The History of Buddhist Thought c10.78

c10.78

The different recensions of the Vinaya still extant all agree in keeping the nucleus of rules which form the Pātimokkha quite distinct. New rules had to be added to meet changed circumstances, and special interpretations were adopted to meet exceptional cases such as arise under any system of casuistics. But the added rules and new offences were not incorporated with the old. The old list with the special names of the offences remained, and rules for additional faults, though still attributed to Buddha, were described by new names. In the Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda schools this corpus of ecclesiastical law remained without violent change for centuries, and was even taken over by Mahāyāna, a movement which in doctrine produced such a revolution.