Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c19.s4.1

v1.c19.s4.1

There were two ceremonies of ordination, the first made the desiring entrant a *sāmaṇera* by conferring *pabbajjā*, which literally means ‘going out from home to homeless life’ and the second known as *upasampadā* made the *sāmaṇera* a regular member of the order—a *bhikkhu*. A newly ordained *bhikkhu* was required to take *nissaya*, that is, he had to be dependent on a teacher, for training. The teacher should be a competent monk, whose duty was to make his ward observe and practise the Vinaya rules. Before the ceremony of ordination (*upasampadā*) could be performed, the monk must have training for at least ten years and at the same time must prove himself fit and proper for membership of the Sangha.¹