Gihigatā vs. Kumāribhūtā: A Legal Perspective on the Candidate Types of Buddhist Nunhood
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According to the traditional interpretation of relevant Vinaya rules, the gihigatā (“married”) candidate type for Buddhist nunhood can be ordained at the minimum age of twelve, whereas the kumāribhūtā (“maiden”) type, at that of twenty. There are several issues with the aforesaid interpretation: (1) A compulsory question that a candidate must answer before ordination seemingly disqualifies any candidate under twenty years of age, (2) The minimum age requirement is supposedly required because only those old enough can be resilient to hard monastic life, but it hardly makes sense when one claims that a mere loss of virginity in marriage or otherwise is equivalent to an eight-years worth of maturity and resilience, and (3) The minimum age of twelve years for the married type suggests a marriage before ten, but there is no evidence of common child marriages at the time. However, the issue (1) exists only when we understand such compulsory questions as of polar type; if we interpret them instead as susceptible of explanatory answers, this issue would disappear. The remaining two issues can be resolved if we redefine gihigatā as a woman having had the experience of life in a non-paternal household, and kumāribhūtā as one without. Moreover, the vast difference in minimum age requirements makes much more sense if we realize that the Buddha might have wished to keep a distance between kumāribhūtās and gihigatās after their admission to the Order so that the former’s innocence can be protected during their sensitive years of life.
Abstract
According to the traditional interpretation of relevant Vinaya rules, the gihigatā (“married”) candidate type for Buddhist nunhood can be ordained at the minimum age of twelve, whereas the kumāribhūtā (“maiden”) type, at that of twenty. There are several issues with the aforesaid interpretation: (1) A compulsory question that a candidate must answer before ordination seemingly disqualifies any candidate under twenty years of age, (2) The minimum age requirement is supposedly required because only those old enough can be resilient to hard monastic life, but it hardly makes sense when one claims that a mere loss of virginity in marriage or otherwise is equivalent to an eight-years worth of maturity and resilience, and (3) The minimum age of twelve years for the married type suggests a marriage before ten, but there is no evidence of common child marriages at the time. However, the issue (1) exists only when we understand such compulsory questions as of polar type; if we interpret them instead as susceptible of explanatory answers, this issue would disappear. The remaining two issues can be resolved if we redefine gihigatā as a woman having had the experience of life in a non-paternal household, and kumāribhūtā as one without. Moreover, the vast difference in minimum age requirements makes much more sense if we realize that the Buddha might have wished to keep a distance between kumāribhūtās and gihigatās after their admission to the Order so that the former’s innocence can be protected during their sensitive years of life.
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