that the Bhikkhuns, O Bhikkhus, conduct themselves towards that child precisely as they would towards other men, save only as regards the sleeping under the same roof 1.'
3. Now at that time a certain Bhikkhun, who had been guilty of a grievous offence, was living subject to the Mnatta penance 2. Then that Bhikkhun thought: 'It is not permissible for me to live alone, and it is not permissible for any other Bhikkhun to live with me. What now ought I to do?'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
I allow the Bhikkhuns, O Bhikkhus, to depute any one Bhikkhun, and to give her as a companion to that Bhikkhun. And thus, O Bhikkhus, ought
p. 366
she to be deputed [&c., as in last section but one, down to the end of the Kammav"k"].'
Footnotes
364:2 There is a touching story founded on a similar incident which is given as the Introductory Story to No. 12 of the "G"takas, translated in Rh. D.'s 'Buddhist Birth Stories,' pp. 199-205. By the 61st Bhikkhun P"k"ittiya it is lawful or unlawful to initiate a pregnant woman according as she is unconscious or conscious of the fact of her conception.
364:3 Vi"utam ppu"n"ti. That is, no doubt, to puberty. Compare the opening phrases of the Introductory Story referred to in the last note ("G"taka I, 231) and also "G"taka Iii, 437.
365:1 Sgra"m"; on which Buddhaghosa has no note.
365:2 For what this implied, see "K"ullavagga Ii, 1, 2, and Ii, 6, 1, and compare the 5th Garudhamma above, X, 1, 4.
