________________
WRITING— THE BEGINNINGS
III
“those Bhikshus who have learnt much (literally, heard much), to whom the tradition has been handed on, who carry (in their memory) the doctrine, and the discipline, and the indices thereto (that is, the tables of contents drawn up to assist the memory) they (those Bhikshus) may not be careful to make others repeat some Suttanta; and so, when they shall themselves have passed away, that Suttanta will become cut off at the root, without a place of refuge."
Again at Anguttara, 5. 136, we have the “nutriment" of a list of mental states, the conditions precedent without which they cannot be and grow. One of these states is learning, scholarship. One would expect to find that study, the reading of books, would be its “nutriment." Not at all. It is said to be “repeating over to oneself.” A chance expression of this sort has particular value. For it implies that the basis of learning was what a man carried in his head, in his memory; and that constant repetition was required to prevent his losing it. It is a sort of expression that would have been impossible if books had been in general use.
In the canon law also we find two suggestive rules. In the Vinaja Texts, 1. 267, the rule is that the Pātimokkha, consisting of the 227 Rules of the Order, is to be recited monthly in each “residence" or monastic settlement. And if, among the brethren there, none should know the rules by heart, then they are (not to send for a copy, but) to send one of their younger members to some neighbouring fraternity, there to learn the Pātimokkha, either with or
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
