Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c24.8

c24.8

**Change of Retreat.** The retreat was chosen on the principle that it must not be liable to interruption from any cause. The texts give us an idea of the possible interruptions of the times. Monks were permitted to change their retreat if they were troubled by beasts of prey, by snakes, by robbers or "demons", or if they are cut off from the source of their supply of food, medicine, and other services of laymen in the neighbouring village, where they begged, being destroyed by fire or flood or broken up by robbers or if their own residence is similarly destroyed. The monks must also remove from the neighbourhood of temptations offered by women, relations, kings, robbers, and rascals, or of other monks who cause divisions in the Saṁgha or from the place where they stumble upon "an ownerless treasure" [*Mahāv.*, iii, 9–11].