The following morning that nun returned to the nuns, and they said to her, “Venerable, why did you leave with a man?” “I didn’t leave with a man, venerables.” She then told the nuns what had happened. The nuns of few desires complained and criticized her, “How could a nun spend the night apart by herself?” … “Is it true, monks, that a nun did this?” “It’s true, sir.” The Buddha rebuked her … “How could a nun do this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And so, monks, the nuns should recite this training rule like this:

Third preliminary ruling ‘If a nun walks to the next inhabited area by herself or crosses a river by herself or spends the night apart by herself, then that nun too has committed an immediate offense entailing sending away and suspension.’”

In this way the Buddha laid down this training rule for the nuns.

Fourth substory On one occasion a number of nuns were traveling through the Kosalan country on their way to Sāvatthī. One of the nuns, needing to defecate, stayed behind by herself, and then followed behind the others. People saw her and raped her. She then went to the other nuns, and they said to her, “Why did you stay behind by yourself, venerable? We hope you weren’t assaulted?” “I was.”