“The Chapter on Going Forth” is the first of seventeen chapters in The Chapters on Monastic Discipline, a four-volume work that outlines the statutes and procedures that govern life in a Buddhist monastic community. This first chapter traces the development of the rite by which postulants were admitted into the monastic order, from the Buddha Śākyamuni’s informal invitation to “Come, monk,” to the more elaborate “Present Day Rite.” Along the way, the posts of preceptor and instructor are introduced, their responsibilities defined, and a dichotomy between elders and immature novices described. While the heart of the chapter is a transcript of the “Present Day Rite,” the text is interwoven with numerous narrative asides, depicting the spiritual ferment of the north Indian region of Magadha during the Buddha’s lifetime, the follies of untrained and unsupervised apprentices, and the need for a formal system of tutelage.

The Chapter on the Restoration Rite is the second of The Chapters on Monastic Discipline’s seventeen chapters. In it, the Buddha describes a seated yoga, formal protocols, and a rite of restoration that can be observed on the upavasatha (or poṣadha) holiday. After explaining how monks should practice seated yoga, the Buddha consents first to the building of small clusters of meditation residences and later to gradually larger settlements that come to include multistoried meditation halls with scented shrine rooms and rooftop verandas. This chapter also explains how all monks at a monastery must gather fortnightly in the hall or in a place that has been specially demarcated for such purposes within the monastery site’s larger boundary. There, they observe the poṣadha or “restoration rite” by listening to The Prātimokṣa Sūtra recitation and making the appropriate amends for their offenses.

The present chapter together with The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions and The Chapter on the Rains present the “Three Rites” that are considered central to monastic common living: the Rite of Restoration, the Rite of Lifting Restrictions, and the Rite of Pledging to Settle for the Rains. The regular observance of the “Three Rites” at an officially demarcated monastic site is considered a crucial component in ensuring the integrity of the monastics living there and nearby.

The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions is the third of The Chapters on Monastic Discipline’s seventeen chapters. It recounts the origins, timing, and procedures for a rite‍—held at the end of the rains retreat as an adjunct to the Rite of Restoration (poṣadha)‍—known as the Rite of Lifting Restrictions (pravāraṇa). During this rite, monastics invite other monastics who have passed the rainy season with them to speak of any unconfessed offenses they have seen, heard, or suspected the inviting monastic of committing during the rains retreat. If a monk thus prompted recalls an offense, he must make amends before the members of the saṅgha can communally verify their purity. This rite helps to ensure harmony in the saṅgha by providing monks with a forum in which they may air and address concerns about their fellow monks’ conduct before they disperse, either to wander the countryside or go to another monastery. This semi-public affirmation of the saṅgha’s purity would also help preserve its reputation among the laypeople. At the conclusion of the rite, goods that have been offered to the saṅgha during the rains are distributed to those monastics who are entitled to a share, that is, those who stayed on site for the duration of the rains.

The Rite of Lifting Restrictions is the second of the “Three Rites,” along with the Rite of Restoration and the Rite of Pledging to Settle for the Rains, as set out in The Chapter on the Restoration Rite and The Chapter on the Rains respectively. The regular observance of the “Three Rites” at an officially demarcated monastic site is considered a crucial component in ensuring the integrity of the monastics living there and nearby.

The Chapter on the Rains is the fourth of The Chapters on Monastic Discipline’s seventeen chapters. It sets out the Rite of Pledging to Settle for the Rains, in which monastics pledge to remain at a single site for the duration of the varṣā or summer rains. It concludes with a lengthy presentation of cases in which a monastic incurs no offense for interrupting the rains by prematurely leaving a site.

This is the third of the “Three Rites,” along with the Rite of Restoration and the Rite of Lifting Restrictions, which are set out in The Chapter on the Restoration Rite and The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions respectively. The regular observance of the “Three Rites” at an officially demarcated monastic site is considered a crucial component in ensuring the integrity of the monastics living there and nearby.

This text discusses the use of hides by members of the Buddhist monastic community for various occasions. It begins with a lengthy narrative on the life story of Śroṇa Koṭikarṇa, whose wandering in the realms of the hungry ghosts eventually led him to become an ordained Buddhist monk. Regulations on the matter of hides were first discussed when Śroṇa Koṭikarṇa, on behalf of his master Mahākātyāyana, asked the Blessed One five questions concerning the special circumstances in the region of Aśmāparāntaka. More rules were established to regulate the use of shoes and the materials that could be use to make shoes, rugs, sitting mats, as well as rules that regulate the use of tall and wide bed, issues concerning river-crossing, bathing, and the storage of tools for repairing shoes.

The Bhaiṣajyavastu, “The Chapter on Medicines,” is a part of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the corpus of monastic law of one of the most influential Buddhist schools in India. This chapter deals with monastic regulations about medicines. At the same time, it also includes various elements not restricted to such rules: stories of the Buddha and his disciples, a lengthy story of the Buddha’s journey for the purpose of quelling an epidemic and converting a nāga, a number of stories of the Buddha’s former lives narrated by the Buddha himself, and a series of verses recited by the Buddha and his disciples about their former lives. Thus, this chapter preserves not only interesting information about medical knowledge shared by ancient Indian Buddhist monastics but also an abundance of Buddhist narrative literature.

The Book of Supplements is a reference work that provides additional detail, in the form of enumerated lists and question-and-answers with the Buddha, to the topics covered in the main Vinaya texts. Important topics discussed include how monks and nuns can enter into a spiritual apprenticeship with a teacher, and how this relationship can be ended if it is not productive or even harmful. Scholars are very interested in The Book of Supplements because it has no direct parallel in the Pāli and Chinese vinayas and is therefore regarded as a key to understand the unique development of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya which was transmitted to and practiced in Tibet.