wet feet, it says that if only slight traces of dampness remain where one has stepped,
there is no offense.
One should also not spit on a treated floor. Spittoons are allowed as an alternative.
To prevent the feet of beds and benches from scratching a treated floor, they may be
wrapped in cloth. Here the Commentary says that if there is no mat or other floor
covering to protect the floor, the feet of beds and benches must be wrapped in cloth. If
there is no cloth, put down leaves as a protection. To place furniture on a treated floor
with no protection at all, it says, incurs a dukka˛a.
One should not lean against a treated wall, so as to keep it from getting stained.
Treated, according to the Commentary, means plastered or otherwise decorated. Wall it
extends to include doors, windows, and posts of stone or wood. The Canon includes an
allowance for a leaning board; and to keep it from scratching the wall or floor, its upper
and lower ends may be wrapped in cloth. The Commentary notes that if there is no
leaning board, one may use a robe or other cloth as protection for the wall.
One is allowed to lie down on lodgings after having spread a sheet there. According
to the Commentary, this rule applies to places where feet must be washed (i.e., a
Community bed or bench, a treated floor, or a floor covering, as above). It then
proceeds to give an extreme interpretation of this point, saying that if, while one is
sleeping, one’s sheet gets pulled away and any part of one’s body touches the lodging,
there is a dukka˛a for every body hair that makes contact. The same holds true for
leaning against a bed or bench. The Vinaya-mukha and the Thai translator of the
Commentary object strongly to this interpretation, the Vinaya-mukha adding
sarcastically, “How fortunate we are that the Buddha allowed us to confess multiple
offenses collectively under the term ‘sambahul›,’ for what would we do if we had to
count such things?” The only leniency granted by the Commentary is an allowance for
touching the lodging with the unprotected palms of one’s hands or soles of one’s feet,
and for touching furnishings with one’s body when moving them.
A more reasonable interpretation would be to remember the context of this
allowance: It follows on a prohibition aimed against soiling lodgings with dirty or wet
feet, and deals specifically with the act of lying down. Thus, simply touching the
lodgings with one’s arms, etc., should not entail a penalty. It is also important to
remember that the Vinaya generally does not impose penalties for actions done while
asleep. As the allowance gives explicit permission to lie down on a lodging after
spreading a proper covering, that in itself should be enough to absolve one from any
further offense with regard to touching the lodging while lying there. The penalty
should be reserved for cases where one lies down on such a lodging without first
having spread a proper covering.
Finally, the Vibhaºga to Pr 1 contains an allowance to the effect that, if a bhikkhu is
staying in a lodging with a door that can be closed, he may close the door if he lies
down during the day.

Rules
Dwellings
“I allow five (kinds of) lodgings [reading sen›san›ni with the Thai edition; the Sri
Lankan, Burmese, and PTS editions read le˚›ni/len›ni, “shelter,” but sen›sana is the term
most generally used in the Canon for dwelling places in general (see, for instance,
Mv.VI.22.1 and Mv.VIII.26.1)]: a dwelling (vih›ra), a barrel-vaulted building (§), a multistoried building (§), a gabled building, a cell (§).”—Cv.VI.1.2
“I allow that (the dwelling) be made high off the ground” …. “I allow three kinds of
pilings to be put up: made of brick, made of stone, made of wood” …. “I allow three
kinds of staircases: a staircase made of brick, made of stone, made of wood” …. “I allow
a stair railing.”—Cv.VI.3.3
“I allow that, having lashed on (a roof), it be plastered inside and out” …. “I allow three
kinds of window-openings: a window with a railing, a window covered with lattice
work, a window with bars (§)” …. “I allow curtains” …. “I allow window shutters, small
window bolsters.”—Cv.VI.2.2
“I allow white, black, and ochre (§) plastering in a dwelling.” (The white plaster
wouldn’t stick to rough walls) “I allow that earth mixed with grain husks be put on and
spread with a trowel (§) and then to apply the white plaster” …. “I allow that fine clay
be put on and spread with a trowel and then that white plaster be applied” …. “I allow
tree sap and wet flour paste.”
(The ochre wouldn’t stick to rough walls) “I allow that earth mixed with grain husks
be put on and spread with a trowel and then to apply the ochre plaster” …. “I allow
that the red powder from beneath rice husks mixed with clay be put on and spread
with a trowel and then that ochre plaster be applied” …. “I allow mustard seed powder
and beeswax oil” .… (The mixture was too thick) “I allow that it be wiped off with a
cloth.”
(The black plaster wouldn’t stick to rough walls) “I allow that earth mixed with grain
husks be put on and spread with a trowel and then to apply the black plaster” …. “I
allow that earthworm clay (excrement) be put on and spread with a trowel and then
that black plaster be applied” …. “I allow tree sap and astringent decoctions.”—
Cv.VI.3.1
“One should not have a drawing made of male or female forms. Whoever should have
one made: an offense of wrong doing. I allow garland designs, creeper designs, dragonteeth designs, five-petaled designs.”—Cv.VI.3.2
(The base of a wall collapsed) “I allow a timber buttress” …. (To keep out rain blowing
in from the side) “I allow eaves and a paste made of clay, ashes, and cow dung” …. (A
snake fell from the roof onto a bhikkhu) “I allow a ceiling/canopy.”—Cv.VI.3.4
“I allow a door” …. “I allow a doorpost and lintel, a hollow like a mortar (for the door
to revolve in), a small upper dowel (on the door)” …. (The doors didn’t meet) “I allow a
hole for pulling (a cord) through, a cord for pulling through” …. (The doors didn’t stay

closed) “I allow a post for the bolt (crossbar?), a ‘monkey’s head (a hole to receive the
bolt?),’ a pin (to secure the bolt), a bolt” …. (The doors couldn’t be opened) “I allow a
keyhole and three kinds of keys: made of metal, made of wood, made of horn” ….
(Dwellings were still broken into) “I allow a lock and a slotted key (§).”—Cv.VI.2.1
(Bhikkhus were embarrassed to lie down in an exposed room) “I allow a curtain” …. “I
allow a half-wall” …. “I allow a square private room, a rectangular private room, a
private room in the rafters” …. “I allow that the private room be made to one side in a
small dwelling, and in the middle of a large one.”—Cv.VI.3.3
“I allow a peg in the wall or an elephant-tusk peg (for hanging bags)” ….“I allow a pole
for hanging up robes, a cord for hanging up robes” …. “I allow a verandah, a vestibule
(§), an inner court, a slat-roofed porch” …. “I allow a moveable (sliding?) screen, a
screen on rollers (§).”—Cv.VI.3.5
“I allow (the dwelling) to be fenced in with three kinds of fence: a fence of bricks, a
fence of stones, a fence of wood” …. “I allow a porch” …. “I allow that the porch be
made high off the ground” …. “I allow a door, a door post and lintel, a hollow like a
mortar (for the door to revolve in), a small upper dowel (on the door), a post for the
bolt, a ‘monkey’s head (a hole to receive the bolt?),’ a pin (to secure the bolt), a bolt, a
keyhole, a hole for pulling (a cord) through, a cord for pulling through” …. “I allow
that, having lashed on (a roof), it be plastered inside and out with plaster—white, black,
or ochre—with garland designs, creeper designs, dragon-teeth designs, five-petaled
designs (§)” …. (The area (§) around the dwelling became muddy) “I allow that it be
strewn with gravel” …. “I allow that flagstones be laid down” …. “I allow a water
drain.”—Cv.VI.3.8
“I allow five kinds of roofing (facing): tiles, stones, plaster, grass, or leaves.”—
Cv.VI.3.11
“An earthenware foot wiper is not to be used. Whoever should use one: an offense of
wrong doing. I allow three kinds of foot wipers: stone, stone fragment(s), pumice.”—
Cv.V.22.1
Dwellings are to be “established” for the Community of the four directions, present
and to come.—Cv.VI.1.4
Furnishings
“I allow grass matting” .… “I allow a bedplank” .… “I allow a wicker bed [C: of twisted
(vines/twigs) or woven of bamboo strips]” .… “I allow a bed with a frame (attached to
the feet)” .… “I allow a bench with a frame” .… “I allow a bed made of slats … a bench
made of slats” .… “I allow a bed with curved legs … a bench with curved legs” .… “I
allow a bed with detachable legs … a bench with detachable legs.”—Cv.VI.2.3
“I allow a square seat (›sandika)” .… “I allow a square seat even if high” .… “I allow a
bench with a back and arms” .… “I allow a bench with a back and arms even if tall” .…
“I allow a wicker bench … a bench plaited with cloth … a ram-legged bench … a bench

with interlocking legs … a wooden bench … a stool (chair) … a straw bench.”—
Cv.VI.2.4
“I allow that a bed be woven of string/rope” .… (Not enough for a close weave) “I
allow, having pierced holes (in the frame), to weave a checkerboard weave” .… (A rag
accrued) “I allow that an under-pad (§)be made” .… (Cotton batting accrued) “I allow
that, having combed it out, to make a pillow. Three kinds of cotton down: from trees,
from creepers, from grass” .… “A pillow half the size of the body should not be used.
Whoever should use one: an offense of wrong doing. I allow a pillow to be made the
size of the head.”—Cv.VI.2.6
“I allow five kinds of mattresses/cushions: (stuffed with) animal hair, cloth, bark fibers,
grass, leaves” .… (Cloth for lodging requisites accrued) “I allow that it be used to cover
mattresses/cushions” .… “I allow an upholstered bed, an upholstered bench”(i.e.,
covered with a cushion or mattress) .… “I allow that a cushion/mattress be placed (on a
bed/bench only) after a cloth under-pad (§) has been made and spread” .… (To identify
a mattress/cushion cover in case it is stolen) “I allow that a spot be made on it … that a
printed mark be made on it … that a hand print be made on it.”—Cv.VI.2.7
“One should not use high and great furnishings for reclining, such as a dais (§), a throne
(§), a long-haired coverlet, a decorated coverlet, a white spread made of animal hair, a
wool coverlet with floral designs, a blanket of cotton batting, a wool coverlet decorated
with animals, a wool covering with fleece on both sides, a wool covering with the fleece
on one side, a silken sheet studded with jewels (woven with silver or gold threads), a
silken sheet decorated with jewels (fringed with silver or gold), a dancer’s carpet, an
elephant-back rug, a horse-back rug, a chariot rug, a spread of black antelope skins, a
sheet of kadali-deer hide, a bed (§) with a canopy above, a bed with red cushions at
either end. Whoever should use them: an offense of wrong doing.”—Mv.V.10.5
“Large skins, such as a lion skin, a tiger skin, a panther skin, should not be used.
Whoever should use them: an offense of wrong doing.”—Mv.V.10.6
“And one should not make use of a cow-hide. Whoever should make use of one: an
offense of wrong doing. Nor should one make use of any hide. Whoever should make
use of one: an offense of wrong doing.”—Mv.V.10.10
(A bear hide accrued to the Community) “I allow that it be made into a foot-wiping
mat.”—Cv.VI.19
“I allow in all outlying districts hide-coverings: sheepskin, goatskin, deerskin.”—
Mv.V.13.13
“One should not lie down to sleep on a high bed. Whoever should do so: an offense of
wrong doing” .… (A bhikkhu was bitten by a snake while lying on a low bed) “I allow
bed-leg supports” .… “High bed-leg supports should not be used. Whoever should use
them: an offense of wrong doing. I allow bed-leg supports eight fingerbreadths at
most.”—Cv.VI.2.5

“One should not lie down on a sleeping place strewn with flowers. Whoever should do
so: an offense of wrong doing” .… “I allow taking scents and making a five-finger mark
on the door post, and taking flowers and putting them to one side in a dwelling.”—
Cv.V.18
“I allow one to sit on what is arranged by householders, but not to lie down on it .… I
allow one to sit on (lean against) the amount of hide used for binding.”—Mv.V.11
(Householders, in their own homes, arranged sitting places for bhikkhus that included
all the objects forbidden in Mv.V.10.5) “I allow that—aside from a dais, a throne, and a
blanket of cotton batting—one sit on (furnishings) arranged for/by householders but
not to lie on them” …. (With reference to benches and beds upholstered with cotton
down:) “I allow one to sit on what is arranged for/by householders, but not to lie down
on it.”—Cv.VI.8
“I allow all the appurtenances (furnishings) of a multi-storied building” .… “I allow that
a dais with its legs cut off be used; that a throne whose fierce animals (§) have been cut
off be used; that a blanket of cotton batting, having been combed out (into cotton
down), be made into a pillow (see Cv.VI.2.6); that the remaining unallowable
furnishings (see Mv.V.10.5) be made into floor coverings.”—Cv.VI.14
Etiquette in Lodgings
“A lodging should not be trodden on with unwashed feet. Whoever should do so: an
offense of wrong doing” .… “A lodging should not be trodden on with wet feet.
Whoever should do so: an offense of wrong doing” .… “A lodging should not be
trodden on with sandals on. Whoever should do so: an offense of wrong doing.”—
Cv.VI.20.1
“A polished (treated) floor should not be spat on. Whoever should do so: an offense of
wrong doing. I allow a spittoon.” Now at that time the feet of beds and benches
scratched the polished floor. “I allow that they be wrapped in cloth” .… “A treated wall
is not to be leaned on. Whoever should do so: an offense of wrong doing. I allow a
leaning board.” The lower end scratched the floor; the upper end, the treated wall
[following the reading in the Thai and Sri Lankan editions; the PTS edition says that the
upper end damaged the treated wall]. “I allow that the upper and lower ends be
wrapped in cloth.” (Bhikkhus with washed feet were doubtful about lying down:) “I
allow you to lie down having spread a sheet.”—Cv.VI.20.2

C HA P TE R SE VE N

Monastery Buildings & Property
Monasteries. One of the earliest allowances in the Buddha’s teaching career was for
accepting the donation of a monastery. The context of the allowance suggests that the
monastery should be donated to the entire Saºgha, rather than to individual
Communities or bhikkhus. This point is supported by the passage from DN 2, cited in
the preceding chapter, which states that a virtuous bhikkhu does not accept fields and
property. However, none of the texts discuss this point in detail.
There is an allowance in Mv.VI.15.2 for monastery attendants: lay people whose job
is to look after the affairs of the monastery. In feudal and pre-feudal days, these
attendants would be given to a monastery by a king or other feudal lord. The origin
story to the allowance suggests that in some cases the gift would encompass the
inhabitants of an entire village. The tax revenues and corvée labor from the village,
instead of going to the secular authorities, would go to the monastery. Again, the Pali
Canon and commentaries do not discuss this arrangement in any detail. This is in sharp
contrast to the Vinayas of some of the other early schools, such as the
MÒlasarv›stiv›dins, who went to great lengths to prohibit non-Buddhist kings from
later rescinding such arrangements. This point argues for the relative lateness of these
rules in the other Vinayas: The Buddha was not so foolish as to try to legislate for kings.
The Canon does, however, give a detailed discussion of the buildings allowed in a
monastery and of the proper use and distribution of monastic property. In some cases,
the distribution of monastic property is handed over to officials chosen by the
Community. As this choice involves a Community transaction, all issues related to the
responsibilities of Community officials will be discussed in Chapter 18. Here we will
discuss monastic buildings and the issues concerning monastic property for which
Community officials are not responsible.
Buildings. In addition to dwellings, the monastery may include an uposatha hall (for
the chanting of the P›˛imokkha), an assembly hall (according to the Commentary, this
covers halls for holding meetings or for eating meals), a drinking water hall or pavilion,
a fire hall (apparently used for boiling water, dyeing robes, etc.), a storehouse, a food
storage place, walking meditation paths, a well, a sauna, a hall or pavilion for the
ka˛hina frame, bathing and restroom facilities, and surrounding enclosures. (The hall
(s›la) in each of these cases is apparently a roofed building without walls; the pavilion
(ma˚˜apa) is also an open building, but smaller.) The construction details allowed for
these buildings resemble those allowed for dwellings. Anyone interested may check the
rules at the end of this chapter. Here we will discuss details peculiar to some of these
buildings.
Uposatha hall & storehouse. No construction details are given for these buildings. The
only rules related to them concern communal transactions, so they will be discussed in
Chapters 15 and 18.

Food storage place (kappiya-ku˛i). This is a space designated within the monastic
compound where food may be stored and yet not count as “stored indoors” under
Mv.VI.17.3. The Canon allows for the “backmost” building in the monastery to be
designated as a food storage place, but the Commentary maintains that the building
may be located anywhere in the monastery.
The Canon lists, without explanation, four types of allowable food storage
places. The Commentary quotes a variety of opinions on their precise definitions,
which indicates that no one by that time was absolutely sure of what they were. To
summarize its discussion:
Uss›vanantika (“limited to the proclamation“ or “conterminous with the
proclamation”): According to Buddhaghosa, the ancient Sinhalese commentaries
mention several ways for making a storage space of this sort, but he himself
recommends this: When starting construction of the storage place, after the
foundation has been laid, a group of bhikkhus should gather around and, as the
first post is being put in place, say (not in unison),
“Kappiya-ku˛iª karoma (We make this allowable hut).”
The statement should end as the post settles in place. If the end of the
statement does not coincide with the placing of the post, the statement is invalid.
This is why the Mah› Paccarı recommends that several bhikkhus say this not in
unison, so that the placing of the post will occur at the end of the statement made
by at least one of them. If, instead of setting up a post, the walls of the storage
place are built out of stone or brick, the same thing should be done when the
first stone/brick is placed on the foundation.
Gonis›dik› (“where cattle can rest”): This is an unenclosed or semi-enclosed
space that may be built only in an unenclosed monastery. If none of the
bhikkhus’ residences are enclosed, the storage space is called an ›r›magonis›dik›. If the monastery as a whole is not enclosed but some of the
residences are, it’s called a vih›ra-gonis›dik›. In either case, the important factor
is that the monastery not be enclosed. (The image here is that if a place is
unenclosed, cattle can enter and rest at their leisure.)
Gahapatika (set up by or belonging to a lay person): This sort of space is built
and donated by the donors specifically to be used as a proper storage place.
Buddhaghosa quotes approvingly from the Andhaka, saying that the dwelling of
anyone aside from a member of a Bhikkhu Saºgha counts as a gahapatika. Thus
a novice’s dwelling would come under this category, as would a lay person’s
dwelling in or outside a monastery.
Sammatik› (authorized): Any of the five allowable types of lodging (Cv.VI.1.2)
authorized by a communal transaction (see Appendix I). The Commentary says
that a simple announcement to the assembled bhikkhus is sufficient to authorize
such a space, but this conflicts with the principle in Mv.IX.3.3 that if a shorter
format is used for a transaction requiring a longer format, the transaction is
invalid.

The rules concerning this last type of space are confusing. In one passage, the
Canon imposes a dukka˛a for using one; and then, in the following passage,
allows its use. Some Communities interpret the first passage as a prohibition
against a bhikkhu’s staying in such a place, and the second as an allowance to
store food there.
Of the four types, the uss›vanantika loses its status when all the posts or all
the walls are taken down. The gonis›dik› becomes an improper storage place
when it is enclosed. If, however, the enclosure begins to fall down to the point
where a cow could enter it, the status of proper storage place returns. As for the
remaining two types, they lose their status as proper storage places when all the
roofing is destroyed.
Walking meditation paths may be made either by leveling the ground or by building a
path on a foundation of brick, stone, or wood. In the latter case, a stairway may be built
up to the path, with a railing allowed both for the stairway and surrounding the path.
The path may be roofed, the roof may be plastered and decorated with the four
allowable designs, and there may be a cord or a pole for hanging up one’s robes.
Wells may be lined with bricks, stones, or wood, and covered with a roofed hall.
Other allowable well equipment includes a rope for drawing water, a well-sweep (a
long stick on a pivot with a counter-weight at one end, to help pull a water bucket up
from the well), a pulley, a water-wheel, three kinds of buckets—made of metal, wood,
or strips of hide—a lid for the well, and a trough or pot/basin for keeping water.
Saunas. In addition to the usual construction details, saunas may be faced (as in Pc
19) and may be built with a projecting gable (on all sides, says the Sub-commentary). A
fireplace is to be built to one side in a small sauna, and in the middle of a large one. It
may be provided with a chimney. One may smear one’s face with clay as protection
against being scorched by the fire; if the clay smells foul, one is allowed to cure it (with
perfumed substances, says the Commentary). To protect one’s body from being
scorched, one may bring in water. A tank is allowed for storing it, and a dipper is
allowed as well. To keep the floor from getting muddy, the sauna may be floored with
bricks, stones, or wood. There is also an allowance for washing the floor and providing
a water drain. In response to an incident where bhikkhus sitting on the floor of the
sauna found their limbs growing numb, there is an allowance for using a chair in the
sauna.
Bathing facilities. Separate places for showering and bathing are allowed. The
showering place (udaka-candanika) may be enclosed and floored with any of three kinds
of material—brick, stone, or wood—and provided with a water drain. A bathing tank
may be lined with any of the same sorts of materials and, if necessary, built up high off
the ground.
Restroom facilities. Separate places are allowed for urinating, defecating, and rinsing
oneself with water after defecating. The urinal in use at the Buddha’s time consisted of a
pot with footrests on either side. The restroom (outhouse) for defecating was built over
a cesspool lined with brick, stones, or wood. The cesspool had a cover with a hole in the
middle and footrests on either side. (The cover was allowed after bhikkhus “defecating

as they sat on the edge (of the cesspool) fell in.”) In both cases, the Commentary says,
the footrests could be made of brick/tile, stone, or wood. A lid was allowed for the
cesspool opening, as was a urine trough. The construction details allowed for the
restroom built over the cesspool are similar to those for a dwelling. A sling was also
allowed so that old or sick bhikkhus could pull themselves up from the squatting
position after defecating. Wood sticks were used for wiping—a receptacle was allowed
for placing used sticks—and the job was finished by rinsing with water. A separate
place was set aside for rinsing, with its own lidded water pot, ladle, and footrests.
Further details concerning the etiquette in using the restroom facilities may be found in
Chapter 9.
Enclosures. Three kinds of enclosures are allowed. Because there is a separate
allowance for fences around dwellings, this list is apparently meant for the enclosures
around the monastery as a whole: a hedge of bamboo, a hedge of thorns, and a moat.
None of the texts explain why the three materials allowed for fences around a
dwelling—bricks, stones, or wood—are not mentioned here as well. Two possible
explanations come to mind: Perhaps bricks, stones, and wood were considered too
expensive in the time of the Buddha for such a large enclosure; or perhaps the
allowance for fences was meant to apply here as well. Since the medieval period,
Communities have apparently assumed the second explanation, as there is evidence for
brick enclosures around monastic ruins dating from that time, and brick and concrete
block enclosures are still common around monasteries in Therav›da countries today.
The enclosure may have a roofed gatehouse, and the entrance may be provided
with a gate of thorns and brambles, a double door, an archway, and a bar connected to
a pulley. To keep the area within the enclosure from getting muddy, it may be strewn
with gravel, laid with flagstones, and provided with a water drain.
Monastery property. If the Community is given fancy items of value—examples
mentioned in the Canon include costly woolen blankets and costly woven cloths—they
may be traded “for something profitable.” This, the Commentary says, means that
they may be traded for allowable objects of equal or higher value. (However, the trade
should be arranged in a way that does not violate the etiquette of kappiya voh›ra as
stipulated under NP 20.) If the Community receives bear hide, rags, and similar items
that cannot be made into robes, they may be made into foot-wiping mats. (The
allowance for bear hide here is unusual; it is apparently the only hide that can be used in
this way, and there is no telling why.) Cloth that can be made into robes, when given to
the Community, falls under the aegis of the Community official responsible for
accepting, keeping, and distributing cloth (see Chapter 18).
Furnishings given for use in a particular dwelling are not to be moved elsewhere.
However, they may be borrowed temporarily and also moved “to protect them” (e.g.,
if the roof of the dwelling in which they are located starts to leak). The Commentary
adds here that if, when taking them to protect them, one uses them as Community
property and they wear out with normal use, there is no need to make reimbursement.
When the original dwelling is repaired and able to protect furnishings, one should
return them if they are in shape to return. If one has used them as one’s own personal

property and they wear out, one must reimburse the Community. The Commentary’s
notion of reimbursement, however, comes under the idea of bha˚˜hadeyya, which—as
we saw under Pr 2—has no basis in the Canon.
This arrangement—of giving furniture and other “lodging” items specifically for use
in a particular dwelling—is the closest reference in the Canon to an arrangement that
looms large in the Commentary and in the Vinayas of the other early schools: a
dwelling given by a donor who continues to take a proprietary interest in the dwelling,
its furnishings, and its inhabitants. This practice may have grown out of the
arrangement mentioned in Sg 7, in which a donor sponsors the construction of a
dwelling, but aside from the above rule the Canon does not recognize it.
Apparently, one of the possible duties for monastery attendants was to farm for the
monastery. Thus there is a ruling in the Canon that when seed of the Community has
been planted in the land of an individual, or if the seed of an individual has been planted
in the land of the Community, it may be consumed by the bhikkhus after having given
the individual a portion.
The Canon lists five classes of Community belongings that cannot be given out to
any individual or divided up among the bhikkhus, even by a Community transaction
or through the agency of a Community official. Any bhikkhu who does give out or
divide up these belongings incurs a thullaccaya—and even then the belongings do not
count as given out or divided up. They are still the property of the Community. The
five classes are:
1) A monastery, the site of/for a monastery.
2) A dwelling, the site of/for a dwelling.
3) A bed, bench, mattress, pillow.
4) A metal pot, a metal basin, a metal jar/bottle, a metal vessel/frying pan (wok), a
knife/machete, an axe, an adze, a hoe, a drill/chisel.
5) Vines, bamboo, coarse grass, reeds, ti˚a-grass, clay (all of these can be used as
building materials), wooden goods, clay goods.
The Commentary has a fair amount to say about these items. The site of a monastery
it interprets as land intended for a monastery or the site of an abandoned monastery; it
gives a similar definition for the site of a dwelling. Under the fourth category, it says that
knife means large knives (such as machetes) and large shears; chisel/drill means those
with handles, while other metal tools of carpenters, lathe-workers, jewelers, and
leather-workers would also come under this sub-category. However, small metal
vessels of the sort designed to be carried on one’s person are all right to distribute.
Under the fifth category, it interprets vines as those at least a half-arm’s length.
Vines, grass, and reeds that have already been used and are left over from construction
work are all right to distribute. The word bamboo is meant to cover bamboo to be used
for construction. Small bamboo items such as canes, small oil containers, or umbrella
parts are all right to distribute. Buddhaghosa reports a disagreement between the
Kurundı and the Mah› A˛˛hakath› on what is included under wooden goods here.
According to the Kurundı, this sub-category includes all leather goods and any wooden
goods larger than an 8” needle. According to the Mah› A˛˛hakath›, it includes all