The Chapter on Leather
Carmavastu
The Sanskrit term
A river at Śrāvastī.
One of the ascetic practices known as
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).
Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
A wealthy merchant in the town of Śrāvastī, famous for his generosity to the poor, who became a patron of the Buddha Śākyamuni. He bought Prince Jeta’s Grove (Skt. Jetavana), to be the Buddha’s first monastery, a place where the monks could stay during the monsoon.
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
Late June/early July.
One of twelve literary genres found in the Buddhist canon, avadānas (meaning “heroic acts” or “glorious exploits”) relate the past life actions which have culminated in a person’s present life attainments.
Monks who know how to make and repair leather footwear are allowed to keep an awl, a strap, and, according to some sources, a knife to assist them in these tasks.
A wealthy householder, father of Śroṇa Koṭīkarṇa.
A denigratory way to refer to a Buddhist monk.
Site of the Kalandaka Sanctuary.
One of several types of footwear described in The Chapter on Leather.
One of several types of furniture allowed for Buddhist monks mentioned in The Chapter on Leather.
Sandals that resemble a bodhi leaf in shape. One of several types of footwear prohibited in The Chapter on Leather, along with creaking sandals, tinkling sandals, sparkling sandals, ram’s horn sandals, multicolored sandals, and sandals that cost five coins.
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).
The term “breach” does not uniquely correspond to any of the five types of offense a monk should avoid. Instead, context determines which class of offense any specific breach belongs to. See Clarke 2021 p, 71 n. 80.
A calf- or thigh-high boot allowed for monks living in snowy regions. One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
Ancient capital of Aṅga.
One of several types of leather or hide used in ground-spreads and ground-spread covers in the frontier country of Aśmaka.
Perhaps onomatopoeic. Monks are not allowed to wear creaking sandals. One of several types of footwear prohibited in The Chapter on Leather, along with tinkling sandals, sparkling sandals, ram’s horn sandals, sandals like a bodhi leaf, multicolored sandals, and sandals that cost five coins.
An attendant to Śroṇa Koṭīkarṇa, whose name means “servant.”
One of several types of leather or hide used in ground-spreads and ground-spread covers in the frontier country of Aśmaka.
In the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the term dhyāna is used in a general sense to mean “meditation.” Note, however, that in Buddhist literature dhyāna often refers to specific meditative states involving increasing detachment from both sensory and mental objects.
In a Buddhist context, the term
To collect one’s attention and direct it to meditation.
The Mūlasarvāstivādin tradition grouped the Buddha’s early sūtra discourses into four divisions, or
The Sanskrit Chapter on Leather gives this location first in the probably erroneous form
Third stage on the path to becoming an arhat.
Second stage on the path to becoming an arhat.
First stage on the path to becoming an arhat.
A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”
This is one of many related terms for an assembly hall that appear in the Kangyur and Tengyur, such as (1) “meditation residence” or “meditation hall” (Tib.
One of several types of leather or hide used in ground-spreads and ground-spread covers in the frontier country of Aśmaka.
In his Chinese translation of The Chapter on Leather, Yijing (T 1447, 1052b12) gives a single term,
In his Chinese translation of The Chapter on Leather, Yijing (T 1447, 1052b12) gives a single term,
A group of monks led by Nanda and Upananda who are consistently portrayed as indulgent and attached to material comforts. See the introduction to The Chapter on Leather.
In Buddhist cosmology, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three is the second lowest of the six heavens in the desire realm (kāmadhātu). Situated on the flat summit of Mount Sumeru, it lies above the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Caturmahārājakāyika) and below the Yāma Heaven. It consists of thirty-three regions, each presided by one of thirty-three chief gods, and the overall ruler is Śakra. The presiding gods are divided into four groups named in the Abhidharmakośaṭīkā (Toh 4092): the eight gods of wealth, two Aśvin youths, eleven fierce ones, and twelve suns. The thirty-three regions themselves are enumerated and described in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Toh 287, 4.B.2 et seq.).
In a Buddhist context, the term
One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, into which beings are born as the karmic fruition of past miserliness. As the term in Sanskrit means “the departed,” they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. It is also commonly translated as “hungry ghost” or “starving spirit,” as in the Chinese 餓鬼 e gui.
They are sometimes said to reside in the realm of Yama, but are also frequently described as roaming charnel grounds and other inhospitable or frightening places along with piśācas and other such beings. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance. Detailed descriptions of their realm and experience, including a list of the thirty-six classes of pretas, can be found in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Toh 287, 2.1281– 2.1482.
The lord of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven on the summit of Mount Sumeru. As one of the eight guardians of the directions, Indra guards the eastern quarter. In Buddhist sūtras, he is a disciple of the Buddha and protector of the Dharma and its practitioners. He is often referred to by the epithets Śatakratu, Śakra, and Kauśika.
The name of an island or group of islands where precious stones and gems were extraordinarily plentiful and easily obtained.
The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium, particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named, one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the Vajrāsana at its center and is the only continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.
This site derives its names from the birds whose chirping awoke King Bimbisāra and saved him from the bite of a deadly snake. In gratitude, the king forbade harming the birds in this park. The Sanskrit Chapter on a Schism in the Saṅgha identifies the kalandaka as a bird in its telling of the site’s origins (Toh 1-17, F.77.b–78.a). There, the Sanskrit glosses the site’s name as “the winged ones known as ‘kalandaka’ ”:
The Śākyan capital, home of the Bodhisattva before his renunciation.
Late October/Early November.
Prasenajit’s kingdom and later Virūḍhaka’s.
King of Vārāṇasī during the time of the Buddha Kāśyapa.
Latin:
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
In the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, mātṛkā (Tib. ma mo, Eng. “mother”) is frequently used as a name for the Basket of Abhidharma.
The Sanskrit terms śayyā and
In The Chapter on Leather, the Sanskrit term
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments, where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form. Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.
Although the name “Nepal” derives from Naivāla (also given as Naipāla and Nepāla), the ancient Nepāla would probably not extend beyond the Kathmandu Valley.
One type of offense Buddhist monks must avoid. This type of offense stems from the monk possessing material goods, such as cloth, in excess of allowance.
A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
An attendant to Śroṇa Koṭīkarṇa, whose name means “protector.”
A park in Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. It was owned by Prince Jeta, and the wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, bought it from him by covering the entire property with gold coins. It was to become the place where the monks could be housed during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It is therefore the setting for many of the Buddha's discourses.
A forest to the east, beyond which the Buddha designated “border regions.”
A town to the east, adjacent to the border forest of Puṇḍrakakṣa.
The ancient capital of Magadha prior to its relocation to Pāṭaliputra during the Mauryan dynasty, Rājagṛha is one of the most important locations in Buddhist history. The literature tells us that the Buddha and his saṅgha spent a considerable amount of time in residence in and around Rājagṛha—in nearby places, such as the Vulture Peak Mountain (Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata), a major site of the Mahāyāna sūtras, and the Bamboo Grove (Veṇuvana)—enjoying the patronage of King Bimbisāra and then of his son King Ajātaśatru. Rājagṛha is also remembered as the location where the first Buddhist monastic council was held after the Buddha Śākyamuni passed into parinirvāṇa. Now known as Rajgir and located in the modern Indian state of Bihar.
Monks are not allowed to wear ram’s horn. One of several types of footwear prohibited in The Chapter on Leather, along with creaking sandals, tinkling sandals, sparkling sandals, sandals like a bodhi leaf, multicolored sandals, and sandals that cost five coins.
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa). Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.
A tree native to the Indian subcontinent, commonly said to be the type of tree under which the Buddha was born and passed away. Lat.
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
A town and also a river to the south, beyond which the Buddha designated “border regions.”
One of several types of furniture allowed for Buddhist monks.
One of several types of material used in ground-spreads and ground-spread covers in the Buddhist heartland of ancient India.
One of several types of material used in ground-spreads and ground-spread covers in the Buddhist heartland of ancient India.
One of several types of material used in ground-spreads and ground-spread covers in the Buddhist heartland of ancient India.
One of several types of material used in ground-spreads and ground-spread covers in the Buddhist heartland of ancient India.
One of several types of leather or hide used in ground-spreads and ground-spread covers in the frontier country of Aśmaka.
A cobbler or maker of shoes.
A famous charnel ground near Bodh Gaya.
Monks are not allowed to wear “sparkling” footwear. One of several types of footwear prohibited in The Chapter on Leather, along with creaking sandals, tinkling sandals, ram’s horn sandals, sandals like a bodhi leaf, multicolored sandals, and sandals that cost five coins. One of several types of footwear described in The Chapter on Leather is said to “sparkle,” though the exact meaning of this in unclear and no Sanskrit is extant for this term.
Name of a constellation.
During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
Son of the wealthy householder Balasena, whose name means “born under Śravaṇa with an ear worth ten million.” His strange encounters on a lengthy sea voyage provide lessons in karmic cause and effect, and he eventually becomes an arhat disciple of the Buddha.
The privileged son of a wealthy merchant who goes forth as a monk under the Buddha. The story of his extreme determination in walking meditation provides the background for the Buddha allowing his monks single-lining sandals.
A brahmin town to the west, beyond which, along with the adjacent town of Upasthūṇa, the Buddha designated “border regions.”
A fastener used for shoes.
The Tibetan translates both stūpa and caitya with the same word, mchod rten, meaning “basis” or “recipient” of “offerings” or “veneration.” Pali: cetiya.
A caitya, although often synonymous with stūpa, can also refer to any site, sanctuary or shrine that is made for veneration, and may or may not contain relics.
A stūpa, literally “heap” or “mound,” is a mounded or circular structure usually containing relics of the Buddha or the masters of the past. It is considered to be a sacred object representing the awakened mind of a buddha, but the symbolism of the stūpa is complex, and its design varies throughout the Buddhist world. Stūpas continue to be erected today as objects of veneration and merit making.
Son and successor of King Kṛkin, who neglects a stūpa built by his father for the relics of the Buddha Kāśyapa.
One of twelve literary genres found in the Buddhist canon. Inspired utterances generally begin with a brief narrative explaining the circumstances that inspired the verses spoken by the Buddha.
The desire realm, form realm, and formless realm.
One of the ascetic practices known as
Perhaps onomatopoeic. Monks are not allowed to wear footwear made with tinkling sandals. One of several types of footwear prohibited in The Chapter on Leather, along with creaking sandals, sparkling sandals, ram’s horn sandals, sandals like a bodhi leaf, multicolored sandals, and sandals that cost five coins.
The rules that Buddhist monastics have pledged to uphold.
The Buddha’s teachings have traditionally been grouped by subject matter into three classes or “baskets”: the basket of Sūtra or “discourses”; the basket of Vinaya or “monastic discipline”; and the basket of Abhidharma, which examines the philosophical ideas and terms used in the discourses.
An ideal monarch or emperor who, as the result of the merit accumulated in previous lifetimes, rules over a vast realm in accordance with the Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he bears a wheel (cakra) that rolls (vartate) across the earth, bringing all lands and kingdoms under his power. The cakravartin conquers his territory without causing harm, and his activity causes beings to enter the path of wholesome actions. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, just as with the buddhas, only one cakravartin appears in a world system at any given time. They are likewise endowed with the thirty-two major marks of a great being (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), but a cakravartin’s marks are outshined by those of a buddha. They possess seven precious objects: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the wish-fulfilling gem, the queen, the general, and the minister. An illustrative passage about the cakravartin and his possessions can be found in The Play in Full (Toh 95), 3.3–3.13.
Vasubandhu lists four types of cakravartins: (1) the cakravartin with a golden wheel (suvarṇacakravartin) rules over four continents and is invited by lesser kings to be their ruler; (2) the cakravartin with a silver wheel (rūpyacakravartin) rules over three continents and his opponents submit to him as he approaches; (3) the cakravartin with a copper wheel (tāmracakravartin) rules over two continents and his opponents submit themselves after preparing for battle; and (4) the cakravartin with an iron wheel (ayaścakravartin) rules over one continent and his opponents submit themselves after brandishing weapons.
A member of the Śākya clan and śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha, part of the notorious “group of six” monks who often appear in the vinaya texts to exemplify certain wrong behaviors.
(Please note that in some of the texts listed here, due to the lack of any supportive information supplied along with the name, it is not possible to be completely certain that it refers exactly to the same person. However, given the probability of being the same person, and the absence of conflicting information, these have been gathered here.)
A brahmin town to the west, beyond which, along with the adjacent town of Sthūṇa, the Buddha designated “border regions.”
A name for Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa
A mountain to the north, beyond which the Buddha designated “border regions.”
King Prasenajit’s keeper of cattle.
The ancient capital of the Licchavi republic. The Buddha visited this city several times during his lifetime. It is perhaps most famous as the location where, on different occasions, he cured a plague, admitted the first nuns into the Buddhist order, was offered a bowl of honey by monkeys, and announced his parinirvāṇa three months prior to his departure..
Also known as Benares, one of the oldest cities of northeast India on the banks of the Ganges, in modern-day Uttar Pradesh. It was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kāśi, and in the Buddha’s time it had been absorbed into the kingdom of Kośala. It was an important religious center, as well as a major city, even during the time of the Buddha. The name may derive from being where the Varuna and Assi rivers flow into the Ganges. It was on the outskirts of Vārāṇasī that the Buddha first taught the Dharma, in the location known as Deer Park (Mṛgadāva). For numerous episodes set in Vārāṇasī, including its kings, see The Hundred Deeds, Toh 340.
A village in the kingdom of Kāśī, whose capital city was Vārāṇasī.
The Gṛdhrakūṭa, literally Vulture Peak, was a hill located in the kingdom of Magadha, in the vicinity of the ancient city of Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir, in the state of Bihar, India), where the Buddha bestowed many sūtras, especially the Great Vehicle teachings, such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. It continues to be a sacred pilgrimage site for Buddhists to this day.
An area set aside within a monastery where monks may practice walking meditation.
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
One of several types of footwear allowed for Buddhist monks in The Chapter on Leather.
A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.
Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.
Nowadays, yoga is generally associated with haṭhayoga or one of its derivatives, which emphasize bodily postures and breath control. But the aṣṭāṅgayoga or “eight-limbed yoga” taught by Patañjali in the Yogasūtra includes much more, such as vows, social duties, and obligations. Here, in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, yoga refers to the seated practice of meditation.
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