비구·비구니 불공계(不共戒)의 제정 요인 고찰

Abstract

In this study, bhikkhu (male ascetic) and bhikkhunī (female ascetic) saṃgha were examined focusing on the factors of an explicit and unequal monastic code, which was specifically targeted at monks or nuns. The differences between the price of the male Pāṭimokkha of ‘not begging delicious food’ and the female Pāṭimokkha of eight pāṭidesanīya, suggest that the rules were stricter for monks than the nuns. This phenomenon appears to have been influenced by the social differences between men and women emanating from male supremacy and class status, which were predominant in the Indian society. The additional female monastic code that was not regulated in any of the male versions that ‘forbid eating garlic’ was influenced by the social conventions of Indian society, in which generally garlic was banned among upper classes and was mainly ingested by women and vulnerable lower classes. The rules of pācittiya such as ‘not receiving the alms admired by a bhikkhunī’, ‘not eating the food ordered by a bhikkhunī’, and ‘not receiving the food offered by a bhikkhunī’ in the male Pāṭimokkha were designed to prevent a close relationship between monks and nuns, and to ensure fair distribution in the saṃgha. Additionally these disciplines were aimed to protect the nuns from the monks who abused their power against the nuns. In conclusion, it is difficult to state that the different rules for monks and nuns were regulated to abuse nuns as women. The rule was based on the hierarchy of the monks who led the Buddhist saṃgha, and had a responsibility to train and educate the nuns who followed them as their teacher. The monks were burdened by rules more than the nuns. Serious discipline led to additional challenges. Therefore, it is not considered as sexual discrimination.