________________
134
ÂKÂRÂNGA SÚTRA.
should remain in a squatting or sitting posture (for the whole night).
This is the fourth rule. (21)
A monk who has adopted one of these four rules, should not say, &c. (all as in II, 1, 11, § 12, down to) we respect each other accordingly. (22)
If a monk or a nun wish to give back a couch, they should not do so, if the couch contains eggs, living beings, &c. But if it contains few living beings, &c., they may restrainedly do so, after having well inspected, swept, and dried it?. (23)
A monk or a nun on a begging-tour or in a residence or on a pilgrimage from village to village should first inspect the place for easing nature. The Kevalin says: This is the reason: If a monk or a nun, in the night or the twilight, ease nature in a place which they have not previously inspected, they might stumble or fall, stumbling or falling they might hurt the hand or foot, &c., kill, &c., all sorts of living beings. (24)
A monk or a nun might wish to inspect the ground for their couch away from that occupied by a teacher or sub-teacher, &c. (see II, 1, 10, § 1), or by a young one or an old one or a novice or a sick man or a guest, either at the end or in the middle, either on even or uneven ground, or at a place where there is a draught or where there is no draught. They should then well inspect and sweep
* One past preterite participle vinitthuniya is left out in the translation, as I do not know its meaning.
i Nannattha with instr., here explained muktvå. Though I suspect the correctness of this translation, I have nothing better to offer.
Digitized by Google