Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c31.59

c31.59

But though the monasteries owned lands, it was not for the monks to cultivate them directly. A monk might sow or plant but could not till, as that involved injuring life. Thus the utilization of its lands had to be arranged by the Saṁgha either with its own staff of servants or with other labourers. Under such arrangements, the Saṁgha could claim only a sixth of the produce, though "providing the bulls and the ground for cultivation". In the Tāmralipti Monastery, however, as stated to I-tsing by its chief, Mahāyānapradīpa, the share of the produce was one-third. Some monasteries again violated this practice by themselves supervising the farming as carried on by their own servants, male or female, so as to appropriate the whole produce instead of sharing it with others.