Hello, I can see that on the main site there is lack of mulasarvastivada vinaya Vibhanga texts, even lack in original texts (Chinese and Tibetan), is is any plans to post Vinaya Vibhanga at least in Chinese or Tibetan?
I would dearly love to. When I was was preparing the Vinaya texts for SC, I researched the Mulasarv Vinaya and sketched out an approach. But ultimately the sheer scale and complexity of it defeated me.
At the time, there was also ongoing research into its structure. I planned to wait for the completion of that and then underatke the task. But then, well, I started translating the Suttas and got distracted. If anyone wants to do it, great!
You can access them on CBETA portal. I think this is the link:
Given that this is one of the 3 surviving vinaya lineages, I think that is worth porting them here. More strength to your elbow. ![]()
It’s just really complex to do it well. The Chinese and Sanskrit versions are incomplete, so we need the Tibetan version to get a full picture of the structure. Then we need to figure out how the text is to be divided, since the Chinese text is not divided semantically, but by juan. Then we need to somehow reconcile the differences between the versions. And so on. All on a massive body of text that is rarely read. It’s not impossible but it’s a lot of work.
Humongous task! Wouldn’t it be nice to have it, though?
I know some of our robe making instructions actually come from the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya, where, for example, the size of the frame of the robe is specified and it is narrower than in other Vinayas. How nerdy on my part ![]()
The starting point would be to review the scholarship over the last decade or so. I believe there’s been some work to identify the different parts of the MSV and how they relate to each other. That’ll give an idea of the scope of the project.
Like the arrangment the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya where the text of a rule may straddle across two juans (卷)? I notice that the text in CBETA has better punctuation marks than the text hosted here. I’m not sure if that’s due to new updates on CBETA.
Perhaps, Bhante shouldn’t reveal the full scale of effort required for this task and scare away potential volunteer. In Kd1:31.1.1, we see a good example of luring new candidate without revealing the stuff awaiting them.
Soon afterwards a young brahmin went to the monks and asked for the going forth. The monks told him about the four supports. He said, “Venerables, if you had told me about this after my going forth, I would have been fine. But now I won’t go forth, for these supports are disgusting and repulsive to me.” They told the Buddha.
“You shouldn’t point out the supports beforehand. If you do, you commit an offense of wrong conduct. You should point out the supports immediately after the full ordination.”
Very sneaky, but I like that strategy. Get them sign up for the task, Bhante. Not me though.