有關受具前階規制之種種 : 沙彌(尼), 式叉摩那與「異學四月共住」規制之研究=On the Regulations Pertaining to the Period before Full Ordination：A Study on the Regulations Regarding Novices, Female Trainees, and Practitioners of Other Creeds Who Have to Li
The embarrassing case of the nun who became pregnant was the mainreason for the Buddha to introduce the system of "dharma studying female". As pregnancy in the case of nuns easily attracts ridicule from the general public it doesn't make sense to call this a "pregnancy test" if the female trainees were nuns. It is more reasonable to regard the "two year period" of testing pregnancy as applicable to laywomen. As far as those female novices are concerned who left home life at a tender age and have been keeping the ten precepts which are stricter than the precepts for female trainees, it does not make sense to retrogress and practice the "six dharmas". Since pregnancy tests nowadays are very convenient and any time applicable，there is no need for this two years delay any logner.
A virgin of more than 18 years of age (or a girl older than ten which had been married) has first to become a "dharma studying female" and practice as a layperson for about two years in order to find out whether she is pregnant or not. Since her outward appearance is that of a layperson，she is -- unlike a novice -- not subjected to the strict vow of "not accepting valuables." However，as she is living in a nunnery，she has to lead the life of "not eating after noon" like the monastic community in addition to keeping the five precepts of a layperson. (This is the real meaning behind the "six dharmas".)
As a matter of fact ,the same holds true for male disciples：those who left the homelife before the age of twenty are called "male novices"; those over 20 who want to become ordained cand do so with the exception of practitioners of other creeds who have to live together for four months first. In this transition period of communal living，the general treatment they receive equals that of novices or is even less.
There are two possible exceptions for this regulation. Practitioners of other creeds who venerate the fire (or those with matted hair) are allowed to receive direct ordination as novices since they believe in karmic retribution and it thus is easier for them to get rid of perverted views; for those who achieved one of the stages of holiness during the period of living together there is no need to wait until the period of four months is completed. They are allowed to enter the homeleft life immediately.
