Vinaya-pitaka All the disciplinary rules framed for the conduct and guidance of the Buddhist monks and nuns are collected in the Vinaya-pitaka. The Buddhist order of monks was organized wholly on a democratic basis. The Buddha nominated no successor and wanted his followers to perform all ecclesiastical acts and duties according to his instructions. It was, of course, not possible for the Buddha to lay down all the rules in anticipation of what the unrighteous monks might do to evade or misinterpret them. Hence, the Vinaya-pitaka, as it stands today, is a growth of centuries out of the basic rules formulated by the Teacher himself. In the Pali Canon, this Pitaka is divided into five parts which are arranged in the following manner: (A) Khandhakas : (i) Mahavagga, and (ii) Cullavagga ; (B) Suttavibhanga : (iii) Parajika to Nissaggiya and (iv) Pacittiya to Sekhiya and Bhikkhuni-vibhanga : and (C) (v) Parivara. This arrangement holds good for a picture of the growth of the Buddhist Sangha but does not indicate the chronological growth of the Pitaka. Both from the contents and quaintness of the Palis language it can safely be asserted that the Patimokkha-sutta was the earliest composition. In the present edition the sutta does not appear separately but is included in the Sutta-vibhanga, where it appears as the text for purposes of comment. The Sutta-vibhanga was no doubt written at a subsequent date and contains many additions like the case laws of a modern law book. The Mahavagga traces the growth of the Sangha from its inception and is thus rightly the first book of the Pitaka. Its contents and style of composition, however, reveal a date later than that of the Sutta-vibhanga. The Cullavagga contains many topics which should form the closing part of the Pitaka. It describes in detail the manner in which an ecclesiastical punishment is to be inflicted and accepted by the guilty. It also contains some general rules regarding the daily life of the monks, the proper place for which is in the Mahavagga. It seems that the Cullavagga was either a much later compilation than the Mahavagga or that it incorporated those topics which, in part. Account of two Buddhist Synods, one of which was held a century after the Buddha’s demise, are also included. The last part, the Parivara, is a mnemonic manual for the use of the monks. Its object is to help the monks not only to remember the rules but also to be aware of the facts and circumstances which bring a monk within the orbit of the rules.
(i) The Patimokkha-sutta. – The Patimokkha (Skt. Pratimoksa-sutra) forms the nucleus of the Viaya-pitaka. It is the oldest part of the Pali Pitaka and its language appears to be older than that of the Nikayas. Two complete Sanskrit versions of this text have been discovered, one at Kuca, published by Louis Finot in Journal Aaiatique, 1913, and the other at Gilgit, published by A.C. Banerji in Indian Historical Quarterly, 1953. besides these two, several fragments of the text have been published by La Vallee Poussin and a fragmentary text of the Bhiksuni-pratimoksa-sutra by E. Waldschmidt. In the Jayaswal Research Institute there is a photographic copy of the Pratimoksa-sutra of the Mahasanghikas. The greater antiquity of the text is established by the references made to this text in the Nikayas, particularly in the Majjhima and the Anguttara. It seems to be the earliest manual of disciplinary rules compiled for the guidance of monks and nuns.
The Patimokkha consists of two parts, namely, the Bhikkhu-patimokkha and the Bhikjkhuni-patimokkha, for monks and nuns respectively. The offences that may be committed by monks and nuns have been classified according to their gravity. The worst offences grouped under the heading Parajika, which entailed the expulsion of the guilty from the community of monks, are (i) lack of continence, (ii) theft, (iii) murder or abetment of murder, and (iv) exaggeration of one’s power to perform miracles, etc. the next group of offences, mentioned under the heading Sanghadisesa (Sangha vasesa) entailed temporary suspension of the offending monks. They could be re-admitted to the Sangha if found admissible by a chapter of at least twenty monks. It mentions thirteen offences arising out of the relation between monks and women, the construction of a hermitage, false accusations, dissensions in the Sangha, and obstinacy. The third section, called the Aniyata (uncertain), speaks of two cases which require circumstantial evidence to ascertain the offence. The fourth section is the Nissaggiya-pacittiya which deals with twenty-six offences that can be committed by a monk who appropriates certain articles of use which were not permissible. The offending monks could be absolved if they parted with the article in question (nissaggiya-naihsargika) and confessed their guilt (pacittiya payantika). The fifth section, entitled Pacittiya, enumerates ninety-two offences relating to careless acts leading to insecticide, to lack of respect for the Buddhist teachings and disciplinary code and to non-compliance with the directions given in the latter, and lastly to indiscreet acts in the use of beds, seats, robes, etc., while dwelling in a monastery. The sixth section, called Patidesaniya, speaks of only four offences relating to a monk’s taking food which has not been offered to him. Absolution from all the offences mentioned in these two sections can be obtained by a formal confession of guilt before the Sangha. The seventh section, Sekhiya (Saiksa), gives seventy-five instructions to be observed by a monk in his daily life, for instance, how he must enter a village or a town, take food inoffensively, enter a sick room, and so on. These are not treated as offences and no punishment is therefore prescribed for them. The last section is called the Adhikarana-samatha or the means of settling disputes within the Sangha. There are seven of these. The first is to place the two quarrelling monks face to face, the second to make one admit that his memory had failed in regard to the point of dispute, while the third is to make a monk admit that he was not in his normal mind when the point of dispute arose. The fourth relates to the formality of confession, the fifth to the use of salaka (voting sticks), the sixth to prevarication and punishment for it, and the last to the avoidance of publicity to a dispute within the Sangha.
(ii) The Sutta-vibhanga-The Sutta-vibhanga is a commentary on the Patimokkha-sutta. It opens with an account of a famine at Veranja when the Buddha visited the place. The famine was of such intensity that the people had to resort to rationing (salakavutti). The Buddha then left Veranja and passed through Soreyya, Samkassa, Kannakujja, and reached Payaga, where he crossed the Ganga and reched Banaras. From Banaras he went to Vaisali and stopped at Mahavana Kutagarasala.
Near Vaisali was the village of Kalandaka, where there lived a rich banker, whose son, Sudinna, listened to the Buddha’s discourses at Vaisali and became his disciple. At that time a famine broke out in the land of the Vajjis. As Sudinna had many rich friends and relatives at Vaisali, he decided to go there, so that he and his brethren might obtain ample alms. One day Sudinna went on a begging round in his own village and asked for the kummasa (rice-junket) which the maidservant of his parents was about to throw away. When his mother heard the news of his arrival, she persuaded his wife to meet him and beg for a son. Sudinna granted her wish and went back to his monastery, became repentant and reported the matter to his fellow brethren. When this was brought to the notice of the Buddha, he reprimanded the erring monk severely and laid down a rule that if a monk committed sexual indulgence, he would be guilty of parajika, and thus become unfit to be a monk. This is the first rule of the Patimokkha.
In the manner indicated above, each rule was framed by the Buddha to deal with the failings of the monks. The stories of such lapses do not, however, represent actual incidents but were usually inventions of the commentator. The commentator then explained the rule in detail. Apart from the comments made on the phraseology of the rules, there are many discussions on what a female is; what would happen if a change of sex occurs; the probable ways of sexual indulgence and related subjects. The cases of sexual indulgences which do not come within the purview of the rule are also discussed.
The second rule deals with theft which also involved the expulsion of the guilty from the community of monks. The subject is introduced through the story of the monk Dhaniya, a potter’s son, who collected wood, without anybody’s permission, to build his hermitage. In commenting upon the words of the rule, the commentator has discussed the definitions of an article and of theft. At the end he has pointed out the forms of taking things which do not come within the purview of the rule.
The other two rules of the Parajika have been dealt with likewise, covering in all over 109 pages of the third volume of the Vinaya-pitaka.
The first rule of Sanghadisesa was laid down at Savatthi, where a monk called Seyyasaka committed self-abuse. The commentator enumerates the various ways in which such indulgences can take place and come within the purview of the rule as well as those cases which deserve exemption.
The second rule of the Sanghadisesa lays down that a monk must not come in close touch with the body of a woman. This rule was laid down at Savatthi, near which in a forest dwelt a monk, Udayi, who touched a brahmani when she visited his hermitage.
The commentator first raises the questions, “whether such contact was intentional or accidental”, “what contact actually is”, and ends with the statement that such contact with one’s mother, sister or daughter does not come within the purview of the rule.
The same monk is cited as the cause of the subsequent three rules. The commentator discusses various types of girls and wives, the various circumstances in which a monk commits offences under these rules and what constitutes an exception. The rest of the rules are illustrated, commented upon and elaborated in the same way.
In commenting on the Nissaggiya-pacittiya section, the enthusiasm of the commentator seems to have abated to a large extent. He does not discuss many cases which may or may not come within the purview of the rules. The exemptions allowed are stated in very general terms. For instance, if a monk has an unbalanced mind, or is the first in the Sangha to commit the offence, or if the circumstances are such that the breach of the rule is inevitable, he need not be considered guilty of the breach of any of the rules.
The comments on the ninety-two rules of pacittiya open with an account of Hatthaka, a Sakyan monk, who deliberately made false statements in a disputation with the heretics. This led the Buddha to lay down the rule that anyone uttering falsehoods wittingly is guilty of pacittiya. The commentator details the circumstances in which the offence takes place. The second rule was occasioned by the Chabbaggiya monks who spoke disparagingly of the other monks. The commentator illustrates the evil effects of such words by the story of the bull, Nandivisala, and in the process of deciding whether the words were disrespectful or not, he enumerates the various castes, professions and qualities which set a person or a monk high or low in the estimation of the common people.
The four rules of the Patidesaniya and the seventy-five rules of the Sekhiya have been concisely commented upon while the seven ways of settling disputes have been passed over without any comment whatsoever.
(iii) The Bhikkhuni vibhanga – There are seven groups of offences in the Bhikkhuni-vibhanga. These range from Parajika to Adhikarana-samatha (settlement of disputes), and are arranged according to their gravity.
The first section on Parajika includes four rules in addition to the four prescribed in the Bhikkhu-patimokkha. In commenting on the fifth rule, namely, that a nun with a lustful mind must not rub or touch the middle part of a male’s body, the commentator tells the story of Salha, the grandson of Migara, who managed to meet young Sndarinanda Bhikkhuni and exposed her to the aforementioned offence. Then follow comments on the words of the rules in detail but cases which may or may not come within the purview of the rule are not cited. The commentator only mentions the exceptional cases as usual. The other three rules are similarly commented upon.
In the second section, or the Sanghadisesa, seven rules are taken from the Bhikku-patimokkha. The other ten are specially prescribed for the community of nuns. The first rule instructs a nun to shun legal suits. This as occasioned by a will left by a lay devotee who gave away a portion of his property to the nunnery. It was disputed and the matter was placed before the Law Minister (Voharika-mahamatta) for decision. The second rule enjoins a nun to disclose to the proper authorities any information that she may have concerning a theft. Here the proper authorities are raja, Sangha, gana, puga, and seni. The next eight rules restrict the nuns from moving about alone, from coming into contact with men, from quarrelling and from showing lack of respect to the Triratna. The comments are confined to the words of the rules only.
Of the thirty rules in the Nissaggiya-pacittiya, which is the third section, eighteen are taken from the Bhikkhu-patimokkha. The first rule refers to the habit of some nuns to collect begging bowls. The commentator describes different types of bowls and offers advice on what a nun should do to avoid committing the offence. The next rule relates to the irregularities in the distribution of robes. The following eight rules deal with prevarications by nuns in the matter of their requirements. The eleventh and twelfth rules prohibit a nun from asking for a woolen robe worth more than four kamsas which are equivalent to sixteen kahapanas or for a khoma robe worth more than two and a half kamsas or ten kahapanas.
In the fourth section, on the Pacittiya, the commentator comments on ninety-six out of one hundred and sixty-six rules. The rules relate to various matters concerning lapses common to women.
In the fifth section, the Patidesanlya, the nuns are forbidden to take clarified butter, oil, honey, molasses, fish, meat, condensed mil and curds.
The sixth and seventh sections, Sekhiya and Adhikaranasamatha, are taken from the Bhikkhu-patimokkha.
(iv) The Khandhakas – The Khandhakas are divided into two parts, the Mahavagga and the Cullavagga. The topics dealt with in the two parts have not always had a clear distinction, besides lacking sequence, and so some of the chapters of the Mahavagga and the cullavagga have been put together here to enable the reader to have an idea of the subject as dealt with in both the parts.
Among the manuscript finds at Gilgit in Kashmir, a portion of the Vinaya-pitaka of the Mula-sarvastivadins was discovered. This manuscript has been published and throws a flood of light on the growth of the Vinaya-pitaka. The order of the chapters in this manuscript is as follows: (i) Pravrajya, (ii) Posadha, (iii) Pravarana, (iv) Varsa, and (v) Carma, (vi) Bhaisajya, (vii) Civara, (viii) Kathina, (ix) Kosambaka, and (x) Karma, (xi) Pandulohitaka, (xii) Pudgala, (xiii) Parivasika, (xvi) Posadhasthapana, (xv) Sayanasana, and (xvi) Sanghabheda. To introduce Devadatta, the chief figure of the Sanghabhedavastu, the compiler of the Sanskrit Vinaya-pitaka has started the biography of the Buddha from Prince Siddhartha’s vision of the four stages of human beings, and carried the story up to his visit to Kapilavastu and the conversion of the Sakyan youths including Devadatta. In the Pali Vinaya-pitaka, the biography is put at the beginning of the Mahavagga, while the story of the conversion of the Sakyan youths is placed in the seventh chapter of the Cullavagga. On comparing the Pali and Sanskrit texts, it appears that the compilers of the two versions have depended upon an older model and made sporadic variations in the arrangement and the detail of the accounts. Both of them preserve substantially the same traditions and disciplinary rules, the only difference being that while the Sanskrit version reproduces stories and episodes extensively, the Pali version has avoided doing so as far as possible.
The Mahavagga can well be described as the history of the development of the Buddhist Sangha. It opens with an account of the Buddha’s life from the day he attained bodhi on the bank of the Niranjana and carries the story up to the conversion of Yasa and his fifty-four friends including Vimala, Subahu, Punnaji and Gavampati who were dispatched in different directions to preach the Dharma.
However, these young, untrained missionaries were not capable of deciding on the type of persons fit for admission to the Sangha. For the guidance of such disciples, the Buddha laid down elaborate rules, as and when occasion arose, relating to the ordination of a newcomer.
The second chapter of the text is devoted to the institution of a fortnightly assembly, usually known as Uposatha (Posadha). If anyone was found guilty of a serious offence, he was not permitted to stay in this assembly. This had also been dealt with in the ninth chapter of the Cullavagga under the sub-heading, Patimokkha-thapanam (laying aside, i.e., not holding the Patimokkha assembly). One of the conditions of these assemblies was that all monks living within a parish must be preset at the meeting held at a particular monastery. In case of sickness the monk concerned was required to depute a proxy, whose duty was to declare his faults of omission or commission if any. Strictness on this score led to the necessity of defining the boundaries of a parish, and so elaborate rules had to be laid down for the determination of such boundaries and such determination also had to be declared at a formal meeting of the Sangha by moving the resolution three times and having it passed unanimously.
The third and fourth chapters deal with the monk’s residence during the rains and the ceremony to be performed at the close of the Vassavasa. The monks were asked to be generally itinerant as the chances of a lapse would be greater if the resided at one place for a long time. But during the three months of the rainy season the monks were for many reasons directed to remain at a fixed abode. This practice was known as Vassavasa. It was also observed by the Jaina and others recluses of the Buddha’s time. There were, however, some occasions which urgently needed the presence of a monk outside the limit of his abode. Accordingly, a monk was allowed to go outside his limits for one week. Lest the monks should misuse this privilege, specific purposes are mentioned for which this permission could be granted. This topic concludes with the enumeration of circumstances which justify the ending of the Vassavasa before the appointed time.
During the Vassavasa, the monks were expected to live in concord and observe the disciplinary rules. As this was not always possible, the Teacher prescribed that at the end of the Vassavasa the monks should meet in assembly and declare their acts of omission and commission. The formalities to be observed in the assembly are the same as those prescribed for the Uposatha ceremony. Such an assembly at the end of the Vassavasa was called Pavarana. There are many instances of irregularities, to remedy which the Teacher framed several rules.
Part of the Pavarana ceremony was the distribution of robes collected on the closing day. It was called the Kathina ceremony. on the day of Pavarana, the laity offered unsown cloth to the resident monks. It was laid down that if the Sangha received such offers, the monks were expected to meet and declare formally that they were going to celebrate the Kathina ceremony. The main function of this ceremony was to entrust certain monks with the cutting, sewing and dyeing the robes, and all this was to be finished in one day. When the robes were ready, they were distributed among the residents. There were, however, cases of doubtful claimants, and so rules were framed to determine who was really entitled to a share of the robes.
The fifth chapter opens with the story of Sona Kolivisa, the son of a very wealthy man. His body was so delicate that hairs grew even on the soles of his feet. He was given ordination by the Teacher himself. As a monk he walked barefoot while performing religious exercises. His feet bled and stained the places he walked on. The Buddha then asked him to put on shoes but he demurred that as a monk it would not be proper for him to do so. This led the Buddha to allow the use of shoes to all monks and he prescribed certain forms of shoes to all monks and he prescribed certain forms of shoes that could be used by the monks.
The sixth chapter discusses the medicines permissible to sick monks and nuns. It relates how, at the instance of Jivaka, the famous physician, the Buddha allowed the sick monks to have all the medical and surgical aids they required. This chapter contains a very interesting account of surgical operations and instruments, of drugs and their preparation, of containers and store-houses for medicines, and lastly, of medical aids such as hot baths and special diets which included fruit and fruit juice, milk products and sometimes meat broth. Reference is also made to Jivaka’s skill in surgery and medicine. An account of the visit of the Buddha to Pataligama, taken almost verbatim from the Mahaparinibbana-sutta, is also included.
Gradually the monks were permitted to enjoy not only medical aid but also many other amenities of life, which are detailed in the Cullavagga.
Detailed descriptions of monasteries fitted with doors, windows and other necessary adjuncts constructed by the laity for the use of the monks of the four quarters are given in the sixth chapter of the Cullavagga. The construction of the monasteries, according to the Vinaya rules, was supervised by a monk called Navakammika. These monasteries were furnished with seats and beds of an austere type. In this connection, the story of the gift of the Jetavana monastery has been introduced, and with it is given an account of how Anathapindika met the Buddha at Rajagrha and became a devotee.
In the fifth chapter of the Cullavagga there are several directions relating to baths, the monk’s begging bowls, scissors and needles, girdles, latrines, slings to carry bowls, shoes, hair-cutting, and so on. Incidentally it is mentioned that the monks must not sing the gathas aloud, or exhibit the power of miracles if they possessed any, and should turn down their bowls at the houses of laymen who were not sufficiently respectful to the Triratna.
The last two chapters of the Mahavagga are devoted to irregularities in ecclesiastical acts. A minimum number of monks is fixed for the performance of different ecclesiastical duties or acts.
As the Cullavagga is a continuation of the Mahavagga, it takes up, in the first four chapters, the different punishments prescribed in the Vinaya-pitaka and gives instructions as to how the monks should behave when undergoing punishment.
In the eighth chapter the resident monks of a monastery are instructed how to receive monks from other places or forests and to look after their comforts.
The seventh chapter is devoted to an account of the dissensions that were about to break out within the Sangha during the Buddha’s lifetime. As Devadatta, a Sakyan relative of the Teacher, turned out to be the leader of the dissentient monks, the chapter gives, by way of an introduction, an account of the conversion of the Sakyan youths, namely, Anuruddha, Bhaddiya, Sakyaraja, Ananda, Bhagu, Kimbila and Devadatta, and their barber, Upali.
Devadatta joined hands with Ajatasatru and made a heinous attempt on the Buddha’s life by hiring a gang of ruffians by using a stone, and an elephant. Devadatta at last found a few friends and demanded that the Sangha should make the following five rules compulsory for all monks, viz., that the monks were (i) to live only in forests, (ii) to subsist on alms, (iii) to dress in robes made out of rags, (iv) to dwell under a tree and never under a roof, and (v) never to eat fish or flesh. When his demand was rejected by the Buddha, he formed a band of his own from amongst the Vajjiputtaka monks of Vaisali. The chapter concludes with a note on the conditions in which an actual dissension in the Sangha would be regarded as a Sanghabheda.
The tenth chapter relates the story of the formation of the Order of nuns at the instance of Mahaprajapati Gautami and the mediation of Ananda,. The Buddha very reluctantly agreed to its formation and imposed eight disabilities (garudhamma) on the nuns. At first the Teacher wanted the nuns to depend on the monks for all their ecclesiastical acts, and also receive from them instruction on Vinaya as well as on Dhamma, but it was found that sometimes the monks were not wise and discreet in the discharge of their duties to the nuns. This led the Buddha to permit the nuns to perform most of their ecclesiastical acts themselves, and rules of procedure were laid down for them. In this chapter there are detailed instructions to check the frivolities of the females sex regarding dress, toilet, beds, seats, and so on.
The last two chapters, which, strictly speaking, should not have formed a part of the Cullavagga, contain a full description of the first two Councils, held at Sattapanniguha of Rajagrha and Valikarama of Vaisali. The main object of the first two Counciks was to make an authoritative compilation of the Buddha’s sayings. It was presided over by Mahakassap, Ananda taking the responsibility of reciting the discourses delivered by the Buddha, and Upali the disciplinary rules framed by the Teacher. This compilation was accepted by the monks in general with a few exceptions. The second Council was held a hundred years later. Its main purpose was to suppress the deviations made by the Vajjiputtaka monks of Vaisali in some of the disciplinary rules.
The deviations were declared illegal by a committee of eight monks, of whom four were selected from the orthodox monks of the western countries and four from the dissident party of the eastern countries. Not all the monks, however, accepted the findings of this committee and a new sect, well known as the Mahasanghikas, came into existence.
Reference Book: 2500 Years Of Buddhism. By P.V. Bapat
ဒီဇင္ဘာေနာက္ဆုံးညကုိ ႏႈတ္ဆက္ဖုိ႔ရာ ျပည့္စုံတဲ့ခြန္အားမ႐ွိေပမယ့္ … အမွတ္တရေလး ေရးေပးပါလုိ႔ ဆုိလာ တဲ့ သူငယ္ခ်င္းအတြက္ ခ်ိနဲ႔နဲ႔တဲ့ အင္အားေတြ စုစည္းၿပီး ဒီစာေလးကုိ ေရးျဖစ္လုိက္တာပါ။
