Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies

University of Kelaniya

Sri Lanka

Master of Arts in Buddhist Studies

Final Examination 2021

Index Number : 2021/MABS/E/

Subject Code & Name: MABS 09: Buddhist Vinaya and the Monastic Organization

Answered question numbers : 1, 2, 3

Total Answers : 09 Pages

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1. ''Apart from old Vedic evidences, there are non-Vedic evidences which strongly
suggest the existence of ascetics before the emergence of Buddhist Sangha''.
Substantiate this claim with evidence.

Non-Vedic evidences suggested strongly the existence of ascetics between the fourth
century BCE and fourth century CE before the emergence of Buddhist Sangha. That the existence
of ascetics strongly suggested such as are conceived in the traditions of Jainism, Buddhism and
the Sāṃkhya-Yoga. The evidence of the literary traditions was being conserved in Pāli and
Sanskrit as Buddhist sources, the Prākrit and Sanskrit as Jaina sources, and as some Brāhmaṇical
sources. Many the older authors have made their opinions that these systems emerged from
Vedicism as a reaction against Vedic sacrificial ritualism. Buddhism, Sāṃkhya-Yoga and Jainism
were pointed out the non-Vedic and non-Āryan origin by G. C. Pande, H. Zimmer and H. L.
Though H. Jacobi had shown the great antiquity of the Jaina tradition, Marshall established the
non-Āryan and Harappan origin of Yoga. There are the most important epithets of the historic
founder of Buddhism. They are Gautama Buddha, were Muni, Śramaṇa, and Tathāgata. Although
he is also called Yati, Jina, Āṅgirasa, Ādiccabandhu, etc. and although the epithets Muni and
Śramaṇa are also given to many sages of the Jaina tradition, the epithet Tathāgata, “One who came
thus,” or “One who had arrived (at Truth; Bodhi) in the same way” is a peculiar epithet, the very
meaning of which essentially implies the existence of the Buddhas before Gautama Buddha.

Thought an inscription of Asoka mentions Kanakamuni or Konāgamana, the Majjhima-

nikāya knows at least Kakusandha and Kassapa. Whatever be the Brāhmaṇical theory of the
mythical incarnation of Viṣṇu in the form of the historic founder of Buddhism, and whatever be
the views of modern Buddhists and Buddhist scholars regarding the origin of Buddhism and the
antiquity of the gospel of Śākyamuni, the latter himself.

Rādhakrishnan and P. V. Kane believed in the famous words of Gautama Buddha as an

authority in support of their hypothesis of Hinduistic origin of the Buddha’s teachings because the
Buddhist tradition of the existence of the Buddhas are being before Gautama Buddha.

The antiquity of the Śramaṇic is distinguished from the Brāhmaṇic path (maggo). It
affirmed by Śākyamuni. it must be accepted as a fact. It cannot be found in the Vedas and
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Brāhmaṇas any one single element referred to in that statement attributed to the Buddha which is
quoted by these scholars and which should be summed up as follows:

Here, the Buddha commented an example in naraga sutta of Saṃyutta-nikāya.

“Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, puriso arañe pavane caramāno passayya purāṇaṃ maggaṃ

purāṇañjasaṃ pubbekehi manussehi anuyātaṃ”.

It means an ancient city (nagara) and an ancient road (magga) leading to that city. Just as
a man wandering in a forest sees an ancient road and following that road arrives.

“Katamo ca so, bhikkhave, purāṇamaggo purāṇañjaso pubbakehi sammāsambuddhehi

anuyāto? Ayameva ariyo aṭṭhṅgiko maggo, seyyathidaṃ-samma ditthi, samma sankappa, samma
vaca, samma kammanta, samma ajiva, samma vayama, samma sati, samma samadhi”.

It means that: “Even so (evameva),” says the Buddha, “Monks, I have seen an old path,
and an old road, navigated by the Supremely Enlightened Ones. What, monks, is that old road,
traversed by the Supremely Enlightened Ones? Just this noble Eightfold Path, to wit, Right Views,
Right Aims, Right Speech, Right Actions, Right Livelihood, Right Endeavour, Right Mindfulness,
Right Concentration.

In there, the “Eightfold Path” is called an “Ancient Path” (purāṇaṃ maggaṃ). Nobody can
maintain that the Eightfold Path is known to the Vedic literature; it is unknown even to the
Upaniṣads. In later Yoga texts a theory of “eight limbs” of Yoga was advanced apparently after
the old Buddhist theory of an eightfold way. Likewise, the theory of “Four Truths” concerning the
origin and end of ills (dukkha) is unknown to the entire range of Vedic literature, though the
Buddha says that it also belonged to antiquity. In later texts on medicine and Yoga we find that a
similar view of four facts concerning origin and end of disease is expounded, obviously on the
model of the Buddhist theory of the Four Truths. Not only are the “Eightfold Path” and the “Four
Truths” related to antiquity but also the doctrine of “dependent origination
(paṭiccasamuppāda/pratītyasamutpāda)” is said to be ancient. This doctrine is quite unknown to
the Vedas, Brāhmaṇas and Upaniṣads.

The thought of nirodha of saṃsāra, i.e., the conception of nibbāna or nirvāṇa, the most
noteworthy objective alluded to here, is very obscure to the Vedic convention. However, the
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Buddha was very right in saying that these cardinal conventions of his Dhamma or Buddhism had
a place to relic. They had a place to the Buddhas of previous ages, to the Remarkably Illuminated
Ones of antiquated times. The six “Seers” (isīs, ṛṣīs) or “Past Favored Ones” (pubba bhagavanto),
to be specific, Vipassī, Sikhī, Vessabhū, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāsyapa, are called
“Supremely”. Within pre- historic India is attested by the Vedic Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, the six
seers or Buddhas of Yore must have belonged to the tradition of munis and yatis whose existence.
Their biographies in extant sources are quite mythical but there seems to be some historical basis
of facts underlying so ancient and so universally accepted a Buddhist tradition as that concerning
these past Buddhas.

In conclusion, as mentioned above, it has substantiated there was non-Vedic evidences

which strongly suggest the existence of ascetics apart from old Vedic evidences before the
emergence of Buddhist Sangha with evidence. There was interpretation about that, in the saṃyutta
nikāya quoted. Then, “Yena gato krakucchando kanakamuni ca kāsyapo Etena tvaṃ gaccha vīra
adya buddho bhaviṣyasi”. The Mahāvastu Avadāna notes the following relevant lines addressed
to Bodhisattva Siddhārtha as mentioned above Pāḷi words.
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2. ''The concept of apprenticeship or Nissaya is used to make the Buddhist monastic

organization consist of experienced members''. Discuss.

This apprenticeship has formed the human context in which the practice of the Buddha’s teachings
has been passed down for the past 2,600 years. For at least five years before he can be considered competent
to look after himself, the Buddha arranged for a period of apprenticeship—called nissaya, or dependence—
in which every newly ordained bhikkhu must train under the guidance of an experienced Bhikkhu.
There are two kinds of the Dependence for a Bhikkhu as following;

I. Upajjhāya - dependence on one’s preceptor.

II. Ācariya - dependence on a teacher.
The relationships are similar—and in many details, identical—so the following discussion will use
the word mentor to cover both preceptor and teacher wherever the pattern applies to both, and will
distinguish them only where the patterns differ.
In the early monastic communities in India, there were no monasteries, but Āvāsa. Āvāsa, in
Buddhist monastic life, is a dwelling place for the Bhikkhus within fixed boundaries. The ones who resided
at a Āvāsa carried out their activities individually. The collective act occurred twice a month on uposatha
days to recite Pātimokkha rules together.
According to rules in Mahāvagga, when a person is admitted into a Sangha, he has to live with a
senior who is called Upajjhāya or Ācariya, for at least ten years. Whereas, Upajjhāya is spiritual guide and
Ācariya is in charge of his training.
An Āvāsa consists of ārāma and vihāras. Ārāma means the place of pleasure like a park, garden
and grove donated by kings and other wealthy laymen. Vihara is the residential building inside the Ārāma
and it is the key building in Buddhist monastic complexes. Inside Ārāma, there are several cells called
Parivena. Each cell is allotted to an individual or to a group.
As the monastic system grew, the Āvāsa came to include more components. Within the Buddhist
monastic Āvāsa, there are; 1. A lumber room (Kotthaka) 2.A common room (upatthana –sāla) 3. A fire
room (Aggi-sāla) 4. A ware-house (Kappiya-kuti) 5. A privy (Vacca-kuti) 6. A promenade 7. An arcade
8.A common bath 9.A well 10. Temporary shed for special occasions. Among them, the most important
one is kappiya-kuti ‘where provisions for the whole Sangha are stored.
In the beginning stage, there was no single officer in over-all charge and there was no abbot as well.
Later, there were several officers in a Āvāsa. All are appointed by the usual Natti. The list of some names
of Sangha officers are as follows:
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1. Officer of stores (Bhandāgārika) 2. Receiver of gifts of money from lay men (Kappiyakāraka)
3. Receiver of robes (Civara-patiggāhaka) 4. Distributor of alms-bowls (Patta-gāhāpaka) 5. Supervisor of
new buildings (Nava-kammika) 6. Supervisor of Sāmaneras (Sāmanera-pesaka)
One must choose a bhikkhu to act as one’s preceptor before ordination. The Mahāvagga gives a
long list of qualifications a bhikkhu must meet before he can act as a preceptor. A bhikkhu who lacks the
minimal qualifications incurs a dukkaṭa if he acts as a preceptor; a bhikkhu who meets the minimal but
lacks the ideal qualifications is not an ideal person to give guidance, but he incurs no penalty in doing so.
As part of the ceremony itself—the candidate must make a formal request for dependence from his
preceptor before his ordination and usually. The procedure is as follows: arranging his upper robe over his
left shoulder, leaving his right shoulder bare, he bows down to the preceptor and then, kneeling with his
hands palm-to-palm over his heart, repeats the following passage three times are:

Upajjhāyo me bhante hohi, which means, “Venerable sir, be my preceptor.” If the preceptor responds with
any of these words sāhu (very well), lahu (certainly), opāyikaṁ (all right), paṭirūpaṁ (it is proper), or
pāsādikena sampādehi (attain consummation (in the practice) in an amicable way)—the dependence has
taken hold.

Mahāvagga comments that if the preceptor indicates any of these meanings by gesture, that also
counts; and according to the Commentary, the same holds true if he makes any equivalent statement. If,
after his ordination, the new bhikkhu needs to request dependence from a teacher, the procedure is the same,
except that the request he makes three times is this: Ācariyo me bhante hohi; āyasmato nissāya vacchāmi,
which means, “Venerable sir, be my teacher; I will live in dependence on you.” The Mahāvagga states that
a pupil should regard his mentor as a father; and the mentor, the pupil as his son. It then goes on to delineate
this relationship as a set of reciprocal duties. The pupil’s duties to his mentor. The pupil’s duties to his
mentor fall into the following five categories:

I. Attending to the mentor’s personal needs.

II. Assisting the mentor in any problems he may have with regard to the Dhamma and Vinaya.
III. Washing, making, and dyeing the mentor’s robes.
IV. Showing loyalty and respect for the mentor.
V. Caring for the mentor when he falls ill, not leaving him until he either recovers or passes
away.
According to the Commentary, a pupil is freed from these duties when he is ill. Otherwise, he
should observe all the above duties to his preceptor as long as he is in dependence on him. As for the duties
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to one’s teacher, the Commentary lists four types of teachers: the going-forth teacher, the acceptance
teacher, the Dhamma teacher and the dependence teacher.

There are six mentor’s duties to his pupil:

I. Furthering the pupil’s education, teaching him the Dhamma and Vinaya through recitation.
II. Providing requisites for the pupil.
III. Attending to the pupil’s personal needs when he is ill.
IV. Assisting the pupil in any problems he may have with regard to the Dhamma and Vinaya.
V. Teaching the pupil how to wash, make, and dye robes.
VI. Caring for the pupil when he falls ill, not leaving him until he either recovers or passes
away.
According to the Commentary, the preceptor, going-forth teacher, and acceptance teacher must
observe these duties toward the pupil as long as both parties are alive and still ordained. As for the Dhamma
and dependence teachers, they must observe these duties only as long as the pupil is living with them.

If the pupil does not observe his duties to his mentor, the mentor is empowered to dismiss him. The
grounds for dismissal are any of the following five:

I. The pupil has no affection for his mentor.

II. He has no faith in his mentor.
III. He has no shame in front of his mentor.
IV. He has no respect for his mentor.
V. He is not developing under his mentor.
As mentioned above, the communal life at an Āvāsa shows the unity and equality of Sangha
community. The Commentary states that regardless of whether a pupil is under dependence or released
from it, he is still expected to observe certain duties to his preceptor—and his preceptor, certain duties to
him—as long as both are alive and ordained. This is in line with the fact that they are always to regard each
other as father and son: The preceptor is to take a continuing interest in his pupil’s welfare, and the pupil is
to show his continuing gratitude for the initiation his preceptor has given him into the bhikkhu’s life.
Moreover, Āvāsa is important role for the communal life of Sanghas for having a harmonious and
communal environment which is beneficial to their spiritual development.
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3. Introduce the four disputes (adhikaraṇa) in detail and examine the importance of
seven points of legal appeasement (satta adhikaraṇa samatha) in settling matters
related to them.

According to the first Buddhist Council, the number of Sikkhāpada is described as 220
rules for Bhikkhus and 304 rules for Bhikkhunis. However, according to the Six Buddhist Council,
Pāli Texts of Myanmar, the seven adhikaraṇa samatha are further added. So, there are 220 in
number for the Bhikkhus, together with 7 regulations determining the procedure in settling their
legal disputes (Adhikaraṇasamatha dhamma) within the body of sangha. The bhikkhunis similarly
have 304 rules together with the same 7 Adhikaraṇasamatha dhamma.

This satta adhikaraṇa samatha means “seven points of legal appeasement.” The seven
rules in this section are actually principles and procedures for settling the four sorts of issues as
followings;

Dispute-issues (vivādādhikaraṇa), accusation-issues (anuvādādhikaraṇa), offense

issues (āpattādhikaraṇa), and duty-issues (kiccādhikaraṇa. The Canon’s explanations of these
procedures are given not in the Vibhaṅga but in Cullavagga IV, which starts with a sketch of the
procedures, followed by a detailed discussion of how to apply them to each of the four types of
issues. We will follow the same mode of presentation here.

In Sūḷavagga, “Cattāri adhiaraṇāni. vivāadhikaraṇaṃ, anuvāadhikaraṇaṃ,

āpattādhikaraṇaṃ, kiccādhikaraṇaṃ”.

A dispute (adhikaraṇa) is a matter that, once arisen, must be dealt with formally in a
prescribed manner. The Sūḷavagga lists four sorts as following;
I. Dispute-issues (vivādādhikaraṇa) - concerning Dhamma and Vinaya, which the
community must deal with by declaring which side is right and which wrong;
II. Accusation-issues (anuvādādhikaraṇa) - concerning offenses, which the
Community must deal with by judging them true or false;
III. Offense-issues (āpattādhikaraṇa) - in other words, the commission of offenses,
which are to be dealt with by the offender’s undergoing the prescribed penalties
(confession, penance, or expulsion from the Community); and
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IV. Duty-issues (kiccādhikaraṇa) - community transactions, such as giving ordination

and holding the Pāṭimokkha recitation which the Community must deal with by
performing them properly.
As mentioned above, there are four disputes (adhikaraṇas). After these explanations, it
needs to resolve also the importance of seven points of legal appeasement (satta adhikaraṇa
samatha). The Buddha has stated in Adhikaraṇa-Samatha Suttaṃ about adhikaraṇa samatha) how
many numbers as following;

“Satt'ime bhikkhave, adhikaraṇa-samatha dhammā uppannuppannānaṃ adhikaraṇānaṃ

samathāya vūpasamāya. Katame satta”?

The Buddha replied: there are the importance of seven points of legal appeasement (satta
adhikaraṇa samatha).

In Pācittiya Pali, these are the disciplinary rules for bhikkhus with a Chapter on seven ways
of settling cases, Adhikaraṇasamatha.

I. Sammukhāvinaya samatha: before coming to a decision, conducting an enquiry in

the presence of both parties in accordance with the rules of Vinaya.
II. Sativinaya samatha: making a declaration by the Saṃgha of the innocence of an
Arahat against whom some allegations have been made, after asking him if he
remembers having committed the offence.
III. Samūlhavinaya samatha: making a declaration by the Saṃgha when the accused is
found to be insane.
IV. Patiññātakaraṇa samatha: making a decision after admission by the party
concerned.
V. Yebhuyyasikā samatha: making a decision in accordance with the majority vote.
VI. Tassapāpiyasika samatha: making a declaration by the Saṃgha when the accused
proves to be unreliable, making admissions only to retract them, evading questions
and telling lies.
VII. Tinavatthāraka samatha: the act of covering up with grass' &mash; exonerating all
offences except the offences of Pārajika, Saṃghadisesa and those in connection
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with laymen and laywomen, when the disputing parties are made to reconcile by
the Saṃgha.

All offense-issues are settled by means of the principle of face-to-face. Most are also
settled by means of the procedure of in accordance with what is admitted. Rare cases may be
settled by covering over as with grass.

Face-to-face with the individuals means that those who make the blanket confession and
those who witness it are present. Face-to-face with the Community means that enough bhikkhus
for a quorum (four) have arrived, and the assembly is united: all the qualified bhikkhus in the
territory have joined the meeting, and none of the bhikkhus, having met, makes protest.

In conclusion, it has introduced the four disputes (adhikaraṇa) in detail, and it has
examined the importance of seven points of legal appeasement (satta adhikaraṇa samatha) in
settling matters related to four disputes. Here, the importance of seven points of legal appeasement
(satta adhikaraṇa samatha) in settling matters related to four disputes is as following;

“Vivāadhikaraṇassa dwe ukkoṭā”. The dispute-issues (vivādādhikaraṇa) deals with

sammukhāvinaya samatha and yebhuyyasikā samatha.

“Anuvāadhikaraṇassa cattāro ukkoṭā”. The accusation-issues (anuvādādhikaraṇa) deals

with Sammukhāvinaya samatha, samūlhavinaya samatha, sativinaya samatha, and
tassapāpiyasika samatha.

“Āpattādhikaraṇassa tayo ukkoṭā”. The Offense-issues (āpattādhikaraṇa) deals with

sammukhāvinaya samatha, patiññātakaraṇa samatha and tinavatthāraka samatha.

“Kiccādhikaraṇassa eko ukkoṭo”. The duty-issues (kiccādhikaraṇa) deals with

Sammukhāvinaya samatha.