Bad Nun: Thullananda in Pali Canonical and Commentarial Sources

Abstract

In Pali canonical and commentarial literature, woman (whose name might be literally translated as Fat Joy) is well known for being a nun--a nun whose persistent bad behavior is directly responsible for promulgation of a large number of rules in Bhikkhuni Patimokkha, list of disciplinary rules incumbent upon all Buddhist nuns. In a pattern found over and over again throughout Bhikkhuni Vibhanga--that portion of Vinaya Pitaka that provides origin-stories for each rule of Bhikkhuni Patimokkha--Thullananda engages in some type of inappropriate behavior, somebody is offended by behavior (often other nuns, but sometimes a monk or a householder), and this eventually leads Buddha to set forth a rule forbidding that behavior to nuns and specifying appropriate penalty. features more frequently in origin-stories of Bhikkhuni Vibhanga than any other individually named nun; altogether, by my count, it is her misbehavior that is directly responsible for promulgation of two Parajika rules, four Sarighadisesa rules, seven Nissaggiya-Pacittiya rules, and twenty-four Pacittiya rules. (2) This constitutes a fairly impressive 12% of all rules incumbent upon nuns, and an even more impressive 28% of those rules unique to nuns (i.e., not shared in common with monks)--which are only rules provided with origin-stories in Bhikkhuni Vibhanga. As Wijayaratna has wryly noted, it is not so much Buddha who establishes precepts of Bhikkhu- and Bhikkhuni-Patimokkhas, as it is and other misbehaving monastics of her ilk (41). We might think of Thullananda, then, as a prototypical nun--a simple embodiment of all qualities that a Buddhist nun should not have. Conversely, we might also note that while Thullananda's bad behavior receives plenty of attention in Pali sources, there is no attention paid at all to her spiritual progress on Buddhist path. No Pali text gives us any indication that ever attained arhatship--she is not, for example, included among esteemed nuns of Therigatha--or any level of spiritual progress at all. In fact, a sutta in Samyutta Nikaya tells us that she eventually away from religious (SN ii, 222), while (non-Pali) Mahavastu claims that she fell down dead after an unpleasant encounter with Mahakasyapa and was immediately reborn in one of hells (Jones 3, 56). This, too, would suggest that she is a prototypical nun--one for whom religious life had no positive effect whatsoever. Before we dismiss as simply a nun, however, we should also note that these very same sources repeatedly describe her in a significantly more positive manner. Several times throughout Bhikkhuni Vibhanga, for example, we are told that the nun was very learned, she was an experienced preacher, and she was skilled at speaking of (3)--all highly valued qualities in Buddhist tradition and qualities not often attributed to nuns. According to origin-story for Nissaggiya 10, it was due to these very qualities that many people attended to nun Thullananda (Vin iv, 254). So skilled is she at speaking of Dhamma, in fact, that on two separate occasions, is even depicted preaching Dhamma to King Pasenadi of Kosala himself, whereupon king--instructed, roused, excited, and gladdened with talk on Dhamma by nun Thullananda--rewards her with expensive gifts (Vin iv, 255, 256). Moreover, Thullananda's success seems to extend well beyond her mastery of Dhamma to encompass area of Vinaya or monastic discipline, as well: The origin-stories for various rules suggest that she has seniority and requisite knowledge to act as a preceptor, ordain her own disciples, and settle legal questions within Order--granted, in every such case, she does something wrong that leads to promulgation of a rule, but her seniority and qualifications themselves do not seem to be questioned. …

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