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60 Jurist 162 (2000)
The Buddhist Monastic Law in Ancient Sri Lanka

handle is hein.journals/juristcu60 and id is 164 raw text is: THE JURIST 60 (2000) 162-203 THE BUDDHIST MONASTIC LAW IN ANCIENT SRI LANKA PROF. ANURADHA SENEVIRATNA* Vinayao nama Buddhasdsanassa ayu Discipline is the life of Buddhist Dispensation. Samantapdsddikd-B hiranidinavannand Vol. 1 page 13. PTS. London. 1975 Buddhism originated in Northern India in the sixth century BC with Gautama Buddha as its founder. He established the Order of Monks known as sahgha with five members at the beginning. But this number soon increased to hundreds and thousands who decided to devote them- selves to higher spiritual status and also to continue the teachings of Buddha. His doctrine as one could see is both Truth and Law. Today Bud- dhism has become a powerful religion in the world influencing the lives of many millions living in the east, west, south and north. It was due to the efforts of Emperor Asoka in India in the third century BC that Buddhism was introduced to countries outside India with the royal pa- tronage provided by him. Buddhism in the course of its development branched into two sections namely Theravdda and Mahdyana. Therava- da is the branch of Buddhism now preserved in Sri Lanka, and it is so called because the original teachings of Buddha were preserved by the Elderly monks-Theras. Hence, Theravada means the doctrine of the El- ders just suggesting the idea of its conservative nature. With the rapid development of the Order of Sangha during the very lifetime of Buddha, it was felt essential to guide these monks in keeping with their holy life. Therefore a code of discipline was formulated. This was called Vinaya or monastic discipline and the text in which all the rules were compiled was called Vinaya Pitaka. These guidelines, which originated during the lifetime of the Buddha, went through a number of changes from time to time depending on the social demands and other reasons. The following essay will illustrate some of the * Senior Fellow-SOAS, University of London, Senior Professor of Sinhala, Universi- ty of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

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