Gēnběn shuōyīqiēyǒubù pínàiyē jiéchǐnàyī shì 根本說一切有部毘奈耶羯恥那衣事

The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya: Kaṭhina-vastu (Robe-Distribution) by 義淨 (Yìjìng, 譯)

About the work

A one-fascicle Chinese translation of the Kaṭhina-vastu 羯恥那衣事 — the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya skandhaka on the kaṭhina robe-distribution ceremony performed at the close of the vassa. 羯恥那衣 jié-chǐ-nà-yī transliterates kaṭhina-cīvara “Kathina robe”. Translated by Yìjìng (義淨) at Cháng’ān in the early 8th century.

Prefaces

Translator’s colophon: 大唐三藏義淨奉制譯.

Abstract

The Kaṭhina-vastu presents the procedure for the formal kaṭhina-robe ceremony — the distribution of new cloth offered to the saṅgha by lay donors at the end of the rains-retreat. The ceremony confers five privileges (kaṭhina-uddhāra) on participating monks for the following four months, including dispensation from certain robe-rules. The vastu is procedurally important because the kaṭhina-ceremony is one of the most public and donor-visible acts of the monastic year, and the regulation of the distribution and the consequent privileges is delicate. Sanskrit text in the Gilgit manuscripts; Tibetan in the bKa’-‘gyur sNod-gi gźi.

Translations and research

  • Schopen, Gregory. Buddhist Monks and Business Matters. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2004.
  • CBETA T24n1449
  • 義淨 DILA
  • Dazangthings date evidence (705): [ T ] T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014. (source)
  • Kanseki DB