The Lesser Chapter, Part 2

ฉบับแปลอังกฤษ · Vinaya Piṭaka — The Basket of Monastic Discipline · Volume 7 · 405 pages

Summarized by AI from the full volume (129 topics) — click to jump to where each topic begins.

Page 1–5 Rules Against Vain Bathing Practices The monks from the group of six drew public criticism for rubbing their bodies against trees, posts, walls, and rubbing boards while bathing, and for using a wooden rubbing-hand, a string of cinnabar beads, mutual massage, and an ornamented scrubber — behavior people likened to vain boxers and pleasure-seeking householders. The Buddha prohibited each practice in turn as an offense of wrong conduct, while making practical exceptions: a plain scrubber for a monk with an itchy skin disease, cloth g
Page 6–7 Bans on Jewelry, Hairstyling, and Cosmetics The group-of-six monks were criticized for wearing earrings, necklaces, bangles, and rings; growing their hair long; styling it with combs, beeswax, and oil; and checking their appearance in mirrors or bowls of water. The Buddha banned all of this as unbefitting a monastic (hair was capped at about 3.5 centimeters or two months' growth), though he allowed a mirror for a monk checking a facial sore and facial ointment for a monk with an eye disease, showing a pattern of blanket prohibitions softe
Page 8–9 Watching Entertainment, Melodic Chanting, and Fleecy Robes The group-of-six monks were criticized for attending a hilltop fair to watch dancing, singing, and music, and separately for chanting the Buddha's teaching in a melodic, drawn-out singing style. The Buddha listed five drawbacks of this practice, including that it disrupts inner stillness and invites imitation by later generations, and banned it — though he allowed plain chanting once monks became too afraid to recite at all — and also stopped monks from wearing fleecy woolen robes with the fleec
Page 10 The Mango Rule When King Bimbisāra let the monks freely eat mangoes from his park, the group-of-six monks stripped the trees bare, even eating unripe fruit, leaving none for the king himself; though the king was gracious about it, public criticism followed and the Buddha banned monks from eating mangoes outright. He then had to soften the rule so monks could still accept a lay donor's mango curry, allowing mango pieces to be eaten.
Page 11–12 Protection from Snakes and a Monk's Self-Mutilation After a monk died from snakebite, the Buddha explained that he had failed to extend good will to the four royal snake clans, and taught a protective chant of loving-kindness toward snakes and all creatures for monks to recite for their own safety. In an unrelated but jarring episode, a monk overwhelmed by lust cut off his own penis, and the Buddha rebuked him for cutting off "one thing when he should've cut off something else," forbidding such self-mutilation as a serious offense.
Page 13–16 The Sandalwood Bowl and Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja's Feat A wealthy merchant hung a bowl carved from precious sandalwood from a tall pole, offering it to any ascetic who could bring it down by supernormal power; several famous rival teachers failed to even attempt it convincingly. Venerable Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja then flew up, retrieved the bowl, and circled the city to public astonishment — but the Buddha sharply rebuked him for showing off a miraculous power for the sake of a mere wooden bowl, comparing it to a woman exposing herself for a coin, had the
Page 17–22 Regulating Bowl Materials, Rests, and Everyday Care Gold and silver almsbowls are banned in favor of plain iron or ceramic ones, and ornate bowl rests are replaced with plain, undecorated versions after complaints that monks looked like wealthy householders. A long string of everyday mishaps — bowls chipped, discolored, blown over, or dropped from benches, ledges, pegs, beds, laps, and sunshades — prompts the Buddha to authorize practical fixes like bowl racks, storage bags, and carrying straps; the section closes with a monk shocking a woman by
Page 23–26 Tools and Structures for Sewing Robes Turning to the practical craft of robe-making, the Buddha allows a sewing knife with plain (not luxurious) handles and needles, working out fixes as problems arise — a case and various treatments to stop needles rusting, and a wooden sewing frame to hold cloth taut and evenly shaped, with rules against damaging it by standing on it with dirty, wet, or sandaled feet. Thimbles are allowed to protect pricked fingers, and the section ends with permission to build proper sewing sheds with solid found
Page 27–29 Travel Gear and the Water-Filter Tragedy As the Buddha sets out from Rājagaha toward Vesālī, practical travel needs prompt new allowances: a medicine bag, after monks awkwardly carried needles, knives, and medicine loose in their almsbowls, and a sandal bag, after a lay follower painfully bumped his head on a monk's belt-slung sandals while bowing. The section's centerpiece is a grim cautionary tale: a monk refuses to lend his water filter to a resentful traveling companion, who then dies of thirst — leading the Buddha to require monks
Page 30–31 Walking-Meditation Paths Jīvaka Komārabhacca, concerned that monks in Vesālī were falling sick after eating rich meals offered by the townspeople, persuades the Buddha to allow dedicated walking-meditation paths so monks can exercise and stay healthy. Practical problems follow: uneven ground that hurts feet gets leveled, low-lying paths that flood get raised on brick, stone, or wood foundations, and stairs, rails, and railings are added once people start falling while climbing up or off the paths.
Page 32–35 Building and Using Saunas Jīvaka's advice also leads the Buddha to allow saunas, and what follows is a detailed building code covering fireplace placement, facial clay to guard against the heat, water basins, plastered and washable floors, benches, and encircling walls and gatehouses. The section also lays down a strict rule that naked ascetics who had joined the Sangha may not bow to, assist, or share food and drink with one another while unclothed, and grants permission for robe racks and covered sheds so garments left
Page 36–37 Wells and Well Houses When a sauna runs dry, the Buddha allows the digging of a well, followed by the now-familiar sequence of structural fixes: solid foundations so the edge doesn't collapse, raised bases against flooding, stairs and rails for safe access, and a rope, then a pulley and well-wheel, to ease hauling water, plus iron, wood, or hide buckets to stop vessels from breaking. Because hauling water in the open exposes monks to heat and cold, sheltered, plastered well houses are also authorized.
Page 38–40 Bathing Tanks and Rules on Comfort and Sharing A lay donor's gift of a lotus bathing tank and a monk's request for a sauna with a pointed roof round out the building projects, followed by a cluster of etiquette rules: monks must not go four months without a sitting mat, must not sleep in beds strewn with flowers (though scent for marking doors and flowers set aside are fine), must not eat food off a heated warming-stand, and must not eat or drink from a shared vessel or sleep together on the same bed, sheet, or cover — all practices that str
Page 41–43 Vaḍḍha's False Accusation Against Dabba Resentful monks Mettiya and Bhūmajaka manipulate their friend Vaḍḍha the Licchavī into falsely telling the Buddha that Venerable Dabba the Mallian raped his wife. When questioned, Dabba states plainly that he cannot recall ever having had intercourse even in a dream, and the Buddha establishes the formal procedure of "overturning the bowl" against Vaḍḍha — a Sangha-wide boycott barring him from all interaction with the monks — listing the eight kinds of hostile conduct toward the Sangha that war
Page 44–46 Vaḍḍha's Repentance and the Bowl Turned Upright Devastated and fainting on hearing of his boycott, Vaḍḍha goes with his family, wet-clothed and wet-haired, to confess his fault to the Buddha, who forgives him and praises the act of acknowledging a mistake and committing to future restraint. The Buddha then sets out the matching formal procedure for "turning the bowl upright" — restoring a repentant lay follower's standing with the Sangha — including the eight positive qualities that qualify him for reinstatement and the exact wording the Sang
Page 47–49 Prince Bodhi's Cloth-Covered Staircase Prince Bodhi invites the Buddha to the first meal ever eaten in his newly built Kokanada stilt house and, wanting to honor him, has the entire staircase draped in white cloth for the Buddha to walk on. The Buddha stops at the bottom step and refuses to move despite three requests, until Ānanda explains on his behalf that the Buddha never steps on cloth coverings out of compassion for later generations who might feel entitled to demand the same honor; the cloth is removed, the meal proceeds norma
Page 50 A Blessing Cloth for a Childless Woman A woman unable to conceive invites the monks and asks them to step on a cloth she has laid out as a blessing; the monks refuse twice out of scrupulous fear of wrongdoing, prompting her public complaint that they are being ungracious. The Buddha rules that householders are entitled to such blessings and permits monks to step on a cloth, and later on a towel, when asked.
Page 51–53 Visākhā's Gifts and the Sunshade Affair The devout laywoman Visākhā Migāramātā presents the Buddha with a waterpot, broom, and fans, prompting him to allow these along with proper foot scrubbers (stone, pebble, or pumice, not ceramic) and mosquito whisks. When the Sangha is later given sunshades, the group-of-six monks parade around with them and are mistaken for government officials by onlookers, so the Buddha bans sunshades for healthy monks in public — while still permitting them for the sick and for use within a monastery's own gr
Page 54–57 Formal Permission for a Staff and Carrying Net A monk slinging his almsbowl from a staff is nearly seized by villagers who mistake him for an armed robber, leading the Buddha to forbid ordinary use of carrying nets and staffs. For genuinely infirm monks who cannot walk without a staff or carry their bowl without a net, the Buddha institutes a formal Sangha procedure — a motion recited before the assembled monks — by which individual permission to use these aids is granted.
Page 58 Swallowed Rice and Fallen Rice A monk who habitually regurgitates and reswallows his food is criticized as eating out of time, but the Buddha explains he was a cow in his previous life and permits regurgitation, so long as the food is not taken fully out of the mouth before being swallowed again. Separately, when donors serving a meal spill rice on the floor, the Buddha rules that monks may pick it up and eat it, since it has already been given away.
Page 59–62 Grooming: Nails, Hair, and Beards After a monk with long fingernails is falsely accused of assault by a woman who scratches herself to frame him, the Buddha bans long nails and permits nail clippers, specifying that nails be cut level with the flesh. Further rules ban polished nails and let monks shave each other's heads with proper barber equipment, while forbidding vain grooming like trimmed beards, goatees, sideburns, sculpted chest hair, and depilation, except when medically necessary.
Page 63–66 Small Vanities: Ears, Metal Goods, and Straps The group-of-six monks are repeatedly rebuked for adopting householder-like habits — cutting hair with scissors instead of shaving, growing nasal hair, plucking gray hairs, using gold and silver earpicks, and hoarding metal and bronze goods like merchants — with the Buddha permitting plainer alternatives such as tweezers, bone earpicks, and ointment boxes instead. He also allows a back-and-knee strap for a sick monk, along with the weaving equipment to make one, after monks damage their robes si
Page 67–69 Belts, Robes, and Outdoor Hazards A series of episodes bans luxury versions of practical items — ornate belts, gold and silver buckles and toggles — in favor of plain equivalents made of cloth strips, bone, or shell, and stops the group-of-six from wearing sarongs and robes in fashionable householder styles or like a laborer's loincloth. The Buddha also allows tooth cleaners with set length limits after abuses, and after the group-of-six recklessly burn a forest, bans deliberate fires (though a defensive counterfire is allowed)
Page 70–71 No Verse, No Worldly Learning Two brahmin-born monk brothers propose putting the Buddha's teaching into poetic meter for elegance, but the Buddha firmly rejects this as corrupting the Dhamma and insists it be preserved in its own natural expression. He likewise bans monks from studying or teaching cosmological theory and other worldly subjects, ruling that such pursuits have no place on a path meant to lead beyond the world.
Page 72 Sneezes and Garlic Breath When monks noisily wish the sneezing Buddha long life during a teaching and interrupt it, he bans the custom for monks, later permitting a courteous reply only when lay people offer the blessing first. A monk who has eaten garlic sits apart so as not to disturb others during a teaching, leading the Buddha to ban garlic outright as something that can prevent one from properly hearing the Dhamma.
Page 73–76 Garlic for the Sick, and Building the First Restrooms Sāriputta's stomachache is cured by garlic, so the Buddha creates an exception permitting garlic for sick monks despite the general ban. As the monastery grows filthy and smelly from monks relieving themselves at random, the Buddha progressively authorizes designated urination spots and pots, then full cesspit toilets with foundations, raised bases, stairs, rails, and covered floors, followed by enclosed restroom buildings with doors, wiping sticks, and washing facilities.
Page 77 The Group of Six Misbehave, and Goods Are Sorted The group-of-six monks are cataloged in an extensive list of worldly indulgences — making flower garlands and jewelry for women of respectable families, sharing meals, seats, and beds with them, drinking, dancing, gambling, martial training, and mimicking performers — all firmly banned by the Buddha as unbecoming conduct. Separately, when a flood of metal, wood, and ceramic goods arrives at Venerable Uruvelakassapa's ordination, the Buddha sorts out what is allowable, permitting nearly all of it
Page 79–84 Verse Summary of the Minor Topics This section is a versified mnemonic (uddāna) reciting, in condensed and often cryptic form, all the allowances and prohibitions covered across the preceding chapter — from foot scrubbers and sunshades to restrooms and grooming rules — meant to help monks memorize the material. It closes with verses praising the Vinaya expert as one who keeps the true teaching alive, before formally ending the chapter on minor topics and opening the next chapter, on resting places, with the Buddha's initial allo
Page 85–89 The First Dwellings and the Merchant's Generosity With monks previously sleeping rough in the wilderness, at tree roots, and in caves, a wealthy Rājagaha merchant offers to build them proper dwellings, and the Buddha allows five kinds of shelter. The merchant builds sixty dwellings in a single day, feeds the Sangha, and donates them all to the Sangha at large, prompting the Buddha to praise dwelling-gifts in verse as supremely beneficial. As problems arise — snakes entering doorless huts, rats gnawing rope hinges, drafts through windowless wall
Page 90–93 From Bare Ground to Proper Beds Monks initially sleep directly on the ground and get dirty, so the Buddha allows a spread of grass, then benches, then wicker beds, and eventually a wide range of donated beds and benches with various leg styles — crooked, detachable, ram-like, many-legged, or simple planks and stools. After the group-of-six are criticized for sleeping on ostentatiously high beds and a monk is snake-bitten on a low one, the Buddha caps bed-support height and allows string webbing, mat underlays, and pillows size
Page 94 Mattresses Fit for a Fair Seeing lavish mattresses stuffed with wool, cloth, bark, grass, or leaves discarded after a hilltop fair in Rājagaha, the monks ask the Buddha about them, and he allows all five stuffing types along with cloth covers. To stop the covers from being stolen or swapped, the Sangha marks them with sprinkled patterns and hand-drawn multi-colored lines, while upholstered beds and benches with a proper underlay keep the mattresses from splitting or sinking.
Page 95–96 Painting, Pictures, and Foundations Imitating the white beds, black floors, and red ocher walls of other religious wanderers, the Buddha allows monks to decorate dwellings the same way, working through several failed adhesive techniques — husk, clay, sap, bran, mustard powder, beeswax — until the paint finally sticks to rough surfaces. He then bans decorative pictures of women and men as too worldly, permitting only abstract garland, creeper, and geometric patterns instead, and allows raised brick, stone, or wood foundations with
Page 97–98 Privacy, Repairs, and Storage As public dwellings leave monks embarrassed to lie down in view of passersby, the Buddha allows curtains, half-walls, and enclosed rooms for privacy, positioned to the side in small huts and centered in large ones. Further practical fixes follow: timber supports and plaster for crumbling or leaking walls, a canopy after a snake drops from a grass roof onto a monk's shoulder, wall pegs and clotheslines to keep rats and termites from ruined bags and robes, and covered porches with sliding screens
Page 99–100 Assembly Halls and Enclosing the Monastery Monks eating outdoors and suffering from heat and cold are given assembly halls, built up with the same foundations, stairs, rails, and decorative plaster developed for dwellings, along with sheltered sheds and vessels for drinking water. The Buddha then allows the whole monastery to be enclosed with brick, stone, or wood walls and gatehouses, complete with doors, locks, plastered surfaces, gravel or paved yards, and drains to keep the grounds dry and secure.
Page 101–102 Finishing the Water-Boiling Sheds and Enclosing the Monastery Concludes a running series of building allowances by letting monks finish and decorate the water-boiling sheds built to house cooking fires safely away from the yards, adding doors, plaster, and painted patterns. When goats and stray animals kept damaging saplings in unenclosed monasteries, the Buddha allows bamboo fences, thorn-branch fences, or trenches, plus proper gatehouses, gravel or paved walkways, and drainage. He also authorizes five kinds of roofing—tiles, slate, plaster, grass, and le
Page 103–105 Anāthapiṇḍika's Night Journey to the Buddha The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍika, visiting Rājagaha on business, notices his brother-in-law frantically preparing a feast and learns it is for "the Buddha"—a word so rare and thrilling to him that he can barely sleep. Setting out before dawn, he is nearly turned back by darkness and fear until the spirit Sivaka urges him onward with verses praising the value of going forward rather than back. At the Cool Grove the Buddha greets him by his birth name, Sudatta, and reassures him with a verse on
Page 107–109 Anāthapiṇḍika's Stream-Entry and First Gift The Buddha gives Anāthapiṇḍika a progressive teaching on generosity, ethics, and the drawbacks of worldly pleasure before revealing the four truths, and Anāthapiṇḍika immediately sees the truth and becomes a stream-enterer, going for refuge to the Triple Gem for life. He invites the Buddha and Sangha to a meal the next day, refusing offers from the merchant, the householders' association, and even King Bimbisāra to help pay for it since he has the means himself. After personally serving the meal
Page 110–112 The Purchase and Founding of Jeta's Grove Traveling home to Sāvatthī, Anāthapiṇḍika has monasteries and offerings prepared along the way, then searches the city for an ideal quiet site and settles on Prince Jeta's park. When Jeta names an impossible price—enough gold coins to cover the ground—Anāthapiṇḍika takes him literally and starts carting in gold, prompting Jeta to donate the last uncovered strip near the gate as his own gift, where he later builds a gatehouse. Anāthapiṇḍika then has the whole complex of dwellings, halls, wells, a
Page 113 Appointing a Monk to Oversee Building Work A poor tailor, seeing that monks lavish attention on donors who fund construction, tries to build a wall himself but fails repeatedly for lack of skill, then bitterly complains that the monks only ever help the wealthy. In response, the Buddha rules that a monk must be formally appointed to oversee any lay person's building project, to finish it quickly and keep it in repair, and lays down the standard formal motion for appointing such an overseer.
Page 114–118 The Parable of the Partridge, Monkey, and Elephant When pupils of the "group of six" monks rush ahead of the Buddha's party to grab all the dwellings and beds for their teachers and themselves, Venerable Sāriputta is left to sleep at the foot of a tree. The Buddha responds with the story of a partridge, a monkey, and an elephant who resolve their rivalry by determining who is oldest and honoring him, becoming a model for respectful conduct. He then rules that monks must observe seniority in bowing, standing, and receiving the best seat, water, a
Page 119 No Reserving of Communal Provisions The same pupils of the group of six exploit a loophole—since only Sangha-owned property was protected from seniority-based reservation—by seizing roof-covers, mats, and sleeping spots merely prepared for a visit, again leaving Sāriputta without a place to sleep. The Buddha closes the loophole, ruling that even items just set out for the Sangha's use may not be claimed by seniority. He also allows monks to sit, though not lie down, on the luxurious couches and rugs that lay donors provide in dini
Page 121–122 Anāthapiṇḍika Dedicates Jeta's Grove After another meal offered by Anāthapiṇḍika, he asks the Buddha what to do with the park, and the Buddha instructs him to dedicate it formally to the Sangha as a whole, present and future, rather than keep any personal claim on it. Anāthapiṇḍika does so, and the Buddha responds with verses praising the gift of dwellings as sheltering practitioners from heat, cold, and danger and enabling them to attain absorption, insight, and freedom from suffering.
Page 123–125 Disputes over Seats and Beds When Venerable Upananda arrives late to a meal and forces another monk to get up mid-bite, the resulting uproar leads the donor to complain, and the Buddha rules monks may not evict someone from a meal already begun, prescribing a polite way to ask for a seat instead. The group of six then manhandle sick monks out of their beds, hoard the best beds by falsely claiming illness, and use pretexts to reserve resting places—each of which the Buddha forbids.
Page 126–127 Appointing an Allocator of Dwellings After the group of six violently throw the monks of the group of seventeen out of a dwelling those monks had just repaired, the Buddha declares that dwellings must be properly allocated rather than seized by force, and institutes the office of "allocator of dwellings"—a monk of proven impartiality installed by the Sangha's standard formal motion. He is instructed to count monks against beds, then dwellings, then yards, giving out any surplus as extra shares, and is barred from allocating a dwell
Page 128–129 No Monk May Reserve Two Dwellings Venerable Upananda, notorious for stirring up trouble, accepts a dwelling at Sāvatthī but is also allocated one at a village monastery, prompting the local monks to challenge him before he can settle in and disrupt their rains retreat. When confronted he casually offers to give one up, but the Buddha rules that accepting a new dwelling automatically forfeits an earlier one—leaving Upananda excluded from both—and that no single monk may hold two dwellings at once.
Page 130–132 Seniority in Study and Seating; Repurposing Lavish Gifts When many monks flock to learn the Monastic Law from the revered Venerable Upāli, both he and his senior audience insist on standing throughout out of mutual respect until all are exhausted, so the Buddha rules that seating during teaching should follow the relative status of teacher and pupil, and permits monks close in seniority to share a seat, with capacity limits once beds and benches start breaking under them. He also allows Visākhā to equip a stilt house freely, and when King Pasenadi's g
Page 133–136 What May Never Be Given Away or Distributed In one village, resident monks tired of managing arriving guests simply hand over all the Sangha's dwellings to one of their own, and in another case the monks Assaji and Punabbasuka spitefully distribute every dwelling among themselves specifically to exclude Sāriputta and Moggallāna before the Buddha's arrival. In both cases the Buddha declares the acts void and a serious offense, listing five categories of communal property—monasteries, dwellings, furniture like beds and pillows, metal tools,
Page 137–142 Rules for Building-Work Supervisors The monks of Āḷavī abuse the office of building supervisor by appointing monks to trivial tasks like patching a wall or hanging a door, or granting supervision rights for twenty years, thirty years, or even life on already-finished buildings—practices the Buddha forbids, restricting the role to genuinely unstarted or unfinished projects with fixed terms scaled to the building's size. He also bars appointing one supervisor over multiple dwellings, letting a supervisor house someone else in his ch
Page 143–145 Household Etiquette and Care of Sangha Property A string of small allowances addresses everyday friction in shared living: monks may borrow equipment donated for a specific purpose when nothing else is available, move furniture out of a decaying building for safekeeping, trade away impractically luxurious donated cloth, and turn unusable hides or pads into doormats. Further rules protect newly finished dwellings—no walking in with dirty, wet, or sandaled feet, no spitting on painted floors (spittoons are provided instead), and cloth padding t
Page 146–149 Sangha Officers for Meals and Supplies A famine in Rājagaha makes it impossible to feed the whole Sangha at once, so the Buddha allows alternative meal arrangements—meals for designated monks, invitational meals, meals assigned by lot, and fixed half-monthly or observance-day meals—along with a formally appointed "designator of meals" using a ticket system, after the group of six are caught keeping the best food for themselves. The Sangha goes on to formally appoint a whole slate of similar officers, for dwellings, storerooms, robe-c
Page 150–152 Closing the Chapter: The Summary Verses The formal procedure for appointing a supervisor of novice monks completes the run of Sangha offices, closing out the third recitation section and the entire sixth chapter on resting places. The chapter then ends with a long mnemonic verse summary (uddāna) that briefly recaps its contents in condensed, versified form—from the earliest building allowances through Anāthapiṇḍika's story, seniority disputes, and property rules—as an aid for reciters to remember what the chapter covered.
Page 153–154 Verses Summarizing the Chapter on Resting Places These closing verses (an uddāna, or versified index) recap in condensed form the rules just covered about allocating dwellings, seats, and building materials among the Sangha, along with the list of people disqualified from inheriting a dead monk's room, such as those who caused a schism or drew the Buddha's blood. They mark the formal end of the chapter on resting places rather than introducing new material.
Page 155–161 The Going Forth of the Six Sakyan Princes Mahānāma urges his comfort-loving brother Anuruddha to leave home so their family isn't the only one without a monk among the Buddha's followers; after their mother makes going forth conditional on King Bhaddiya also renouncing his throne, Anuruddha talks Bhaddiya into it, and the two set out with Ānanda, Bhagu, Kimila, Devadatta, and their barber Upāli. Fearing he'll be blamed for the princes' disappearance, Upāli gives away their bundle of royal ornaments and joins them; at the princes' reques
Page 162–163 Bhaddiya's Contentment as a Monk Other monks assume former king Bhaddiya's frequent cry of "Oh, what happiness!" means he's homesick for royal life, but when the Buddha questions him directly, Bhaddiya explains the opposite: as king he was heavily guarded yet always fearful and distrustful, while as a penniless monk he is finally free of fear and anxiety. The brief episode illustrates that renunciation, not power, brings real security.
Page 164–166 Devadatta Courts Prince Ajātasattu Seeking material support, Devadatta magically appears to young Prince Ajātasattu as a boy wearing a snake as a belt, then reveals his true form, winning the prince's devoted daily patronage of carriages and feasts. Intoxicated by this honor, Devadatta begins wanting to lead the Sangha himself, and the instant that ambition arises his supernormal powers vanish; a deva who had once attended Moggallāna reports this to him, and the Buddha predicts Devadatta will soon reveal his true character.
Page 167–170 The Five Kinds of Corrupt Teachers Answering Moggallāna, the Buddha describes five types of teacher whose behavior, livelihood, teachings, explanations, or knowledge and vision are impure while they claim otherwise — their disciples know the truth but conceal it, unwilling to embarrass a teacher who is also their source of support. The Buddha then contrasts himself: his conduct, livelihood, teaching, explanations, and insight are genuinely pure, so his own disciples have nothing to hide.
Page 171–172 Warned Not to Envy Devadatta, He Demands the Sangha Hearing that Prince Ajātasattu showers Devadatta with gifts, the Buddha tells the monks not to envy him, comparing his swelling honor to a plantain or bamboo destroyed by its own fruit, and a mule ruined by its own pregnancy. Soon after, before a large assembly that includes the king, Devadatta asks the aging Buddha to retire and hand the Sangha over to him; the Buddha refuses outright, and refuses again when Devadatta repeats the request two more times.
Page 173–176 Public Disavowal of Devadatta When the Buddha says he wouldn't even entrust the Sangha to Sāriputta or Moggallāna, let alone to Devadatta, whom he calls a "wretched devourer of junk," Devadatta feels genuine anger toward the Buddha for the first time in his life. In response, the Buddha has the Sangha formally appoint Sāriputta to announce publicly in Rājagaha that Devadatta's character has changed and that whatever he now does is his own affair, with nothing to do with the Buddha, the Teaching, or the Sangha; Sāriputta carr
Page 177–179 The Plot Against King Bimbisāra Devadatta persuades Ajātasattu to kill his father and seize the throne while he himself kills the Buddha, but the prince is caught sneaking into the palace armed with a dagger and confesses the plan under questioning. King Bimbisāra, recalling the Buddha's earlier public announcement disowning Devadatta, refuses to punish the monks or even Devadatta, pardons his son, and simply hands the kingdom over to him.
Page 180–182 The Assassins Sent to Kill the Buddha With Ajātasattu now king, Devadatta arranges a relay of hired killers, each stationed to silence the one before him, to murder the Buddha and cover the tracks. Every group instead meets the Buddha peacefully, confesses its murderous intent, and is converted into lay followers through his teaching, so that not one of them carries out the plan; Devadatta, informed of the failure, declares he will kill the Buddha himself.
Page 183–187 Devadatta Wounds the Buddha Devadatta hurls a boulder down from Vulture Peak at the Buddha; it shatters against an outcrop, but a flying splinter draws blood from his foot, an act the Buddha names as Devadatta's first deed with karmic consequences ripening in his very next life. When monks patrol loudly around his dwelling to guard him, the Buddha calls them off, insisting no act of violence can actually kill a Buddha, and repeats the teaching on the five kinds of corrupt teachers to affirm his own integrity before sending
Page 188–190 Taming the Elephant Nāḷāgiri Devadatta bribes the keepers of Rājagaha's fierce, man-killing elephant Nāḷāgiri to release it at the Buddha during his almsround. As onlookers watch fearfully from rooftops, the Buddha simply pervades the charging elephant with a mind of love; Nāḷāgiri calms instantly, bows before him, and walks tamely back to its stall, a public spectacle that only deepens the Buddha's reputation while Devadatta's support collapses further.
Page 191–195 The Five Points and the Declaration of Schism Stripped of honor, Devadatta and his followers resort to begging for meal invitations, prompting the Buddha to forbid monks from eating together in groups larger than three. Devadatta then conspires with four allies to demand the Buddha make wilderness dwelling, alms-only eating, rag robes, tree-root lodging, and vegetarianism compulsory for life; when the Buddha refuses to turn these optional ascetic practices into rules, Devadatta publicly claims he alone upholds true austerity and wins over a
Page 196–199 Schism at Gayāsīsa and Its Reversal On the observance day Devadatta puts his five austere rules to a vote; five hundred newly ordained monks from Vesālī, not yet able to judge for themselves, side with him, and he leads them away to Gayāsīsa. The Buddha sends Sāriputta and Moggallāna not to punish the misguided monks but to win them back; Devadatta, mistaking their arrival for approval and ignoring Kokālika's warning not to trust them, even asks Sāriputta to teach while he rests his aching back, whereupon Sāriputta and Moggallāna
Page 200–202 The Elephant Parable and Devadatta's Ruin Back with the Buddha, Sāriputta asks whether the returned monks should be reordained; the Buddha says no — since they were merely misled, they need only confess their offense. He compares Devadatta to a baby elephant that, imitating its elders, swallows lotus roots without rinsing off the mud and sickens as a result, then praises Sāriputta's eight qualities as an ideal messenger before beginning to enumerate the eight corrupting factors — material support and its loss, popularity and its loss, h
Page 203–204 The Cost of Bad Desires: Devadatta's Fate The Buddha teaches that a monk must overcome attachment to material support, popularity, honor, and bad friendships, warning that failure breeds "distressful and feverish corruptions." He explains that Devadatta is irredeemably destined to a full eon in hell for three faults: bad desires, bad friendship, and stopping short of the goal after a trifling success. Verses follow describing Devadatta's fall into the frightful Avīci hell for harming the Buddha, affirming that malice cannot touch one of
Page 205–207 Fracture, Schism, and Unity in the Sangha Upāli asks the Buddha to distinguish a mere "fracture" in the Sangha from a full "schism." The Buddha explains that fracture occurs when a minority splits off under a formal balloting procedure, but true schism requires at least nine monks dividing over one of eighteen specific grounds—misrepresenting the Teaching, the Monastic Law, or the seriousness of offenses—and then holding separate observance-day and legal ceremonies. He notes that only a regular monk within the same communion can cause a
Page 208–212 Who Is Damned for Splitting the Sangha The Buddha explains that causing a schism in a once-united Sangha carries eon-long karmic weight in hell, while healing a divided Sangha generates supreme merit and rebirth in heaven. He then works through detailed combinations of a schismatic's inner conviction—whether he sincerely, if mistakenly, believes his position and the split are legitimate—to separate those irredeemably bound for hell (those who knowingly misrepresent the truth) from those who are not (those who genuinely believe they a
Page 213–218 Manners for the Newly-Arrived Monk At Sāvatthī, incoming monks entered the monastery rudely—wearing sandals, carrying sunshades, robes over their heads, ignoring seniors—until one was terrified by a snake that fell on him after he barged into an unoccupied room. Once the monks of few desires complain, the Buddha lays down detailed etiquette for arrivals: how to remove sandals, enter respectfully, find and greet resident monks, ask about lodging and amenities, and clean an assigned dwelling properly, down to airing bedding and shu
Page 219–220 Manners for the Resident Monk Resident monks had been ignoring newcomers—not offering seats, foot-washing water, or help with bowls and robes, and not bowing to seniors among the arrivals. The Buddha lays down reciprocal etiquette: a resident monk should welcome a senior newcomer with a seat, foot stool, and washing water, retrieve his bowl and robe, bow if appropriate, and assign him lodging with directions for alms, restrooms, and water.
Page 221–222 Leaving a Dwelling in Order Monks had been walking away from their dwellings without securing furnishings, closing doors and windows, or telling anyone, so that goods went missing and rooms were left exposed. The Buddha lays down a departure procedure: notify someone available (a monk, novice, worker, or lay follower, in that order), stack and store the furniture, and shut up the room, with fallback steps for propping items on rocks or covering them with grass and leaves if rain threatens and no better shelter can be arran
Page 224 Giving Thanks After the Meal After people complained that the monks failed to express appreciation following a donated meal, the Buddha instituted a thanksgiving talk in the dining hall. When having only the most senior monk speak left Venerable Sāriputta abandoned alone afterward, the Buddha revised the practice so the four or five most senior monks wait together—later allowing a monk with urgent physical need to leave early after informing his neighbor, following an incident where a monk fainted trying to hold out.
Page 225–229 Decorum in the Dining Hall The unruly monks of the group of six went to meals shabbily dressed, cut in front of seniors, crowded them out of seats, and sprawled on their robes in public. The Buddha responds with a comprehensive code of table manners covering dress, posture, and restrained walking in inhabited areas, plus detailed rules for receiving rice and curry fairly and eating without greed or noise—no stuffing cheeks, licking the bowl, or sticking out the tongue—ending with an orderly return march, juniors going fir
Page 230–233 Conduct on the Almsround A careless alms-collecting monk entered a house inattentively and blundered into a room where a woman lay naked, narrowly escaping a beating from her husband before she cleared his name. The Buddha then sets out an almsround protocol: proper dress, discreet entry, reading a household's willingness to give, receiving food respectfully without staring at the donor, and a fair division of chores back at the monastery between whoever returns first and whoever returns last.
Page 234–235 Surviving in the Wilderness Wilderness-dwelling monks who kept no drinking water, no fire, and knew nothing of the stars or their surroundings were mistaken for criminals and beaten by bandits who tested them with basic questions. The Buddha responds by requiring forest monks to keep water, fire and fire-making tools, and a walking stick, and to learn the constellations and local terrain, alongside the same careful almsround etiquette given to town-based alms collectors.
Page 236–239 Keeping a Dwelling Clean and Considerate When the group of six beat dusty furniture upwind of monks who were sewing robes nearby, covering them in dust, the Buddha lays down a housekeeping routine for one's own dwelling—airing and cleaning bedding, wiping moldy walls and floors, and closing windows against dust from whichever direction it blows—and adds rules of consideration for sharing quarters or a walking path with a more senior monk, such as asking permission before reciting or using a lamp.
Page 240–241 Sauna Etiquette After a Near-Disaster Shut out of the sauna by senior monks, the group of six spitefully piled up firewood, sealed the door, and sat against it until the trapped monks nearly fainted from the heat. The Buddha declares such vindictive door-blocking an offense of wrong conduct and lays down proper sauna routine: clearing ashes, sweeping, preparing bath clay and water, covering oneself decently, not crowding seniors or blocking juniors, and assisting elders both in the sauna and while bathing afterward.
Page 242–244 Restroom Hygiene and Order A brahmin-born monk who refused to wash after defecating out of squeamishness ends up with a worm infestation, prompting a rule requiring washing. Junior monks made to wait their turn by strict seniority faint from holding out, so the Buddha switches restroom access to first-come order, and then curbs the group of six's crude restroom habits—groaning, spitting, using coarse wiping sticks, leaving hastily with robes disheveled—with a detailed code of restroom decorum.
Page 245–247 A Student's Service to His Preceptor: Meals After students were found failing to properly attend their preceptors, the Buddha lays down a student's daily duties toward his teacher: waking early to offer a tooth cleaner and rinsing water, serving congee, helping the preceptor dress and prepare for the village, acting as his attendant on almsround while walking neither too close nor too far behind, and carefully managing his bowl, robe, and seat before and after meals.
Page 248 A Student's Service to His Preceptor: Bathing The text continues the student's duties, describing how he prepares a cold or hot bath, or accompanies his preceptor to the sauna—kneading bath powder, moistening clay, carrying the bench, and assisting him both inside the sauna and in the water—then dries and dresses the preceptor before seeing to himself, before returning to prepare a seat and ask if he wants a drink.
Page 249–251 A Student's Service to His Preceptor: The Dwelling Finally, the student is charged with keeping his preceptor's dwelling clean, following the same meticulous routine used elsewhere in the text: removing and airing bedding and furnishings, wiping moldy walls and floors, guarding against dust from whichever direction the wind blows, and sweeping the yard, gatehouse, and shared facilities—duties mirroring a monk's care for his own dwelling but now performed in service of his teacher.
Page 252–253 A Student's Duties to His Preceptor This closes out the list of things a student may never do without first asking his preceptor's leave — giving or receiving a bowl, robe, or requisite, cutting hair, helping others, or entering the village — and requires him to nurse a sick preceptor for as long as it takes, even for life. The passage then notes that preceptors were failing to reciprocate this care, which prompts the monks of few desires to complain to the Buddha and sets up the next ruling.
Page 254–258 The Preceptor's Duty of Care for His Student In response to preceptors neglecting their students, the Buddha lays down a mirror-image set of obligations: a preceptor must teach through recitation, questioning, and instruction, and share his bowl, robe, and requisites if the student lacks them. He then spells out, in minute domestic detail, how the preceptor should serve his student's meals, prepare his bath and sauna, and keep his dwelling clean and orderly, extending to counseling him through discontent, anxiety, or wrong view, shepherdin
Page 259–267 A Pupil's Duties to His Teacher A separate mentor relationship — the teacher (ācariya), distinct from the ordination preceptor — receives its own set of rules after pupils are found neglecting their teachers. The pupil must attend to his teacher's tooth-cleaning and meals, accompany him as attendant on almsround without walking too near or far, prepare his bath and sauna, keep his dwelling immaculate, and never give away a bowl, robe, or requisite, cut hair, or leave the monastery without permission, nursing his teacher throug
Page 268–271 The Teacher's Duty of Care for His Pupil Teachers, too, were found falling short, so the Buddha lays down the corresponding duties owed by a teacher to his pupil: instructing him, sharing his bowl, robe, and requisites, and serving him through illness, bathing, and dwelling-keeping in the same careful detail already prescribed for preceptors. The passage also covers helping a pupil through spiritual doubt or wrong view and intervening in Sangha disciplinary action taken against him, whether to prevent it, soften it, or help him earn it
Page 272–282 Closing Verses: The Whole Chapter on Proper Conduct in Summary After the teacher-pupil duties conclude the eighth chapter on proper conduct — nineteen topics and fourteen categories of etiquette in all — the text gives a long versified mnemonic (uddāna) recapping every rule of conduct covered across the chapter: for newly arrived and resident monks, those departing, dining-hall and almsround etiquette, wilderness dwelling, saunas, restrooms, and the reciprocal duties between preceptors/students and teachers/pupils. It closes with verses declaring that fulfi
Page 283–284 Ānanda's Three Requests and the Buddha's Silence On an observance day at Sāvatthī, Venerable Ānanda respectfully asks the Buddha three times, as the night wears on, to recite the Monastic Code to the waiting Sangha. Twice the Buddha says nothing at all, and only on the third request, at dawn, does he finally answer that he cannot recite it because "the gathering is impure."
Page 285–288 Moggallāna Ejects the Impure Monk; The Ocean's Eight Wonders Venerable Mahāmoggallāna reads the minds of the assembled monks to find the one the Buddha meant — an immoral monk secretly harboring corrupt conduct while posing as a genuine monastic — and, after the man ignores three warnings to leave, physically drags him out and bars the gate so the recitation can proceed. The Buddha praises Moggallāna's action and uses it to introduce eight amazing qualities of the ocean (its gradual slope, its steady shoreline, its rejection of corpses, rivers losing thei
Page 289–292 The Ocean's Wonders Applied to the Spiritual Path The Buddha maps each of the ocean's eight qualities onto his own teaching and community: training deepens gradually rather than all at once; his disciples hold to the rules even at the cost of their lives; the Sangha swiftly expels anyone corrupt, however outwardly close he sits; renunciants of every caste lose their former identity and become simply Sakyan monastics; the element of extinguishment never swells or shrinks no matter how many attain it; the path has a single taste, that of freedom;
Page 293–294 Delegating the Code's Recitation, and Its Abuse by the Group of Six The Buddha announces he will no longer personally recite the Monastic Code at the observance-day ceremony, handing the duty to the Sangha itself, and rules that any monk with an unconfessed offense must not listen to the recitation — allowing others to formally "cancel" his hearing of it by announcing the fact before the assembly. The group-of-six monks immediately twist this new power, preemptively and baselessly canceling the hearing of blameless monks to dodge exposure of their own hidden off
Page 295–299 Grounds for Legitimate and Illegitimate Cancellation The text works methodically through escalating categories of reasons for canceling a monk's hearing of the Monastic Code, starting from a single ground (failure in morality) and building up through combinations covering failure in conduct, view, and livelihood, then through the various classes of offenses from expulsion down to wrong speech. At each level it draws the same core distinction: canceling someone's hearing "without grounds" is illegitimate, while doing so "having grounds" — genuine e
Page 300–304 The Nine and Ten Grounds for Cancellation, and the Procedure for Expulsion or Renunciation The text enumerates in formulaic detail the nine kinds of illegitimate versus legitimate reasons a monk may "cancel" (refuse to allow) the recitation of the Monastic Code on the observance day, depending on whether an accused monk has or hasn't actually failed in morality, conduct, or view, and then the ten broader grounds distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate cancellation. It then gives the exact wording and procedure for legitimately canceling the recitation when a monk present has commi
Page 305–309 Cancellation for Unresolved Legal Matters and for Suspected Failure Continuing the same formula, the text explains how a monk may legitimately cancel the Code's recitation when someone has failed to submit to a legitimate legal procedure of a complete assembly, or has improperly reopened one, again allowing the announcement to be postponed if the assembly is forced to break up by danger. It then covers the remaining grounds: canceling the recitation because a monk has been seen, heard of, or is suspected of failure in morality, in conduct, or in view. This compl
Page 310–313 When and How to Raise an Accusation Venerable Upāli asks the Buddha what a monk should consider before raising a formal issue against another, and the Buddha gives five checks: is it the right time, is it actually true, will it be beneficial, will like-minded monks back him up, and will it cause schism — if schism is likely, he should not raise it. The Buddha then explains that before accusing anyone, a monk should first honestly examine himself on five points: whether his own bodily and verbal conduct are flawless, whether he hol
Page 314–316 Right Speech in Accusation, and Arousing Regret Appropriately The Buddha lists five qualities a monk must commit to before accusing another — speaking at the right time, truthfully, gently, beneficially, and with good will — and gives an accused monk two duties in response: telling the truth and remaining composed. He then teaches that the community should respond differently depending on whether an accusation was legitimate: an illegitimate accuser should be made to feel regret so false accusations aren't encouraged, while someone accused illegitimately s
Page 317–319 Closing Verses of the Chapter on Cancellation The chapter closes with a versified summary (an uddāna, a traditional memorization aid) that recaps in condensed form all the topics covered — the kinds of cancellation, the ten dangers that can break up an assembly, the qualities needed to raise an issue, and the etiquette of accusation and regret — marking the formal end of the Chapter on Cancellation of the Monastic Code. The text then immediately opens a new chapter, the Chapter on Nuns, beginning with the account of Mahāpajāpati Gotamī.
Page 320–322 Mahāpajāpati Gotamī's Plea to Go Forth Mahāpajāpati Gotamī, the Buddha's aunt and foster mother, three times asks the Buddha at Kapilavatthu to allow women to go forth into the homeless life, and is refused each time. Undeterred, she shaves her head, dons ocher robes, and walks with a group of Sakyan women all the way to Vesālī, arriving exhausted, dusty, and in tears outside the Buddha's lodging. Venerable Ānanda finds her there, hears her story, and takes her request to the Buddha, but he too is refused three times.
Page 323–327 Ānanda's Advocacy and the Eight Principles That Founded the Nuns' Order Ānanda tries a different argument, asking whether women are capable of realizing the four stages of awakening; when the Buddha agrees they are, Ānanda invokes Mahāpajāpati's role in raising him after his mother's death, and the Buddha relents. He sets out eight "important principles" (garudhamma) that Mahāpajāpati must accept as her ordination — including that even a nun of a hundred years must defer to a monk ordained that same day, that nuns must seek instruction from the monks' Sangha every h
Page 328–331 Ordination Formalized, Mutual Bowing Refused The Buddha extends the allowance so that monks may now give full ordination to nuns directly, which briefly leaves Mahāpajāpati uncertain of her own status until the Buddha confirms she was already ordained the moment she accepted the eight principles. When she asks that monks and nuns bow to each other by seniority as equals, the Buddha flatly refuses, saying not even other religious orders bow to women, and that a monk who bows to a woman commits an offense of wrong conduct. He then clarifies
Page 332–335 Setting Up the Nuns' Own Institutions As practical questions arise about running a parallel order, the Buddha rules that monks may not personally recite the Monastic Code to nuns or receive their confessions, since it caused public gossip about impropriety ("they're their wives!"); instead nuns must recite the Code, receive confessions, and carry out their own legal procedures for each other, with monks only teaching them how at first. When the nuns prove unable to resolve a dispute among themselves, the Buddha allows monks to deter
Page 336–340 Misconduct Between the Sanghas and the Penalty of Canceled Instruction After a nun who spent seven years following the Buddha to learn the Monastic Law kept forgetting it out of absentmindedness, the Buddha allows monks to formally teach the Vinaya to nuns. But the arrangement is abused: monks of the "group of six" harass nuns by splashing them with muddy water and indecently exposing themselves, and nuns of the same group do likewise to monks, prompting the Buddha to ban such behavior and let each side penalize offenders — nuns may refuse to pay respect to an offe
Page 341–343 Regulating Who Attends the Half-Monthly Instruction When the entire Sangha of nuns, and then groups of four or five, turn out for the half-monthly instruction, it causes the same kind of public scandal as before, so the Buddha settles on just two or three nuns attending, following a precise formal request procedure to the monks' reciter of the Code, who appoints or confirms a qualified instructor. Further rulings require monks to agree to give the instruction and specify the only valid excuses — being unlearned, sick, about to depart, or staying
Page 344–347 Nuns' Adornment, Cosmetics, and Worldly Indulgence In a long series of complaints that nuns look "just like householders who indulge in worldly pleasures," the Buddha prohibits corset-like belts made from bamboo, leather, fabric, or string; having the body rubbed or tapped with bones and jawbones for cosmetic effect; and the full range of beautification practices — facial ointments, powder, rouge, and body cosmetics. He goes on to forbid eye makeup and facial markings, exhibitionist behavior such as staring from windows, and worldly business dea
Page 348 The Property of a Deceased Nun A dispute breaks out between the monks' and nuns' Sanghas over the belongings of a dying nun who asked that her requisites be given "to the Sangha" without specifying which one. The Buddha settles the matter by ruling that such a bequest from a dying nun, trainee nun, or novice nun belongs to the Sangha of nuns, while the same request from a dying monk, novice monk, or lay follower belongs to the Sangha of monks.
Page 349–350 Making Way: Nuns' Etiquette Toward Monks When a former wrestler turned nun literally bowled over a monk on the street, the Buddha ruled that nuns must step aside to let monks pass. A separate scandal then unfolded when a nun agreed to smuggle an aborted fetus out in her almsbowl for a woman in her lay family, only to be caught out by a persistent alms-collecting monk; the Buddha responded by requiring nuns to show the contents of their bowls to any monk who asked, and, after nuns cheekily started showing only the empty underside, clari
Page 351–353 Sharing Alms, Furniture, and Menstrual Supplies Between the Sanghas After nuns were mocked and humiliated for staring at a penis discarded in the street, the Buddha forbade the practice; the text then turns to a string of rulings on material support, barring monks and nuns from re-gifting requisites given to them personally while permitting donations of any surplus to the wider Sangha or to individuals, and allowing the two orders to lend each other furniture and stored goods. It closes with practical provisions for menstruating nuns -- a communal robe, absorben
Page 354–357 Screening and Coaching Candidates for Ordination After nuns lacking basic anatomy or suffering various conditions were mistakenly given full ordination, the Buddha instituted a formal interview of twenty-four "obstacles" -- questions about genitalia, menstruation, disease, age, and consent -- that every candidate must pass. Because candidates found the blunt public questioning humiliating, the procedure was refined step by step: first ordaining the woman within the nuns' Sangha alone, then having a specially appointed, competent nun privately
Page 358–360 The Formal Ordination Ceremony, Confirmed by Both Sanghas This section lays out the actual liturgy of full ordination for a nun -- a threefold formal motion (natti) in which the nuns' Sangha certifies she is free of obstacles and grants her ordination on "one side," followed by presenting her before the Sangha of monks to repeat the request and receive their confirming vote. Once approved, the time and date are recorded and the new nun is instructed in the three supports and the eight rules she must never break.
Page 361–363 Seating by Seniority and a Delegate for the Invitation Ceremony To stop meals from being delayed while nuns jockeyed for position in the dining hall, the Buddha allowed only the eight most senior nuns to reserve seats there, with everyone else seated by order of arrival. He also required nuns to hold their own end-of-Rains invitation ceremony before doing one jointly with the monks (since combining them caused chaos), and, when even an all-nuns ceremony proved too noisy, allowed the Sangha to appoint one capable nun to formally invite correction from the mon
Page 364 Unequal Authority, and a Ban on Nuns Riding in Style The Buddha ruled that nuns have no standing to cancel a monk's formal ceremonies, direct him, instruct him, or accuse him of an offense -- such acts are simply invalid -- whereas monks retain full authority to do all of this to nuns. The same page records a ban on nuns traveling by vehicle after the flamboyant group-of-six nuns were mocked for riding around as if at a festival.
Page 365–368 Ordination by Messenger for the Courtesan Addhakasi When the famous courtesan-turned-nun Addhakasi could not safely travel to Savatthi for her final ordination because thugs had blocked the road waiting for her, the Buddha allowed ordination to be completed via a messenger who could speak on her behalf before the Sangha of monks -- but only a competent, capable nun could serve in that role, not a monk, trainee, or novice. The section also briefly notes new rules against nuns living in the wilderness (after some were raped there) and allowances fo
Page 369–370 A Nun Raises Her Son, and a Nun on Probation A woman who was already pregnant when she ordained was allowed, after giving birth, to raise her baby boy until he could fend for himself; since a nun could not live alone yet also could not share quarters with a male, the Buddha created the office of "companion nun," appointed by formal Sangha vote, who otherwise treats the boy like any other male. The identical companion-appointment procedure was then extended to a nun serving a probationary trial period for a serious offense, who likewise cou
Page 371–373 Rules of Personal Conduct: Robes, Sitting, and Bathing This cluster of rulings covers a nun's status if she quits or defects (she loses her ordination and cannot simply pick it back up), permission to let men bow to her or tend to her in ways she'd normally refuse out of propriety (shaving, cutting nails, treating sores), and a ban on sitting cross-legged except when illness requires it. It closes the Nuns' Chapter with hygiene rules: no defecating in an enclosed restroom (after nuns used one to perform abortions), no bathing with perfumed powder or
Page 374–378 The Nuns' Chapter in Verse: A Mnemonic Recap The chapter closes with traditional summary verses (uddana) that condense everything from Mahapajapati Gotami's founding of the nuns' order through all the rules just given -- ordination procedures, prohibited items and behaviors, and hygiene rules -- into a versified index meant to help reciters remember the material. It ends by affirming that the training exists to inspire spiritual urgency and growth, comparing it to medicine for the sick, so that women too can reach the deathless state witho
Page 379–380 News of the Buddha's Death Reaches the Sangha Venerable Mahakassapa recounts how, traveling with five hundred monks, he learned from a passing ascetic that the Buddha had died a week earlier; while unenlightened monks collapsed in grief, those free of desire accepted it with equanimity. The elderly monk Subhadda's callous relief that the Sangha was now free of the Buddha's rules alarmed Mahakassapa, prompting him to call for an immediate communal recitation of the Teaching and the Monastic Law before corrupt or contrary teachings could take
Page 381–382 Convening the Council: Choosing Rajagaha and Five Hundred Monks Mahakassapa selected four hundred and ninety-nine fully awakened monks for the recitation, and, at the others' urging, added Venerable Ananda despite his still being a trainee, because of his exceptional memory of the Buddha's teachings. The Sangha then formally voted to hold the rainy-season retreat at Rajagaha, a city with ample almsfood and lodging, and barred any other monks from residing there during that time so the work could proceed undisturbed.
Page 383–385 Ananda's Awakening on the Eve of the Council Anxious that he could not join the assembly of arahants as a mere trainee, Ananda spent the night in meditation and attained full awakening in the instant between lying down and his head touching the pillow, arriving at the council already enlightened. With the Sangha's approval, Mahakassapa then formally questioned Venerable Upali on the origin, wording, and application of each rule of the Monastic Code, and questioned Ananda on where and to whom each major discourse was taught, establishing th
Page 386–388 The Minor Rules Dispute and Ananda's Five Confessions The council could not agree on which training rules the Buddha meant when he said the Sangha could abolish the "minor rules" after his passing, since Ananda had never thought to ask him; Mahakassapa resolved the impasse by ruling that nothing would be added or removed and all existing rules would stand, to avoid public accusations that the monks abandoned discipline once their teacher was gone. The senior monks then pressed Ananda to confess five separate faults -- not asking about the minor rul
Page 390–392 A Thousand Robes: Ananda, Channa, and King Udena Tasked with imposing the Buddha's posthumous "supreme penalty" on the difficult monk Channa -- total silence and non-engagement from the whole Sangha -- Ananda traveled to Kosambi with five hundred monks, where King Udena's harem women visited him and were so moved by his teaching that they gave him five hundred robes. When the king challenged Ananda over accepting so much cloth, Ananda's explanation of how monks recycle worn robes down through bedspreads, floor coverings, and finally rags mixed
Page 393–395 Channa's Redemption, and the Council of Five Hundred Concludes When Ananda finally delivered the supreme penalty, Channa was devastated, but the shame drove him to solitary, diligent practice, and he soon attained full awakening himself, at which point Ananda declared the penalty automatically lifted. The text notes that exactly five hundred monks took part in this recitation -- hence its name, "the Council of Five Hundred" -- and the chapter closes with summary verses recapping the whole episode from the Buddha's death through Channa's liberation.
Page 396–397 A Century Later: The Ten Vajjian Practices and Yasa's Defiance A hundred years after the Buddha's passing, monks of Vesali began treating ten disputed practices as permissible, most controversially accepting gold and silver donations. When the visiting monk Yasa saw them soliciting cash from lay supporters and openly told the donors that money was not allowable for Buddhist monastics, the Vajjian monks accused him of insulting their lay followers and undermining their faith, and moved to formally censure him -- setting the stage for the dispute that would t
Page 398–402 The Case Against Gold, Silver, and Money Accused of insulting the faithful lay people of Vesālī by condemning their gifts of money to monastics, Yasa defends himself by citing precedent: the Buddha's teaching that accepting gold and silver is one of the defilements that keeps monastics from 'shining,' the story of the layman Maṇicūlaka who corrected the royal court's mistaken belief that Sakyan monastics could handle money and was affirmed by the Buddha, and the actual training rule the Buddha laid down at Rājagaha because of Venerable
Page 404–407 Yasa's Flight and the Call to Arms When the Vajjian monks learn Yasa told the lay people that only he follows the true discipline, they move to formally eject him for acting without the Sangha's approval, but Yasa escapes by rising into the air and lands at Kosambī, then sends urgent appeals to the monks of Pāvā and Avantī to take up the dispute before wrong views can prevail. Meeting Sambhūta Sāṇavāsī, he lists the ten contested practices (from salt-in-horn to handling gold and silver), and dozens of respected monks converge at
Page 408 Revata's Verdict on the Ten Practices Having finally caught Revata at Sahajāti, Yasa questions him about each of the ten disputed practices in turn, explaining what each one involves. Revata rules every one not allowable, except customary practices, which he says depend on the circumstances, and then agrees to take up the legal issue, giving Yasa's side the authority of a widely respected elder.
Page 411–414 A Bribe Refused, a Venue Chosen Learning that Yasa's side is gathering high-profile support, the Vajjian monks try to win Revata over with gifts of fine monastic requisites; both Revata and his attendant Uttara initially refuse, though Uttara is pressured into accepting a robe and delivering a scripted message favoring the eastern monks, a manipulation Revata immediately recognizes and for which he dismisses him. When the Sangha convenes, Revata warns that settling the dispute away from Vesālī risks the losing side simply reop
Page 415–416 Two Elders, One Private Verdict At dawn, Revata and Sabbakāmī compare meditation practices, good will and emptiness respectively, each recognizing the other's deep attainment. When Sambhūta Sāṇavāsī privately puts the decisive question to Sabbakāmī, whether the eastern monks or the Pāvā monks speak in accordance with the Teaching, the elder agrees the Pāvā monks are right, exactly as Revata had already concluded, but both hold back from stating this publicly for fear it would disqualify them from formally judging the case.
Page 417–418 Deadlock and the Committee of Eight When the full Sangha's debate collapses into endless, unresolved talk, Revata proposes settling the matter through a small committee instead, four monks from the east and four from Pāvā, including Sabbakāmī, Sāḷha, Revata, and Sambhūta Sāṇavāsī. The Sangha formally adopts the motion by silent consent, and the committee withdraws to the quiet Vālika Monastery, where Revata and Sabbakāmī agree that Revata will question him point by point on the Monastic Law.
Page 419–422 The Ten Practices Formally Condemned Before the committee, Revata methodically questions Sabbakāmī about each of the ten disputed practices, asking where the Buddha prohibited it and what offense it constitutes; one by one, from carrying salt in a horn to accepting gold and silver, Sabbakāmī rules them contrary to the Teaching and the Monastic Law, with each verdict formally recorded. Revata then repeats the entire questioning before the full assembly so no one can doubt the outcome, closing the dispute at what became known as the
Page 423 Closing of the Second Council A mnemonic summary verse recaps the chapter's events, from the ten practices and the search for supporters to the journey to Vesālī and the committee's decision. The text then closes formally: the chapter on the Second Council is finished, and with it the entire Small Division (Culavagga) and its canonical text come to an end.