BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

The Robe-cloth Chapter Chapter 7.1and a bhikkhu at present would be well advised to regard as his relatives only thoseblood-relations with whom ties of kinship are actually felt.Perception is not an issue here. If a bhikkhu perceives a bhikkhunī as related whenin fact she isn't, he is subject to the full penalty all the same. If he perceives arelated bhikkhunī as unrelated, or if he is in doubt as to whether she is related, heincurs a dukkaṭa in getting her to wash, etc., a robe.Telling, according to the Commentary, includes gesturing as well. Thus if abhikkhunī is washing her robes, and a bhikkhu throws his used robe down next toher, that would fulfill the factor here.Result. The bhikkhunī washes, dyes, or beats the robe as requested.Offenses. A bhikkhu who tells an unrelated bhikkhunī to wash, etc., his used robeincurs a dukkaṭa in the telling. (For every effort she then makes toward washing it,the Commentary adds, he incurs an extra dukkaṭa.) If he tells her to wash it, thenwhen the robe is washed it is to be forfeited and the nissaggiya pācittiya offenseconfessed. If he tells her to dye it, then when the robe is dyed it is to be forfeitedand the nissaggiya pācittiya offense confessed. If he tells her to beat it, then whenshe has beaten the robe at least once with a stick or her hand, it is to be forfeitedand the nissaggiya pācittiya offense confessed. The bhikkhu incurs a nissaggiyapācittiya and a dukkaṭa if he gets her to do two of the three actions mentioned inthe rule — e.g., washing and dyeing the robe; and a nissaggiya pācittiya and twodukkaṭas if he gets her to do all three.The procedures for forfeiture, confession, and return of the robe are the same as inthe preceding rules. Once the robe is returned, it counts as an extra robe-clothunder NP 1.Non-offenses. There is no offense if the bhikkhunī is related to the bhikkhu, if anunrelated bhikkhunī washes the robe unasked, if an unrelated bhikkhunī helps arelated bhikkhunī wash it, if the robe has not yet been used, if one gets an unrelatedbhikkhunī to wash another type of requisite (aside from a robe, a sitting cloth, or abed sheet), or if one gets an unrelated female trainee or female novice to wash aused robe.The Commentary discusses the case of a bhikkhu who gives a used robe to afemale trainee to wash: She takes it, becomes ordained as a bhikkhunī in themeantime, and then washes it. The verdict: He incurs the full penalty under this rule.For the fun of it, the Commentary then discusses the case of a bhikkhu who giveshis used robe to a lay man to wash. The lay man undergoes a spontaneous sexchange and becomes a bhikkhunī before washing the robe, and again, the bhikkhuincurs the full penalty. What lesson is intended here is hard to say.Summary: Getting an unrelated bhikkhunī to wash, dye, or beat a robe that has beenused at least once is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense.161