1. Now at that time a mosquito-fan had come into the possession of the Samgha.
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow you, O Bhikkhus, the use of mosquito-fans.'
A châmara (a tail of the Bos Gruniens or Tibetan ox, mounted on a stick, to be
used by
p. 132
an attendant to whisk off flies) had come into the possession of the Samgha.
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'You are not, O Bhikkhus, to make use of a châmara. Whosoever does so, shall be
guilty of a dukkata 1. I allow, O Bhikkhus, three kinds of flywhisks--those made
of bark, those made of Usîra-grass, and those made of peacocks' tails 2.'
2. [Similar paragraph ending]
'I allow you, O Bhikkhus, the use of sun-shades 3.'
Now at that time the Khabbaggiyas went about with sun-shades up. And at that,
time a certain Upâsaka went to a garden with a number of men who were followers
of the Âgîvakas (naked ascetics). And those followers of the Âgîvakas saw the
Khabbaggiya Bhikkhus coming along in the distance with sun-shades held over
them; and on seeing them, they said to that Upâsaka:
'Are these, Sir, the men whom you reverence coming along, like lords of the
treasury, there with sun-shades held over them?'
'No, Sirs. These are not Bhikkhus; they are Paribbâgakas (wandering
mendicants).'
So they made a bet whether they were Bhikkhus or not. And when that Upâsaka
recognised them, when they came up, he murmured, was annoyed, and was indignant,
saying, 'How can their reverences go about with sun-shades held over them?'
The Bhikkhus heard of that Upâsaka's thus murmuring, &c.
p. 133
[paragraph continues] And those Bhikkhus told the matter to the Blessed One.
'Is it true, O Bhikkhus, as they say?'
'It is true, Lord.'
The Blessed Buddha rebuked them, saying (&c., as usual, see I, 1, 2, 3). And
when he had rebuked them, and had delivered a religious discourse, he, addressed
the Bhikkhus, and said:
'You are not, O Bhikkhus, to have sun-shades held over you. Whosoever does so,
shall be guilty of a dukkata.'
3. Now at that time a certain Bhikkhu was sick, and without a sun-shade (being
held over him) he was ill at ease.
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow, O Bhikkhus, a sun-shade for the sick.'
Now at that time the Bhikkhus, thinking, 'It is for the sick only that
sun-shades have been allowed by the Blessed One, and not for those who are not
sick,' were afraid to use sun-shades in the Ârâma, or in the precincts of the
Ârâma.
They told this matter to the Blessed One.
'I allow, O Bhikkhus, either a sick man, or one who is not sick, to have a
sun-shade held over him either in the Ârâma, or in the precincts of the Ârâma 1.
Footnotes
132:1 Probably because this, like a white umbrella, was considered an appanage
of royalty.
132:2 Mora-piñkha. This word is spelt piñga by Childers, and by Fausböll, Gâtaka
I, 38, 207.
132:3 See the note at the end of the chapter.
133:1 There is an ambiguity, either in the use of the word khatta, or in the use
of the verb dhâreti, or both, running through this chapter. As a matter of fact,
the Bhikkhus now use sun-shades (usually those made of paper in China) of the
same shape as the umbrellas now used in England; and they make no distinction as
to the place in which they use them. But there is another shape for shades, to
be carried by a dependant walking behind the person to be shaded, in which the
handle is fastened to the rim at the side of, and not in the middle underneath
that part of it which p. 134 actually keeps off the sun. Both kinds are figured
on the most ancient Buddhist sculptures. The Old Commentary on the corresponding
rule for the nuns (Bhikkhunî-vibhaṅga, Pâkittiya LXXXIV, 2, 1) says that
suit-shades are either white, or made of matting, or made of leaves (doubtless
of the talipot palm); and it adds that they are either mandala-baddham or
salâka-baddham, which apparently refers to these two ways in which the handle
was joined on to the shading-part. In the 57th Sekhiya (compare also the 23rd
and the 67th), and in Kullavagga VIII, 1, 1, will be found rules of etiquette
which show that it was a sign of courtesy or of respect to put down a sun-shade.
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