1. Now at that time the Bhikkhus had come into the possession of some bedding, and the Bhikkhunîs had none. The Bhikkhunîs sent a messenger to the Bhikkhus, saying: 'It would be well if their reverences the Bhikkhus would give us some bedding on loan 1.'
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow you, O Bhikkhus, to give bedding to the Bhikkhunîs on loan.'
2. Now at that time Bhikkhunîs, in their courses, sat down or lay down on stuffed bedsteads and chairs, and the stuffing was soiled with blood.
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
A Bhikkhunî is not, O Bhikkhus, to sit down or lie down on a stuffed bedstead or chair. Whosoever does so, shall be guilty of a dukkata. I allow the use, O Bhikkhus, of an indoor's robe 2.'
The indoor's robe got soiled.
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow, O Bhikkhus, the use of a thigh-cloth (a cloth to reach nearly down to the knee 1).'
The thigh-cloth slipped down.
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow it, O Bhikkhus, to be fastened by a thread to be tied round the thigh.'
The thread broke.
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow, O Bhikkhus, a loin-cloth, and a string going round the hips (to keep it up) 2.'
Now at that time the Khabbaggiya Bhikkhunîs used to wear the hip-string always. The people murmured, &c., saying: 'Like the women who still enjoy the pleasures of the world!' They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'A Bhikkhunî is not, O Bhikkhus, to wear a hip-string for constant use 3. I allow its use to one who is in her courses.'
347:1 Tâvakâlikam. See the passages quoted in our note above on Kullavagga VI, 18.
347:2 Âvasatha-kîvaram. See the Old Commentary on this word as occurring in the 47th Bhikkhunî Pâkittiya.
348:1 Âni-kolakam. Buddhaghosa has no note on this. Âni must be here 'that part of the leg immediately above the knee, the front of the thigh.' Compare Böhtlingk-Roth s.v. No. 2.
348:2 Samvelliyam kati-suttakam. The samvelliyam is the ordinary undress as worn for the sake of decency, even now, by a labourer working in muddy paddy fields, or at any severe task. It is a wedge-shaped strip of cotton cloth about a foot and a half long, about five inches wide at one end, and tapering down to one inch in width at the other. The broad end is fixed on to a string going round the waist (kati-suttakam), and hangs down, when put on, in front of the legs. When worn under other clothes, it remains so; but when the other clothes are taken off for work the narrow end is passed under the body between the legs, and twisted round the hip-string behind (at the small of the back) so as to keep it fast. Its use is forbidden to Bhikkhus at V, 29, 5, where Buddhaghosa says, 'Such as wrestlers and labourers wear.'
348:3 Its use is also forbidden to Bhikkhus (above, Kullavagga V 2, 1).