BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Introductionwhich predates the time of the Ven. Sāriputta mentioned above. The second —whose full name is the Vinayattha-mañjūsā Līnapakāsanī, "The Chest for theMeaning of the Discipline, the Clarifier of Subtle Meaning" — was written by Ven.Buddhanāga, a student of Ven. Sāriputta. Both works comment not only on theK/Commentary but also on the Commentary and the Canon.6) The Attha-yojanā — "The Interpretation of the Meaning" — (the A/Subcommentary),a sub-commentary that, unlike the works of Vens. Sāriputta, Kassapa,and Buddhanāga, does little more than analyze the language of the Commentary.This was written in the 15th century C.E. by a Chieng Mai grammarian named Ven.ÑāṇakittiFrom here on "the ancient commentaries" will denote the original commentaries thatBuddhaghosa had to work with, and "the commentaries" all seven works listedabove.In addition to the Canon and the commentaries, I have referred to the texts listed inthe Bibliography. Three of these deserve special mention here.1) The Pubbasikkhā-vaṇṇanā, a large compendium of rules from the Canon and theCommentary, compiled in 1860 by Phra Amarabhirakkhit (Amaro Koed), a pupil ofKing Rāma IV. This was the first comprehensive Vinaya guide compiled for use inthe Dhammayut sect, which was founded by Rāma IV while he was still a monk.Although this book was officially supplanted by the Vinaya-mukha (see below),many Communities in Thailand, especially among the Kammaṭṭhāna forest tradition,still prefer it as more authoritative. The book contains a minimum of explanatorymaterial, but it does occasionally provide interpretations of the Canon that cannotbe traced directly to the Commentary. Many of these interpretations were carriedover into the Vinaya-mukha, so a bhikkhu practicing in Thailand would be welladvised to know them. Thus I have made reference to them wherever relevant.2) The Vinaya-mukha, a guide to the Vinaya written in Thai in the early 20th centuryby Prince Vajirañāṇavarorasa, a son of King Rāma IV who ordained as a bhikkhuand eventually held the position of Supreme Patriarch of the Thai Saṅgha for manyyears. This work he wrote as part of his attempt both to create a centralized,bhikkhu-administered ecclesiastical organization for the Thai Saṅgha and to uniteits two major sects. The attempt at unification failed, but the attempt atcentralization succeeded, and the book is still used as the official textbook onVinaya for the examinations run by the Thai Council of Elders. Prince Vajirañāṇa inhis interpretations often disagrees openly not only with the commentaries, but alsowith the Vibhaṅga itself. Some of his disagreements with the commentaries are welltaken, some not.I include the book here both for the valuable suggestions it makes for dealing withunclear points in the older texts and because it is taken as authoritative throughmuch of Thailand. It has been translated into English, as The Entrance to the Vinaya,but the translation is so flawed that I have chosen to translate anew all thepassages I quote from it.xi