BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code IChapter 8.4Pācittiya: The Food Chapter4. The Food ChapterMany of the rules in this chapter classify food into two groups: bhojana/bhojaniya(consumables) and khādaniya (chewables). Scholars usually translate the two as"softer food" and "harder food," although the hardness or softness of a particularfood has little to do with the category it belongs to. A translation closer to theessence of each category would be "staple food" and "non-staple food." Thedistinction between the two is important, for it is often the deciding factor betweenwhat is and is not an offense. Note, however, that the term staple here covers onlywhat was considered staple in the time of the Buddha. Bread, pasta, and potatoes,which are staples in the West, were not always staples in India at that time and sodo not always fit into this category.Staple foods are consistently defined as five sorts of foods, although the precisedefinitions of the first two are a matter of controversy.1) Cooked grains: The Commentary to Pc 35 defines this as seven types ofcooked grain, but there is disagreement on the identity of some of the seven.They are sāḷi (BD translates this as rice; the Thais, wheat); vīhi (BD againhas rice, and the Thais agree); yava (BD has barley; the Thais, glutinousrice); godhūma (BD has wheat; the Thais, tares); kaṅgu (both BD and theThais identify this as millet or sorghum); varaka (BD doesn't identify thisbeyond saying that it is a bean; the Thais are probably right in identifying itas Job's tears); and kudrūsaka (the Commentary defines this term ascovering all forms of grain coming from grass — rye would be an example inthe West). Whatever the precise definitions of these terms, though, we couldargue from the Great Standards that any grain cooked as a staple —including corn (maize) and oats — would fit into this category.2) Kummāsa: The Commentary describes this as a staple confection madeout of yava but doesn't give any further details aside from saying that if thekummāsa is made out of any of the other grains or mung beans, it doesn'tcount as a staple food. References to kummāsa in the Canon show that itwas a very common staple that could form a rudimentary meal in and ofitself and would spoil if left overnight.3) Sattu: any of the seven types of grain dried or roasted and pounded intomeal.4) Fish: the flesh of any animal living in the water.5) Meat: the flesh of any animal living on land, except for that which isunallowable. Because the Commentary, in discussing unallowable meat,uses the word meat to cover all parts of an animal's body, the same301