This term is the opposite of brahmacarya, “pure conduct” or “holy life,” which denotes the chaste life of those who have renounced the world. The term abrahmacarya therefore refers to sexual conduct, which is regarded as a root downfall for monastics on the śrāvaka path.

Here, the third of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

The opposite of “pure conduct,” which, in the context of Buddhist monasticism, normally indicates celibacy. Here the context indicates that “unchaste conduct” stands in for the more common formulation of the third basic precept as “sexual misconduct.”