The History of Buddhist Thought c10.17

c10.17

¹ In Sanskrit prātimoksha. In form it is an adjective formed from *pratimokkha* “binding”, from *pati-muc-* “to fasten or bind on (as armour)”, and thus should mean “that which binds, obligatory”. This, however, is not recognized by the ancient Pāli authorities. Buddhaghosa derives it from *pā* “in the sense of freeing from the punishments of hell and other painful births, *Vism.*, 16. The oldest Buddhist explanation in *Vin.*, i, 103 (*Vin. Texts*, 263), is purely fanciful. The probability is that the term along with the Uposatha ceremony itself was borrowed from other sects, and like other obscure terms in this document was not clear to the Buddhists themselves. The spelling *pātimokkha* also suggests this; *pātimokkha* (with cerebral *t*), says Childers, is unquestionably a Burmese error. Cf. S. Lévi, “Observations sur une langue précanonique du Bouddhisme,” *JA.*, 1912, ii, p. 495. There is also a Pātimokkha for nuns modelled on the rules for monks. The Buddhist tradition is that an Order of nuns was formed during Buddha’s lifetime, and though this is probable, the legends about its formation scarcely bear historical investigation.