English
Then, a gluttonous monk was appointed, and every day he was offered eighteen kinds of food and many kinds of oily vegetables, as well as well-prepared drinks, and he ate all the alms obtained during the three months of the summer retreat. He also divided the income from robes, and then in Shravasti he promised to stay there for the next summer retreat. After the first summer had passed, like-minded merchants from the north arrived there. There were six of them, and seeing this situation, they condemned it, saying, 'The practice of these Shākya monks has degenerated! The practice of the Brahmins has also degenerated! In this way, the sprout of our faith that has just grown has been destroyed!' They slandered, ridiculed, and reviled. At that time, the monks reported this matter to the Blessed One. Then, the Blessed One convened the monastic community because of this event, this origin, this occasion, and rebuked the group of six monks, scolding them in various ways. He saw the ten benefits of establishing precepts, therefore, for the sake of discipline, the training ground for the disciples of the hearers should be established in this way: 'Therefore, monks should not distribute property during the summer. If monks use the income of the summer for the summer, they will commit a serious offense.' The Blessed One thus established the training ground for disciplining the disciples of the hearers. The origin of the permission is: The Buddha, the Blessed One, was dwelling in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park in Shravasti. In Shravasti, there were the Bhikṣuṇī Mahāprajāvatī Gautamī and Dharma-dāna. Among them, Mahāprajāvatī Gautamī, although without a retinue, possessed the status of a female renunciant; Dharma-dāna, although with a retinue, was well-versed in the Sutras. The two of them promised to spend the summer retreat in the same summer dwelling. When the retinue of Mahāprajāvatī Gautamī arose, Dharma-dāna said to her own retinue, 'Sisters, all that the Blessed One has permitted to the Bhikṣuṇīs, such as full ordination and the property of the Bhikṣuṇīs, depends on Mahāprajāvatī Gautamī.'