Anamasa - Mnemonic

Anamasa - Mnemonic 

Anamasa is items which bhikkhus are prohibited to touch.  They are such as women and this includes mother, daughter, sister, sleeping woman, dead woman, female animal, a wooden doll...etc

Case details

At one time, a monk touched his mother out of affection. He became remorseful, thinking, “The Master has laid down a training rule. Could it be that I’ve committed an offense entailing suspension?” He informed the Master, and the Master said, 

“There’s no offense entailing suspension, but there’s an offense of wrong conduct.”

At one time, a monk touched his daughter out of affection … his sister out of affection. He became remorseful … “There’s no offense entailing suspension, but there’s an offense of wrong conduct.”

The Vinita Vatthu (mentioned above) contains cases of a bhikkhu who caresses his mother out of filial affection, one who caresses his daughter out of fatherly affection, and one who caresses his sister out of brotherly affection. In each case the penalty is a dukkata.

The Vibhanga does not discuss the issue of bhikkhus who intentionally make active contact with women for purposes other than lust or affection -- e.g., helping a woman who has fallen into a raging river -- but the Commentary does. It introduces the concept of anamasa, things carrying a dukkata penalty when touched; women and clothing belonging to a woman top the list. It then goes into great detail to tell how one should behave when one's mother falls into a raging river. Under no circumstances, it says, should one grab hold of her, although one may extend a rope, a board, etc., in her direction. If she happens to grab hold of her son the bhikkhu, he should not shake her off, but should simply let her hold on as he swims back to shore.

http://www.nku.edu/~kenneyr/Buddhism/lib/modern/bmc/ch5.html

The Vinaya-mukha contains the following passage on items that are anamasa, i.e., not to be touched. As it notes, the basic concept and the list of specific items are not to be found in the Canon (their provenance is the Commentary to Sanghadisesa 2). 

Although the dukkata for touching these things is not canonical, many Communities observe it, and so a wise policy is to know the list. One is prohibited from touching items that are anamasa, i.e., not to be touched—which are classified as follows:

a. Women, their garments, and representations (pictures, statues) of the female form. Female animals would come under this class. Upper and lower garments that they have thrown away—which, for example, could be used as sitting cloths—no longer count as anamasa.

[... dst]

b. Ratana 10 (gemstone) such as gold and silver

c.  Weapons

d.  Equipments to trap or catch animals

e.  Music instruments

f.  Seven types of grains and fruits (in certain circumstances)

The prohibition against touching these anamasa items does not come directly from the Canon. The compilers of the Commentary extrapolated from various passages in the Vinita-vatthu and other passages (of the Canon) and established this custom. Nevertheless, the custom is still appropriate. For example, a bhikkhu abstains from taking life, so if he were to touch weapons or traps it would look unseemly. He abstains from making music, so if he were to touch musical instruments it would look unseemly as well. 

So we can conclude that the items classified as anamasa were probably forbidden to bhikkhus from the very beginning.

https://dhammacitta.org/forum/index.php?topic=2256.20;wap

Therefore, lay people should not bring or give or offer any of these anamasa items to a bhikkhu which may cause him to transgress the vinaya.