Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c16.46

v1.c16.46

In practising the dhutaṅgas one may be very severe (*ukkaṭṭha*), moderately severe (*majjhima*) or moderate (*mudaka*). A bhikkhu may or may not observe all the thirteen dhutaṅgas, and if he practises the severer of them, it follows that he is not required to practise the less severe, e.g. an *abbhokāsika* need not bother about *rukkhamūlikaṅga* or *yathāsanthatikaṅga*; a *sapadānacārika* must necessarily be a *piṇḍapātika*, and an *ekāsanika* can easily be a *pattapiṇḍika* or *khalupacchābhattika*. A bhikkhunī is permitted to practise only eight dhutaṅgas, i.e. they are debarred from being *āraññika*, *khalupacchābhattika*, *abbhokāsika*, *rukkhamūlika* and *sosānika*. A sāmaṇera can practise twelve dhutaṅgas, i.e. omitting *tecivarikaṅga*, similarly a sāmaṇerī can practise seven omitting the *tecivarikaṅga*. For the male and female lay-devotees, only two of the dhutaṅgas are prescribed, viz., *ekāsanikaṅga* and *pattapiṇḍikaṅga*.