For at least five years after ordination, monks and nuns must live with or near a monastic mentor or “support” (Tib. gnas; Skt. niśraya). Generally, the preceptor (Tib. mkhan po; Skt. upādhyāya) serves as the new monk or nun’s “support,” in which case the newly admitted monastic is called a “ward.” But if the mentored monastic wishes to travel while the mentor does not (or vice versa), the ward must take a new support from among the saṅgha elders. The new support is known as the “support instructor” (Tib. gnas kyi slob dpon; Skt. niśrayācārya) while the new monk or nun is known as their “apprentice” (Tib. nye gnas; Skt. antevāsika). See The Chapter on Going Forth (Toh 1, ch. 1, 1.628–1.678).

A general term applied to spiritual practitioners who live as ascetic mendicants. In Buddhist texts, the term usually refers to Buddhist monastics, but it can also designate a practitioner from other ascetic/monastic spiritual traditions. In this context śramaṇa is often contrasted with the term brāhmaṇa (bram ze), which refers broadly to followers of the Vedic tradition. Any renunciate, not just a Buddhist, could be referred to as a śramaṇa if they were not within the Vedic fold. The epithet Great Śramaṇa is often applied to the Buddha.

A saṅgha at ease is a properly functioning monastic community, where official acts of the saṅgha, but especially the restoration rite, are observed. Kalyāṇamitra twice glosses the phrase “be at ease.” In the first example, he explains that monks are at ease in the knowledge that so long as they are on site, they will never be considered “separated from” their mantle, which would otherwise entail a fault. In a subsequent gloss, he writes that “to be at ease” means “to obtain purity” and hence “the joy felt due to the remission of one’s offenses.” This describes the state of a monastic who has made amends for their offenses. See Kalyāṇamitra (F.313.b–314.a): dge slong rnams bde ba la reg par gnas pa zhes bya ba ni las ’grub pa dang/ kha na ma tho ba med par ’gyur ba‘i phyir ro, and F.318.a: bde ba la reg pa zhes bya ba ni rnam par dag pa thob pa ste/ ltung ba dang bral ba’i rgyus yid yongs su dga’ ba’ o.

See “unatonable.”

In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).

A boarding (or visiting) monk is a short-term occupant who is not familiar with the inner or outer workings of the community. See also “resident monk.”

Brahman is a Sanskrit term referring to what is highest (parama) and most important (pradhāna); the Nibandhana commentary explains brahman as meaning here nirvāṇa, and thus the brahman conduct is the “conduct toward brahman,” the conduct that leads to the highest liberation, i.e., nirvāṇa. This is explained as “the path without outflows,” which is the “truth of the path” among the four truths of the noble ones. Other explanations (found in the Pāli tradition) take “brahman conduct” to mean the “best conduct,” and also the “conduct of the best,” i.e., the buddhas. In some contexts, “brahman conduct” refers more specifically to celibacy, but the specific referents of this expression are many.

Kalyāṇamitra explains that a brigand is a person who seeks to steal another’s belongings (Toh 4113, F.318.a).

The fourth and second least severe class of monastic offense. The Buddha prohibited four such acts for monks.

A monastic absent from any official act of the saṅgha (except the demarcating of a boundary, which is done to establish a monastic site) must first send word they consent to any formal actions taken in their absence. Such consent is sent by proxy. If a monastic cannot attend the Rite of Restoration or the Rite of Lifting Restrictions, they must convey a profession of their purity as well as their consent to the act. A monastic gives consent so that the saṅgha can have a quorum when performing official acts. A profession of purity is required from all monastics within a boundary before the Prātimokṣa Sūtra can be recited during the Rite of Restoration. See Kalyāṇamitra (F.318.a–b).

One of five types of offense a monk can incur. A defeat involves a “complete lapse” (Tib. nyams; Skt. vipatti) of the Prātimokṣa Vow, which might be incurred in one of four ways. Hence, a monk must refrain from each of the four defeats. A monk who incurs a defeat may request and be “given a training” (Tib. bslab pa byin pa; Skt. śikṣādatta), which allows him to continue living among the saṅgha in a position subordinate to monks and nuns. If a defeated monk does not request and receive a training, he forfeits his “common living” (Tib. gnas pa; Skt. saṃvāsa) in the saṅgha, that is, his right to a share of the saṅgha’s resources, beginning with dwellings, food, robes, and medicine.

In The Chapter on the Restoration Rite, the Buddha states that the gaṇḍī beam may be used in five ways: to summon the saṅgha, for formal acts, for the dead, for meditation, and for danger. See also The Gaṇḍī Sūtra (Toh 298), where the Buddha describes the gaṇḍī beam’s use and characteristics.

The Tib. khyams (Skt. prāsāda) is one of many related terms for an assembly “hall” that appears in the Kangyur and Tengyur, such as (1) “meditation hut/hall” (Tib. spong khang; Skt. prahāṇaśālā), (2) “multistoried structure” (Tib. khang pa rtseg ma’i khyams; Skt. kūṭāgāraśālā), (3) “temple” (Tib. khang bzangs; Skt. prāsāda), (4) “steps” (Tib. bang rim; Skt. pariṣaṇḍa), and (5) “courtyard” (Tib. ’khor gyi khyams; Skt. maṇḍalavāṭa).

Kalyāṇamitra explains that monks stored their robes and bowls in specified or individual spots in the dwelling. See F.223.b: lhung bzed dang chos gos mkhos su phab nas zhes bya ba ni so sor des pa’i gnas su rnam par bzhag nas so and F.268.b: mkhos su dbab pa zhes bya ba ni gnas khang du ’jug tu gzhug pa’o.

One of the standard epithets of the Buddha Śākyamuni, and also a term of respect used for Buddhist monks, akin to the modern address “bhante.”

This term refers to those who become monks or nuns after having a family. In ordinary Skt. usage mahallaka is used as a respectful direct address to an elder. In the Vinaya, these monastics are usually addressed as “latecomer” rather than as “venerable,” the customary address for ordained monks and nuns. This may suggest that “latecomers” occupied a special place within the saṅgha somewhat separate from those who joined before having a family.

During the rite of lifting restrictions, each monk extends an “invitation” or “lifts restrictions” (Tib. dgag dbye bya ba; Skt. pravāraṇam pravārayitum) to the other monks with whom he has passed the rains retreat. These other monks may then “prompt” (Tib. gleng ba; Skt. codanā) his memory of an offense he has failed to confess with evidence or well-grounded suspicion. The Pāli parallel pavāraṇā is generally translated with “inviting, invitation.” We generally use the English “lifting of restrictions” to reflect the Sanskrit original pravāraṇāṃ pravārayitum. Nevertheless, in The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions, “to lift restrictions” means “to invite” and the two can be used interchangeably; see, for instance, our translation of Kalyāṇamitra’s gloss of the term: “ ‘To invite,’ to give the opportunity for monks with whom one has pledged to settle for the rains to speak about what they have seen, heard, or suspected.” Kalyāṇamitra (F.313.a): dgag dbye zhes bya ba ni dbyar gnas par khas blangs pa’i dge slong rnams kyis mthong ba dang/ thos pa dang/ dgos pa’i gnas gsum gyis gleng pa’i skabs ’byed pa’o. Here are parallel uses from The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions in Skt., Tib., and Chinese Sanskrit Pravāraṇavastu (2.3.2.2): utsahase tvam evaṃnāmā saṃghasya pravāraṇāṃ pravārayitum iti. Tibetan (F.223.b): ming ’di zhes bya ba khyod dbyar gnas pa’i dge ’dun la dgag dbye byed par spro’am. Chinese (Taishō 1045a34: 汝某甲。頗能爲夏坐僧伽。以三事見聞疑。爲隨意不.

The Buddha’s mother’s sister and his step-mother. She was the mother of Nanda. After the death of the Buddha’s father, She became the first nun.

In the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, mātṛkā (Tib. ma mo, Eng. “mother”) is frequently used as a name for the Basket of Abhidharma.

Before a formal gathering of the saṅgha, the matter at hand requiring the monks’ presence is announced. After this the gaṇḍī is struck to summon the monks to the meeting.

The fifth and least severe of the five kinds of offense monks might incur. The Buddha spoke of 112 such acts for monks.

This may refer to (1) the whole monastic residence, i.e. “monastery,” with one or more “meditation huts” (Tib. spong khang; Skt. prahāṇaśālā) or (2) the main hall or temple, (e.g. Tib. khyams; Skt. prāsāda), As an example of the first, Kalyāṇamitra explains that Senikā Cave is the name of a monastery, named after its founder (Kalyāṇamitra, F.313.a): sde can ma’i bug ces bya ba ni gtsug lag gi ming ste/ sde can mas byed du bcug pa’i phyir ro. As for the second, in The Chapter on the Restoration Rite, the Buddha explains that a solitary monk should sweep and repair the temple floor on the upavasatha (The Chapter on the Restoration Rite, 3.37).

The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity.

In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).

The monk who makes announcements to the saṅgha. This chapter contains the lone appearance of the term “monk crier” in the Tibetan Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya canon.

Monks and nuns must have a mentor or “support” (Tib. gnas; Skt. niśraya) for five years after ordination. If the preceptor cannot serve as support then the monastic must take support from an elder, who becomes the new monastic’s “support instructor" (Tib. gnas kyi slob dpon; Skt. niśrayācārya).

A formal motion to the saṅgha.

Some heirs to Sarvāstivādin monastic lineages, initially clustered around Mathurā and regions to its northwest, claimed primacy among the Sarvāstivādins in calling themselves the Mūlasarvāstivādin, or “Original Sarvāstivādins” (Fumi Yao, “On the Name ‘Mūlasarvāstivādin,’ ” Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies 55, no. 2 (2007): 246–47). Their vinaya, the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, which was written and compiled in Sanskrit circa the second through the sixth centuries ᴄᴇ, is the longest of all known vinayas.

Unfortunately, the most accurate description of “Mūlasarvāstvādin” is tautological: the Mūlasarvāstivādins are the upholders of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, because the only reliable means we have of distinguishing the “Mūlasarvāstivādins” from the Sarvāstivādins is by their respective vinayas‍—the former contains extensive “settings” and avadāna while the latter does not. (See also the entry on Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya). Furthermore, the Mūlasarvāstivādins seem to have shared much of their sūtra and abhidharma texts with the Sarvāstivādins. Although other ways of distinguishing them from other nikāya or “ordination lineages” are recorded in Indic texts‍—which were included in the Vinaya section of the Tengyur (Toh 4138–4140)‍—these are, in fact, extracts from śāstra, and the descriptions they give are not entirely consistent.

A serpent-like creature that is said to have the ability to shapeshift and assume human form, often to hear the Dharma. In the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, nāgas are depicted as generally benign in intentions but noxious in form.

In the Vinaya, a “narrative introduction” explains the who, why, when, and where behind each new monastic rule decreed by the Buddha. In the sūtras, the “narrative introduction” begins, “Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying at…”

The translation follows the Sanskrit: nirgacchati ratri. The Tibetan might be rendered “first light.”

The term bhikṣuṇī, often translated as “nun,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term bhikṣu (to which the female grammatical ending ṇī is added) literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist nuns and monks‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity. In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a bhikṣuṇī follows 364 rules and a bhikṣu follows 253 rules as part of their moral discipline.

For the first few years of the Buddha’s teachings in India, there was no ordination for women. It started at the persistent request and display of determination of Mahāprajāpatī, the Buddha’s stepmother and aunt, together with five hundred former wives of men of Kapilavastu, who had themselves become monks. Mahāprajāpatī is thus considered to be the founder of the nun’s order.

An ārāma was a private citizen’s garden, generally found within the limits of a town or city. In several cases, perhaps most famously of Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park near Śrāvastī, these were offered to the saṅgha as a residence.

A special room or shrine dedicated to a buddha, intended as both residence and reliquary. A common feature especially in rock-cut temples.

The five types of persons labeled a paṇḍaka are intersex persons, rhythm-consecutive persons, sexually submissive persons, persons with a cuckold fetish, and persons with a sexual disability. See the glossary definitions for this term and its subcategories in The Chapter on Going Forth (Toh 1, ch. 1).

One of the five types of persons labeled a paṇḍaka (q.v., see also the definition in The Chapter on Going Forth, Toh 1, ch. 1), all of whom are barred from joining the renunciate order. “Persons who have undergone castration” form a subset of the last of the five groups, “persons with a sexual disability” (Tib. nyams pa’i ma ning). Kalyāṇamitra explains that a “person with a sexual disability” is “one whose [reproductive potency] has been impaired through having his male sex organ cut off, etc.” (Kalyaṇamitra F.349.b: nyams pa’i ma ning zhes bya ba ni pho’i dbang po bcad pa la sogs pas nyams par ’gyur ba gang yin pa’o) while “a person who has undergone castration is one whose potency has diminished or lacks seminal fluid due to having undergone castration” (F.249.b: za ma zhes bya ba ni rlig pa phyung ba’i nyes pas mthu nyams pa’am sa bon med pa’o).

The phrase “pledge to settle for the rains” translates the Tib. dbyar bzhugs par dam bzhes, dbyar gnas dam bcas pa, dbyar gnas par khas blang pa, dbyar gnas par zhal gyis bzhes pa, and dbyar gnas par dam bzhes pa. Although Sanskrit parallels are not available in each instance, we take them all to be translations of varṣā (Tib. dbyar, the “rains” or “rainy season”) plus forms of upa√gam, e.g., varṣopagata, varṣāṃ upagacchati. Kalyāṇamitra (F.271.b) explains that “pledging to observe the rains retreat” involves reciting a formula in which one pledges to remain at one site throughout the rains (dbyar gnas par zhal gyis bzhes so zhes bya ba sngags sngon du btang bas dbyar gnas gcig tu gnas par zhal gyis bzhes pa’o). Thus, the Tibetan dbyar gnas dam bca’ bar bya can also be translated, according to context, as “should undertake a rains retreat,” “should observe the rains retreat,” or “should commit to observe the rains retreat.” See also n.28.

One of the first Buddhist monasteries, located in a park outside Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. This park was originally owned by Prince Jeta, hence the name Jetavana, meaning Jeta’s grove. The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, sought to buy it from him, but the prince, not wishing to sell, said he would only do so if Anāthapiṇḍada covered the entire property with gold coins. Anāthapiṇḍada agreed, and managed to cover all of the park except the entrance, hence the name Anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ, meaning Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. The place is usually referred to in the sūtras as “Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park,” and according to the Saṃghabhedavastu the Buddha used Prince Jeta’s name in first place because that was Prince Jeta’s own unspoken wish while Anāthapiṇḍada was offering the park. Inspired by the occasion and the Buddha’s use of his name, Prince Jeta then offered the rest of the property and had an entrance gate built. The Buddha specifically instructed those who recite the sūtras to use Prince Jeta’s name in first place to commemorate the mutual effort of both benefactors.

Anāthapiṇḍada built residences for the monks, to house them during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It was one of the Buddha’s main residences, where he spent around nineteen rainy season retreats, and it was therefore the setting for many of the Buddha’s discourses and events. According to the travel accounts of Chinese monks, it was still in use as a Buddhist monastery in the early fifth century ᴄᴇ, but by the sixth century it had been reduced to ruins.