འདལ་བ་གཞ intro.15
The Chapter on Going Forth; The Chapter on the Restoration Rite; The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions; The Chapter on the Rains; The Chapter on Medicines intro.15
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intro.15
The Vinayavastu is similar in its themes to the Theravādin Khandhaka (Skt. Skandhaka) still extant in Pali.¹¹ Both detail the communal rites, formal procedures, and disciplinary measures that give order and coherence to the monastic community as well as the types of clothes, food, shelter, and medicine allowed community members.¹² To appropriate Prebish’s useful explanation of the differences between the Skandhaka and Sūtravibhaṅga¹³ and apply it here by way of analogy, while the Vinayavibhaṅga describes the vows that govern individual behavior, the Vinayavastu spells out the rules that govern communal behavior. This communal emphasis is immediately apparent when one considers the contents of the Vinayavastu’s seventeen chapters: