z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 06.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 418
418 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
- A Bhikkhu vows not to own anything except what the rules allow.
V
- No Bhikkhu is to possess more than the following eight articles :—
(1) Three pieces of cloth to cover his body:
(i) lower garment called Antarvaska.
(ii) upper garment called Uttarasang.
(iii) covering garment against cold called Sanghati.
(2) A girdle for the loins.
(3) An alms-bowl.
(4) A razor.
(5) A needle.
(6) A water-strainer.
A Bhikkhu takes the vow of poverty. He must beg for his food. He must live on alms. He must sustain himself only on one meal a day. Where there is no Vihar built for the Sangh, he must live under a tree.
A Bhikkhu does not take a vow of obedience. Outward respect and courtesy to his superiors is expected from the novice. His own salvation and his usefulness as a teacher depend on his self-culture. He is to obey not his superior but the Dhamma. His superior has no supernatural gift of wisdom or of absolution. He must stand or fall by himself. For that he must have freedom of thought.
Any breach of a vow taken by a Bhikkhu results in an offence of Parajika. The punishment for Parajika is expulsion from the Sangh.
§ 4. The Bhikkhu and Ecclesiastical Offences
Any breach of the vows taken by a Bhikkhu is an offence against the Dhamma.
In addition to these offences there were certain other offences to which he was also liable. They were called Sanghadisesa—ecclesiastical offences.
The list of such offences included in the Vinaya Pitaka are thirteen.
They are allied to the Parajika.