The contents of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya are summarized in indexical verses, or “summaries.” Each summary contains a list of headwords that index the material to follow. “Global summaries” (Tib. spyi’i sdom and bsdus pa’i sdom; Skt. piṇḍoddāna) generally summarize the entire text. The headwords of a “global summary” are repeated serially, in subordinate “summaries” in a nested hierarchy.

The content of The Chapters on Monastic Discipline is condensed into metered lists called “summaries” (Tib. sdom; Skt. uddāna) or “verse summaries” (Tib. sdom gyi tshigs su bcad pa; Skt. uddānagāthā). Each chapter has a “global summary,” composed of several topics, which form the basis of subsequent “summaries.” Very occasionally, specific elements of a chapter will be recapitulated in “intervening summaries” (Tib. bar sdom; Skt. antaroddāna).