Nuns’ Confession (Pāṭidesaniya) 2–8 (PLI-TV-BI-VB-PD2-8)

… at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Now at that time the group of six nuns having had oil asked for, partook of it … having had honey … molasses … fish … meat … milk … curds asked for, partook of them. People … Bi-Pd.1.1.1–Bi-Pd.1.1.2. Instead of ghee read curds … “… this rule of training:

“Whatever nun who is not ill, having had oil (honey, molasses, fish, meat, milk, curds) asked for, should partake of it, it should be confessed by that nun, saying: ‘I have fallen, ladies, into a blameworthy matter, unbecoming, which ought to be confessed; I confess it.’”

Whatever means: … nun is to be understood in this case.

Not ill means: for whom there comes to be comfort without curds.

Ill means: for whom there does not come to be comfort without curds.

Oil means: sesamum oil, oil of mustard seeds, oil containing honey, oil of the castor-oil plant, oil from tallow. Honey means: honey of bees. Molasses means: what is produced from sugar-cane. Fish means: it is called one that lives in water. Meat means: the meat of those whose meat is allowable. Milk means: milk of cows or milk of she-goats or milk of buffaloes, milk ‘of those whose meat is allowable. Curds means: curds from just these.

If she is not ill and has them asked for for herself … Bi-Pd.1.2. Instead of ghee read curds. … if she is the first wrong-doer.

Recited, ladies, are the eight rules for offences which ought to be confessed. Concerning them, I ask the ladies: I hope that you are quite pure in this matter? And a second time I ask: I hope that you are quite pure in this matter? And a third time I ask: I hope that you are quite pure in this matter? The ladies are quite pure in this matter, therefore they are silent; thus do I understand this.

Told are the offences which ought to be confessed.

The Book of the Discipline was translated by I.B. Horner.

Digital edition prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato

A complete digital edition can be downloaded here.

Published in 2014 by SuttaCentral.

Originally published by the Pali Text Society in the following years:

Vol. 1: 1938

Vol. 2: 1940

Vol. 3: 1942

Vol. 4: 1951

Vol. 5: 1950

Vol. 6: 1966

In May 2013, these volumes were kindly released by the Pali Text Society under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 licence (CC BY-NC 3.0). The current digital edition, including all revisions, corrections, additions, and modifications, is released under the same terms, which are as follows.

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.