Vinaya

The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded sramanas). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines developed over time during the Buddha's life. More broadly, the term also refers to the tradition of Buddhist ethical conduct. The term "Vinaya" also refers to a genre of Buddhist texts which contain these precepts and rules and discuss their application, along with various stories of how the rules arose and how they are to be applied. Various lists and sets of Vinaya precepts were codified and compiled after the Buddha's death in different Vinaya texts. As one of the main components of the canonical Buddhist canons (Tripiṭakas), alongside the Sūtra and Abhidharma (Pāli: Abhidhamma), the Vinaya Piṭakas contains detailed prescriptions governing the behavior, conduct, and communal procedures of monks (bhikṣu) and nuns (bhikṣuṇī). These include rules of individual discipline (prātimokṣa), protocols for communal harmony, and guidelines for handling transgressions. The word Vinaya is derived from a Sanskrit verb that can mean to lead, take away, train, tame, or guide, or alternately to educate or teach. It is often translated as "discipline", with the term Dhamma-Vinaya (doctrine and discipline) being used by the Buddha to refer to his complete teachings, suggesting its integral role in Buddhist practice. Thus, Vinaya also denotes the living tradition of ethical training and cultivation which encompasses inner moral discipline, and the communal process of ethical deliberation and confession within the sangha. In this sense, vinaya is not only legalistic but also pedagogical and soteriological, oriented toward the purification of ethical conduct (śīla) as a foundation for meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (prajñā). Over time, Buddhist Vinaya lineages split into various traditions, mirroring the development of the various Indian Buddhist schools. Three Vinaya traditions remain in use by modern ordained sanghas: the Theravada (Sri Lanka & Southeast Asia), Mulasarvastivada (Tibetan Buddhism and the Himalayan region) and Dharmaguptaka (East Asian Buddhism). In addition to these three Vinaya traditions, five other Vinaya schools of Indian Buddhism are preserved in Asian canonical manuscripts, including those of the Kāśyapīya, the Mahāsāṃghika, the Mahīśāsaka, the Sammatīya, and the Sarvāstivāda.