1. Now at that time a number of Bhikkhus carried on robe-making in the open air. The Khabbaggiya Bhikkhus beat their bedding to get
The moderate Bhikkhus murmured, &c. . . . . told the Blessed One, &c. . . . . and he said to the Bhikkhus:
'Therefore, O Bhikkhus, do I establish a rule of conduct for the Bhikkhus in respect of lodging-places, according to which they are to behave themselves in respect thereof.
2. 'In whatever Vihâra he is staying, if that Vihâra is dirty, he should, if he can, make it clean. When cleaning the Vihâra, he should first take out his bowl and his robe and the mat used for sitting upon, and the bolster and . pillows, and put them down on one side. Taking the bed-frame down (from its stand), he should carry it out [and so on as in VIII, 1, 2, down to the end] 2.
'He should not beat the bedding to get the dust out close to the Bhikkhus, or to the Vihâra, or to the drinking-water, or to the water for washing, or in the open space (in front of the Vihâra) to wind-ward of it or the Bhikkhus, but to leeward.
4. 'If he is dwelling in the same Vihâra with an older (Bhikkhu), no recitation should be given, nor examination held, nor exhortation made, nor Dhamma spoken 1 (to a pupil), without leave being asked of the senior. Nor should a lamp be lighted or extinguished, nor the lattices opened or closed, without his leave. 'If he is walking up and down on the same Kaṅkama with an older (Bhikkhu), then he should turn back at the spot where his senior turns back; and he should not touch his senior even with the corner of his robe. 'This, O Bhikkhus, is the rule of conduct, that I lay down for the Bhikkhus in respect of lodging-places, according to which they are to behave themselves therein.'
295:1 Aṅgana. This is not 'courtyard,' as Childers renders it, but a part of the Ârâma, immediately in front of the hut or Vihâra, which is kept as an, open space, and daily swept. The Sinhalese name for it is midula; there those who sleep in the hut spend the greater part of the day, and not even grass is allowed to grow upon it. The term is a very common one, and its meaning is not doubtful. Compare the Gâtaka book, I, 124, 151, 421; II, 249, 250, 345. Ekaṅganam bhavati, at ibid. I, 53, 12, is to become one open space, as ekaṅganam karoti at II, 357, is to clear a forest, and turn it into an open space. 295:2 The order is slightly different, but all the details are the same. The only addition is that in speaking of taking out the floor covetings, he is directed to notice where they lay. 296:1 All the preceding expressions have occurred at Mahâvagga I, 26, 1; see also 32, 1, and 38, 6.
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