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Gotamī asked for the going forth; the Tathāgata did not allow it. The Guide went from Kapilavatthu to Vesālī. Covered with dust, at the gateways she made it known to Ānanda.
He asked by way of method: "capable," and "mother," and "nurse." [Ordained] a hundred years, and [homage to one ordained] that very day; [residence] where there is no bhikkhu; the expecting [of the two things]; the invitation (pavāraṇā); the grave rules (garudhamma); the two years [of training]; no reviling; [admonition] barred — these eight rules, to be followed as long as life lasts. The acceptance of the grave rules — that itself was her full ordination.
A thousand years, and but five [hundred]; the pot-thief, the white-bones blight, the red-rust blight — by these similes, such is the harming of the true Dhamma; as one would bind up an embankment — by these similes, again, the standing firm of the true Dhamma.
To ordain; the ladies; salutation according to seniority — "they shall not do it"; what then of [the rules] shared and not shared? The exhortation and the Pātimokkha — by whom, pray? — the nuns' dwelling; they do not know; he declared; they do not carry out; by bhikkhus; the accepting [of offenses] by bhikkhus; acceptance by bhikkhunīs; he declared; the formal act by bhikkhus; they complain; or by bhikkhus; to declare; and the quarrel; having imposed [the penalty]; and of Uppalā['s pupil]; at Sāvatthi, in muddy water; she did not salute; the body and the thigh, the private parts, and suggestive speech; the factious ones consort together; not to be saluted; the penalty (daṇḍakamma); so again the bhikkhunīs;
The barring, and the exhortation — is it, pray, allowable? — he departed; the foolish; the grounds; the decision; the exhortation; the Saṅgha; by five; two or three; they do not accept; the foolish; the sick; she who is setting out on a journey; the forest; and they do not announce; and they come back again; the long [waistband]; strips of split bamboo and of hide; braids of woven stuff and twists; braids of cloth-strips and twists; braids of thread and twists; the bone, with an ox's jawbone; the back of the hand, likewise the foot, the thigh, the face, the gums; smearing, rubbing, powdering; they make marks, and painting of the body, likewise painting of the face — the two [together]; the eye-corner mark; the distinguishing mark; the window(?); standing in the light; with dancing; the courtesan; the tavern; the slaughterhouse; the shop; usury; traders; a slave-man, a slave-woman, a workman, a workwoman they kept in attendance; animals; green herbs; they wear felt; blue, yellow, red, crimson, and black robes; mahāraṅga- and mahānāma-dyed; uncut, and with long [fringes]; flower- and fruit-[fringes], and the jacket, and the tirīṭa headdress they wore.
On the death of a bhikkhunī, a sikkhamānā, a sāmaṇerī, when the requisites have been assigned, the bhikkhunīs are the owners; when the requisites of a bhikkhu, a sāmaṇera, a layman, a laywoman, and of others have been assigned, the bhikkhus are the owners.
The [former wife of the] wrestler; the womb; the bottom of the bowl; the member, and with food; abundant, and most plentiful; food stored up — whatever [was laid down] below for bhikkhus, so let one do for bhikkhunīs.
The lodging; menstruating women; it is soiled, and the coverlets; it is cut; and at all times; there are seen too those without the mark, those with the mark, and the blood[less], likewise those with constant blood; the one with constant cloth, the dribbling one, the sikhariṇī, the female paṇḍaka, the manlike woman, and the fistulous, and even the two-sexed. Reckoning from "without the mark" up to "two-sexed" — this by abbreviation, below: leprosy, a boil, eczema, consumption, epilepsy; "Are you human? Are you a woman? Are you a free woman? Free of debt? Not in the king's service? Permitted? Full twenty? What is your name? What is the name of your proponent (pavattinī)?" — having asked about the twenty-four stumbling-blocks, the full ordination.
Uninstructed, they are abashed, and likewise in the midst of the Saṅgha; the taking of a preceptor; the outer robe, the upper robe, the inner robe, the bodice and the bathing-cloth — having pointed these out, one should send [her]. The foolish; done by one not agreed upon; she should request; the women who ask about the stumbling-blocks; ordained on one side, then likewise again in the Bhikkhu-Saṅgha; the shadow, the season and the day, the recital in brief, the three supports, the eight things not to be done; the time; everywhere, in eight ways.
The bhikkhunīs do not invite (pavāraṇā), and likewise [do not invite] the Bhikkhu-Saṅgha; uproar; before the meal; and uproar at the wrong time; the Uposatha, the Pavāraṇā, the injunction, the censure — should [she] make the opportunity, accuse, remind — this was refused by the Great Sage; likewise, for a bhikkhu toward a bhikkhunī it was allowed by the Great Sage.
The vehicle; the sick; the yoked; the jolting of the vehicle; Aḍḍhakāsikā; the bhikkhu, the sikkhamānā, the sāmaṇera, and the sāmaṇerī; by a foolish woman; in the forest; by a layman; the storehouse; the dwelling; it does not suffice; building-work; the one seated; the womb; alone; and with a household; and the grave rule; and she who, without having renounced [the training], went over; salutation, and the hair, and the nails, and the treating of wounds; the cross-legged posture, and the sick; excrement; scented with powder; in the bath-house; against the stream; at a non-ford; and with a man.
Mahāgotamī requested, and Ānanda too, in a thorough way; the assemblies become four — the going forth in the Victor's dispensation.
For the arousing of a sense of urgency (saṃvega) and for the growth of the true Dhamma — like medicine for the afflicted — thus was it taught by the Buddha. Thus trained in the true Dhamma, other womenfolk too — they go to the unfalling state, where, having gone, they sorrow not.
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The Khandhaka of the Five Hundred (Pañcasatikakkhandhaka)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.