The University of Nalanda c8.18

c8.18

We cannot say definitely when this ideal was given up, but a beginning was made during the lifetime of Buddha himself. Dutt's conclusions are founded on certain rules of Cullavagga³ which deal with the allotment of senāsanas (seats) in an āvāsa. The general rule is that the seats are to be retained during the period of the Vassā. "In accordance with this rule, there are two regular occasions for the allotment of seats, the commencement of the earlier and that of the later Vassā." Continuing, Dutt says, "Curiously enough, a third, viz., the day after the Pavarana, called Autara muttaka, is recognised when seats are allotted for the next rain-retreat in anticipation. This *Autara muttaka* allotment would be quite superfluous, if residence at a monastery were really limited to the period of the rain-retreat. The *āvāsas*, from being shelters during the rain-retreat, became places of domicile, and hence seats had to be allotted not only for three or four months of the year, but also for the remaining period. The modification of the wandering habit of the monks necessitated the second rule. The fiction, however, *viz.*, that *āvāsas* were only for the rain-retreat and nothing more and that the *Bhikkhus* should be homeless beyond that period, is piously kept up. The allotment which is really made for the non-*Vassā* period is said to be made in advance for the next *Vassā* period, which is absurd, considering that, for that period, another allotment is provided for."¹