Reply To: Did the Buddha Discriminate Against Women?

#51382
pathfinder
Participant

In the Bhikkhunikkhandhaka, there are 8 rules which the Buddha gave at the start of the sutta before allowing bhikkhunis to join. Some of them seem discriminatory, especially the following 2:

1. A nun who has been fully ordained for a hundred years should bow down to a monk who was given the full ordination on that very day, and she should stand up for him, raise her joined palms to him, and do acts of respect toward him.

1. Vassasatūpasampannāya bhikkhuniyātadahupasampannassa bhikkhuno abhivādanaṁpaccuṭṭhānaṁ añjalikammaṁ sāmīcikammaṁkātabbaṁ.

8. From today onwards, nuns may not correct monks, but monks may correct nuns.

 8. Ajjatagge ovaṭo bhikkhunīnaṁ bhikkhūsuvacanapatho, anovaṭo bhikkhūnaṁ bhikkhunīsuvacanapatho.

Is this the correct translation, and if it is so, why would this be a rule – why would monks be more respected than nuns?

 

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