Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c27.1377

v2.c27.1377

The rules are arranged in seven sections,¹ corresponding very roughly to the degree of weight attached to their observance. The Pāṭimokkha is not included in the extant Buddhist Canon. The rules are included, in the Sutta Vibhaṅga ("sutta" here meaning "rule"), which contains besides the rules themselves, an old Commentary explaining them and a new Commentary containing further supplementary information concerning them. The rules are divided into two parts: one for the monks (Bhikkhu-pāṭimokkha) and the other for the nuns (Bhikkhuṇī-pāṭimokkha). It is a moot point whether the rules originally appeared with the explanatory notes (as in the Vibhaṅga), the Pāṭimokkha being subsequently extracted, or whether the Pāṭimokkha alone was the older portion, the additional matter of the Vibhaṅga being the work of a subsequent revision.² It is sometimes suggested³ that the original number of Pāṭimokkha rules numbered only about one hundred and fifty. A passage in the Aṅguttara Nikāya⁴ is quoted in support of this suggestion (sādhikaṃ diyaddhasikkhāpadasataṃ). According to this theory the seventy-five Sekhiyā rules were added later.⁵ The rules were recited at the gatherings of members of the Order⁶ in their respective districts on uposatha-days (the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month). Each section of the rules is recited and, at the end of such recital, the reciter asks the members of the Order who are present if any one of them has infringed any of the rules. Silence implies absence of guilt.⁷