The report Sudinna's conduct to the Buddha; the Buddha convenes the , questions Sudinna, rebukes him severely, explains the dangers of sensual desire, and for ten benefits lays down a rule: a monk who engages in sexual intercourse commits an offence of the gravest class and can no longer live in communion with the Sangha. The Vinaya texts of every major school record this event. The Pali Vinaya records that the Buddha later supplemented this rule twice on account of other incidents.
Different Accounts
Timing: the later commentaries of the Southern tradition and the Chinese Shanjian lü say that in the first twenty years after the Awakening no monk committed such an offence and the Buddha laid down no rule, so it falls after Year 20; the Chinese Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya says the winter of Year 5 after the Awakening, with the second to fourth rules of the gravest class in the winter of Year 6.
More differences between accounts (2)
The Vinaya of the Sarvāstivāda (one of the schools of ancient Buddhism) says that for the first twelve years the disciples were without fault, and only in the thirteenth year did offences occur; the rule text of the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya also says that for the first twelve years only a short was recited.
One commentary on the Vinaya of the Southern tradition records teachers who held that this rule was laid down in the winter of Year 5 after the Awakening, but the commentary rejects this on the ground that “in the twelfth year, at Verañjā, the Sangha was still pure”; the view recorded in another commentary, that the rules were laid down within eight years after the twelfth year, is likewise not accepted.
Dating
Between Years 20 and 21 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged fifty-four to fifty-five, immediately after the Sudinna incident; that “no rule was laid down in the first twenty years” is given by the later commentaries, so it falls approximately within these years (the Chinese Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya records it on a day in the winter of Year 5 after the Awakening).
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded by five schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü), the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü), the Chinese Sarvāstivāda Vinaya (Shisong lü) and the Chinese Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Stated in the canonical text (the text itself gives the time); commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: year uncertain, month only.
Sources
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.570c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.3b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.3c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.231b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.238a
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1435 p.1c
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1442 p.629c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Vin-a，§36
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Vin-ṭ，§232
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 《Vajirabuddhi-ṭīkā》，§36
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1462 p.713a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Sp-ṭ，§36
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.253b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.412b
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1442 p.628a
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1440 p.516a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1429 p.1022c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1430 p.1030b
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1431 p.1040c