[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Literature, language and dating](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature) › [A History of Indian Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.winternitz-1927) › v2.c19.s2.5 # A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s2.5 A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s2.5 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c19.s2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.winternitz-1927.v2.c19.s2.5) The nucleus of the Vinayapiṭaka is the Pātimokkha,¹ a list of transgressions against the rules of discipline of the order, together with the corresponding atonements. The life of the monk was regulated by this code of rules, which formed the bond² holding the community together. Its immense significance as regards the stability of the Buddhist order becomes evident from a speech attributed to Ānanda,³ in which he declares that though Buddha had not appointed any one of his disciples as his successor nor invested him with the supreme authority, the community of monks would continue, because the Sublime One had proclaimed the Sikkhāpada (the ten commandments for the conduct of the monks) and the Pātimokkha to the monks. In an oft recurring phrase, it is said of a good monk that his life is "restrained by the restraints of the Pātimokkha."⁴ This code of rules was recited in the form of a confession formulary in solemn conclave of the monks, twice every month, on the new moon and the full moon days.¹ After the recital of each chapter—there are eight different kinds of greater and lesser sins, the treatment of which takes up eight chapters—the conductor of the ceremony would ask whether any one had committed the sin in question: and if this was the case, he had to confess his guilt.² This Uposatha ceremony, as it is called, was probably already instituted by Buddha himself, being modelled on ceremonies of a similar character among earlier sects of ascetics,³ and the very earliest Buddhist literature must have included a Pātimokkha.⁴ Originally it probably contained only 152 rules,⁵ but they were extended to 227 at the time of the origin of the Vinayapiṭaka of the Theravādins. Though the text of these 227 rules of the Pāṭimokkha has come down independently in manuscripts, it does not, as such, form a part of the Canon, but is included in the Suttavibhaṅga, for this last-named work is nothing but an ancient commentary on the Pāṭimokkha consisting of 227 rules—a commentary which attained to the honour of being included in the canon. Suttavibhaṅga means "explanation of the Suttas," and in this case we should take "Sutta"¹ to mean the separate clauses or articles of the Pāṭimokkha. Each Sutta, \*i.e.\*, each single article, is explained word for word, and in an introduction it is related where and on what occasion the Buddha issued the decree in question. The Mahāvibhaṅga consists of eight chapters, corresponding to the eight classes of transgressions against the discipline. By analogy with the Pāṭimokkha for the monks, a similar code was compiled later for the nuns. The Bhikkhunīvibhaṅga, a much shorter work, is a commentary on it. - [Previous: v2.c19.s2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.winternitz-1927.v2.c19.s2.4) - [Next: v2.c19.s2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.winternitz-1927.v2.c19.s2.6) - [Up: v2.c19.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.winternitz-1927.v2.c19.s2) ## Linked texts (3) - [Bhikkhunīvibhaṅga](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.vp.suttavibhanga.bhikkhuni) — Pāli - [Suttavibhaṅga](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.vp.suttavibhanga) — Pāli - [Pātimokkha](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.vp.patimokkha) — Pāli --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.winternitz-1927.v2.c19.s2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.winternitz-1927.v2.c19.s2.5) · Pramāṇa