Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c35.s3.t4.26

v2.c35.s3.t4.26

The principal text of the Sarvāstivādins was the *Daśādhyāya-vinaya*. Fa-hien writes that he came across a Sarvāstivāda-vinaya in verses, but the Chinese translation of the *Daśādhyāya-vinaya* attributed to the Sarvāstivādins is in prose. The *Daśādhyāya* (Taisho ed., xxiii, 1435) is divided into 14 sections. It opens with the eight sections of the Prātimokṣa-sūtra. The ninth section deals with “seven dharmas” viz., *śikṣāpada, poṣadha, pāpadeśanā, varṣāvāsa, carmavastu, bhaiṣajyavastu* and *cīvara* (precepts, fortnightly ceremonies, confession, dwelling in the rainy season, use of leather-shoes, use of medicines, and robes of monks). The tenth section contains “eight dharmas”, viz., *Kaṭhina, Kauśāmbi, Campā, Pāṇḍulohitaka, Saṅghāvaśeṣaparivāsa, Paṭicchādana, Śayanāsana* and *Āsamudācārika-dharma* (rules re. making of Kaṭhina-robes, dispute at Kauśāmbi, events at Campā, deeds of Pāṇḍulohitaka-monks, atonement for Saṅghāvaśeṣa-offences, concealment of irreligious acts, rules regarding bed and seat, and rules regarding proper conduct of monks).¹ The eleventh section entitled "saṃyutta", i.e. miscellaneous rules, deals with the dhūta and other extra-ordinary precepts observed by monks. The twelfth section is devoted to Bhikṣuṇī-prātimokṣa containing, as it does, 8 Pārājikā, 17 Saṅghāvaśeṣa, 30 Naiḥsargikā, 78 Pāyantika, 8 Prātideśanīyā and Aṣṭa-dharmā. The thirteenth section re-arranges the preceding rules in the Ekottara style, from one to eleven dharmas. The concluding section, the fourteenth, contains the Upāli-paripṛcchā, a well-known text on disciplinary rules.²