The Chapter on the Restoration Rite
Prologue
Toh 1-2
Degé Kangyur, vol. 1 (’dul ba, ka), folios 131.a–221.b
Imprint
First published 2024
Current version v 1.0.7 (2024)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.26.1
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.
Table of Contents
Summary
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.
Acknowledgements
This text was translated from Tibetan and checked against the Sanskrit by Robert Miller. Under Dr. Haiyan Hu-von Hinüber’s direction, Maurice Ozaine read a draft of the English translation against Dr. Hu-von Hinüber’s German translation which accompanies her extensive study of the present chapter. Ven. Hejung Seok offered useful comments on the term poṣadha and Pāṇini’s grammar. Matthew Wuethrich served as style and editorial consultant to the translator. Special thanks are due to Dr. Shayne Clarke for the many suggestions and corrections he made to an early draft of the introduction. Thanks also to the 84000 Vinaya team for help in translating key technical terms.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Nathaniel Rich and John Canti edited the translation and the introduction, and Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited the text. Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
The generous sponsorship of Dakki and Lanita, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Text Body
The Chapter on the Restoration Rite
Bibliography
Kangyur and Tengyur Sources
gso sbyong gi gzhi (Poṣadhavastu). Toh 1, ch. 2, Degé Kangyur vol. 1 (’dul ba, ka), folios 131.a–221.b.
gso sbyong gi gzhi. bka’ ’gyur (dpe sdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 1, pp. 308–517 and pp. 767–86.
dgag dbye’i gzhi (Pravāraṇāvastu). Toh 1, ch. 3, Degé Kangyur vol. 1 (’dul ba, ka), folios 221.b–237.b.
dbyar gyi gzhi (Varṣāvastu). Toh 1, ch. 4, Degé Kangyur, vol. 1 (’dul ba, ka), folios F.237.b–251.b.
sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa (Nighaṇṭu) [The Two-Volume Lexicon]. Toh 4347, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (bstan bcos sna tshogs, co), folios 131.b–160.a.
bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa chen po (Mahāvyutpatti). Toh 4346, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co), folios 1.b–131.a.
Dharmamitra. ’dul ba’i mdo’i rgya cher ’grel pa (Vinayasūtraṭīkā). Toh 4120, Degé Tengyur vols. 162–63 (’dul ba, ’u–yu): vol. ’u, folios 1b–388.a; vol. yu, folios 1.b–390.a.
Guṇaprabha. las brgya rtsa gcig pa (Ekottarakarmaśataka). Toh 4118, Degé Tengyur vol. 159 (’dul ba, wu), folios 100.b–259.a.
———. ’dul ba mdo’i ’grel pa mngon par brjod pa rang gi rnam par bshad pa zhes bya ba (Vinayasūtravṛttyabhidhānasvavyākhyāna-nāma). Toh 4119, Degé Tengyur vols. 160–61 (’dul ba, zhu–zu): vol. zhu, folios 1.b–278.a; vol. zu, folios 1.b–274.a.
———. ’dul ba’i mdo’i ’grel pa (Vinayasūtravṛtti). Toh 4122, Degé Tengyur vol. 165 (’dul ba, lu), folios 1.a–344.a.
Kalyāṇamitra. ’dul ba gzhi rgya cher ’grel ba (Vinayavastuṭīkā). Toh 4113, Degé Tengyur vol. 156 (’dul ba, tsu), folios 177.b–326.b.
Ratnākaraśānti. mdo kun las bdus pa’i bshad pa rin po che snang ba’i rgyan (Sūtrasamuccayabhāṣyaratnālokālaṃkāranāma). Toh 3935, Degé Tengyur vol. 115 (mdo ’grel, chi), folios 1b1-61a7.
Śīlapālita. lung phran tshegs kyi rnam par bshad pa (Āgamakṣudrakavyākhyāna). Toh 4115, Degé Tengyur vol. 158, (’dul ba, dzu), folios 1.b–232.a.
Śūra. so sor thar pa’i mdo’i gzhung ’grel (Prātimokṣa Sūtrapaddhati). Toh 4104, Degé Tengyur vols. 150–51 (’dul ba, du–nu): vol. du, folios 1.b–239.a; vol. nu, folios 1.b–87.b.
Vimalamitra. so sor thar pa’i mdo’i rgya cher ’grel pa ’dul ba kun las btus pa (Pratimokṣasūtraṭīkāvinayasamuccaya). Toh 4106, Degé Tengyur vols. 152–54 (’dul ba, pu–bu): vol. pu, folios 1.b–312.a; vol. phu, folios 1.b—281.a; vol. bu, folios 1.b–150.a.
Vinītadeva. ’dul ba rnam par ’byed pa’i tshig rnam par bshad pa (Vinayavibhaṅgapadavyākhyāna). Toh 4114, Degé Tengyur vol. 157 (’dul ba, tshu), folios 1.b–207.a.
Sanskrit Sources
Dutt, Nalinaksha. Gilgit Manuscripts, Vol. III, Parts I–IV. Calcutta: Calcutta Oriental Press, 1939–1959.
Guṇaprabha. Vinayasūtra. GRETIL input by Yoshiyasu Yonezawa et al.
Pradhan, K. P. Abhidharma Samuccaya of Asaṅga. Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan Press, Santiniketan, 1950.
Pradhan, Prahlad, and Aruna Haldar, eds. Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam of Vasubandhu. Tibetan Sanskrit Works Series 8. Patna: K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute, 1967.
Śatapatha Brāhamaṇa. For English translation see Eggeling (1882).
Secondary Sources
84000. The Chapter on Going Forth (Pravrajyāvastu, rab tu ’byung ba’i gzhi, Toh 1, ch. 1). Translated by Robert Miller. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
————. Determining the Vinaya: Upāli’s Questions (Vinayaviniścayopāliparipṛcchā, ’dul ba rnam par gtan la dbab pa nye bar ’khor gyis zhus pa, Toh 68). Translated by the UCSB Buddhist Studies Translation Group. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
————. The Gaṇḍī Sūtra (Gaṇḍīsūtra, gaN+DI’i mdo, Toh 298). Translated by Annie Bien. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
————. The Rite for the Protocols Associated with Carrying the Ringing Staff (’khar gsil ’chang ba’i kun spyod pa’i cho ga, Toh 336). Translated by Sarasvatī Translation Team. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
————. The Sūtra on the Ringing Staff (’khar gsil gyi mdo, Toh 335). Translated by Sarasvatī Translation Team. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
————. The Sūtra on Timings for the Gaṇḍī (Gaṇḍīsamayasūtra, gaN+DI’i mdo, Toh 298). Translated by Lowell Cook. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Altenburg, Gerjan Piet. “Rules of Customary Behavior in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-Vinaya. PhD Diss., McMaster University, 2022.
Anālayo, Bhikkhu. Sathirathai: The Direct Path to Realization. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2003.
Apte, Vaman Shivaram. Revised and Enlarged Edition of Prin. V. S. Apte’s The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Poona: Prasad Prakashan, 1957.
Bass, Jeffrey Wayne. “Meditation in an Indian Buddhist Code.” PhD diss., UCLA, 2013.
Boesi, Alessandro. “Plant Categories and Types in Tibetan Materia Medica.” The Tibet Journal, vol. XXX no. 4 (Summer 2005), and vol. XXXI no. 1 (Spring 2006): 67–92.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
——— (1990). The Logic of Practice. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1990.
Brick, David. “Penance: Prāyaścitta. ” In The Oxford History of Hinduism: “Hindu Law.” Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Buswell, Robert E., Jr., ed. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. New York: Thomson Gale, 2004.
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). bstan ’gyur gyi dkar chag yid bzhin nor bu dbang gi rgyal po’i phreng ba. In The Collected Works of Bu-Ston, edited by Lokesh Candra, vol. 26 (la), pp. 413–656. International Academy Of Indian Culture, 1965–1971. BDRC MW22106.
Clarke, Shayne (2004). “Vinaya Mātṛkā: Mother of the Monastic Codes, or Just Another Set of Lists? A Response to Frauwallner’s Handling of the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya.” Indo-Iranian Journal no. 47: 77–120.
——— (2009). “Monks Who Have Sex: Pārājika Penance in Indian Buddhist Monasticisms.” Journal of Indian Philosophy no. 37: 1–43.
——— (2014). Vinaya Texts, vol. 1: Gilgit Manuscripts in the National Archives of India: Facsimile Edition. Tokyo: The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University, 2014.
Drakpa Gyaltsen (grags pa rgyal mtshan). bslab pa yongs su sbyong ba’i gzhi gsum cho ga sogs so sor thar pa’i blang dor gyi gnas rnams mdor bsdus [A Summary of Key Prātimokṣa Practices, Including the Three Vastu Rites for Purifying the Precepts]. bkra shis lhun po: Dgon Gzhung, 1996, 43 ff (pp. 473–557).
Dungkar, Lozang Trinlé (blo bzang phrin las dung dkar). dung dkar tshig mdzod chen mo [Dungkar’s Dictionary]. Vols. 1–2. Beijing: Krung go‛i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (Chinese-Tibetan Studies Publishing House), 2002.
Dutt, Sukumar (1924). Early Buddhist Monachism: 600 B.C.–100 A.D. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1924.
——— (1962). Buddhist Monks and Monasteries in India. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1962.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary Vol. II: Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary. Online version.
Eggeling, Julius (tr.). English translation of Śatapatha Brāhamaṇa (1882). Online version: Wisdom Library.
Emms, Christopher. “Evidence for Two Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya Traditions in the Gilgit Prātimokṣa-sūtras.” Master’s thesis submitted to McMaster University on Oct. 1, 2012. Open Access Dissertations and Theses Paper 7337.
Geshé Tsewang Nyima (dge bshes tshe dbang nyi ma). dam chos ’dul ba gtso gyur gyi gzhung sne mang las btus pa‛i tshig mdzod mun sel sgron me. Taipei: The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, 2009.
Gethin, Rupert. “The Mātikās: Memorization, Mindfulness and the List.” In In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian & Tibetan Buddhism. Edited by Janet Gyatso, 149–72. Albany: State University of New York, 1992.
Greene, Eric M. Chan before Chan: Meditation, Repentance, and Visionary Experience in Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2021.
Gyalwa Gendun Drub, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama (Tā la’i bla ma 13 thub bstan rgya mtsho). ’dul ba lung sde bzhi mdo rtsa mchan ’grel mtsho ṭik sogs las byung ba’i so thar bslab gzhi’i dgag sgrub gnang mtshams nye mkho’i dbyibs tshad bcas phyag len mthong rgyun ltar dpe ris su bkod pa nyes ltung mun pa ’joms pa’i zla ’od [The Moonlight that Destroys Ignorance of Faults and Offenses: The Traditional Drawings that Illustrate the Shape and Size of the Prohibitions, Prescriptions, Consents, and Boundary Required by the Prātimokṣa Training Precepts, As Given in the Four Vinaya Āgama and Tshonawa’s Ṭīkā, an Annotated Commentary on the Vinayasūtra]. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), W1EE45.
Hinüber, Oskar von. “Buddhist Law According to the Theravada-Vinaya. A Survey of Theory and Practice.” The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 18.1 (1995): 7.
Hirakawa, Akira. A History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana. Translated by Paul Groner. Hawaii: University of Hawai’i Press, 1990.
Hu-von Hinüber, Haiyan (1994). Das Poṣadhavastu: Vorschriften für die buddhistische Beichtfeier im Vinaya der Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya. Reinbeck: Verlag für Orientalistische Fachpublikationen, 1994.
——— (1997a). “On the Sources of Some Entries in the Mahāvyutpatti, A Contribution to Indo-Tibetan Lexicography.” In Untersuchungen zur buddhistsichen Literatur II, Gustav Roth zum 80. Geburtstag gewidmet. Edited by Heinz Bechert und Petra Kieffer-Pülz, 183–199. Göttingen; Sanskrit-Wörterbuch der buddhistischen Texte aus den Turfan-Funden, Beiheft 8, 1997.
——— (1997b). “The 17 Titles of the Vinayavastu in the Mahāvyutpatti. Contribution to Indo-Tibetan Lexicography II” in Bauddhavidyāsudhākarah Studies in Honour of Heinz Bechert on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. Edited by Petra Kieffer-Pülz and Jens-Uwe Hartmann, 339–345. Swisttal-Odendorf; Indica et Tibetica, 30, 1997.
——— (2016). Sambhoga. Die Zugehörigkeit zur Ordensgemeinschaft im frühen Jainismus und Buddhismus [Saṃbhoga: The Affiliation with a Religious Order in Early Jainism and Buddhism] in Studia Philologica Buddhica Monograph Series XXXIII. Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2016.
Hureau, Sylvie. “Preaching and translating on poṣadha days: Kumārajīva’s role in adapting an Indian ceremony to China.” Journal of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, vol. X (2006): 87–119.
Monier-Williams, Monier. Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (digitized version).
Negi, J. S. bod skad dang legs sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo [Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary]. 16 vols. Sarnath: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993–2005.
Nordrang Orgyen (nor brang o rgyan). gangs can rig brgya’i chos kyi rnam grangs mthong tshad kun las btus pa ngo mtshar ’phrul gyi sde mig chen po [A Great and Wondrous Key: A Compendium of All the Enumerations from the Snow Land’s One Hundred Fields of Knowledge]. Vols. 1–3. Beijing: Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (Chinese-Tibetan Studies Publishing House), 2008.
Paṇchen Sönam Drakpa (paN chen bsod nams grags pa). gso sbyong ji ltar bya ba’i tshul la sbyor ba dngos gzhi mjug gsum dang dmigs bsal dang bcas pa rim par bshad pa. gsung ’bum bsod nams grags pa, vol. 8, pp. 407–17. Drepung Loseling Library Society. BDRC MW23828 80FF1D
Paravahera Vajirañāṇa Mahāthera. Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice: A general exposition according to the Pāli Canon of the Theravāda School. Translated by Allan R. Bomhard. Kuala Lumpur: Buddhist Missionary Society, 1974.
Prebish, Charles S. (1974). “The Prātimokṣa Puzzle: Fact versus Fantasy,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 94, no. 2 (1974): 168–76 (online version).
——— (2002). Buddhist Monastic Discipline: The Sanskrit Prātimokṣa Sūtras of the Mahāsāṃghikas and Mūlasarvāstivādins. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2002.
Schopen, Gregory (2002). “Counting the Buddha and Local Spirits in a Monastic Ritual of Inclusion for the Rains Retreat.” Journal of Indian Philosophy, vol. 30, no. 4 (2002): 359–88 (online version).
——— (2006). “On Monks and Menial Labors: Some Monastic Accounts of Building Buddhist Monasteries.” In Architetti, Capomastri, Artigiani: L’Organizzazione dei Cantieri e della Produzione Artistica nell’Asia Ellenistica. Edited by P. Callieri, 225–45. Studi Offerti a Domenico Faccenna nel suo 294 Ottantesimo Compleanno (Serie Orientale Roma 100), Rome, 2006.
——— (2010). “On Avoiding Ghosts and Social Censure: Monastic Funerals in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya.” In Indian Monastic Buddhism: Collected Papers on Textual, Inscriptional, and Archaeological Evidence. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2010.
Silk, Jonathan A. Managing Monks: Administrators and Administrative Roles in Indian Monastic Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Roloff, Carola (Bhikṣuṇī Jampa Tsedroen). The Buddhist Nuns’ Ordination in the Tibetan Canon: Possibilities of the Revival of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Bhikṣuṇī Lineage. Hamburg Buddhist Studies 15. Bochum: Projektverlag, 2020.
Tshalpa Mönlam Dorjé (tshal pa smon lam rdo rje). bstan ’gyur gyi dkar chag sna tshogs nor bu’i phung po. Edited by Jampa Samten (byams pa bsam gtan), Central University of Tibetan Studies, 2016. BDRC W8LS34520.
Tshonawa Sherab Zangpo (mtsho sna ba shes rab bzang po). ’dul ba’i mdo rtsa’i rnam bshad nyi ma’i ’od zer legs bshad lung gi rgya mtsho. Zining: krung go bod rig shes rig, 1993.
Upasak, C. S. Dictionary of Early Buddhist Monastic Terms: Based on Pali Literature. Varanasi: Bharati Prakashan, 1975.
White, David Gordon. The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: A Biography. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014
Vignato, Giuseppi and Satomi Hiyama, Petra Kieffer-Pülz, and Yoko Taniguchi. Traces of the Sarvāstivādins in the Buddhist Monasteries of Kucha. Dev Publishers & Distributors: New Delhi, 2022.
Yamabe, Nobuyoshi. “The Sutra on the Ocean-Like Samādhi of the Visualization of the Buddha: The Interfusion of the Chinese and Indian Cultures in Central Asia as Reflected in a Fifth Century Apocryphal Sūtra.” PhD diss., Yale University, 1999. ProQuest (AAT 9930977)
Yao, Fumi. “On the Name ‘Mūlasarvāstivādin.’ ” Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies 55, no. 2 (2007): 897.