SuttaCentral
“The compilers of the Buddhist texts sometimes invented passages to conform with prevailing patterns. We know this; there are explicit instructions in two Vinayas that the monks should do this, together with details as to how it should be done.”
From
Can I get some references to this in the Vinaya?
I haven’t got the references at my fingertips, but they were mentioned by Schopen, and occur in the Mahasanghika and Mulasarvastivada Vinayas.
The basic idea was not that they were allowing blanket revisions of the texts—a mistake made by Schopen—but that they allowed completion of the narrative backgrounds according to a pattern. So if no city is mentioned, assume it was Savatthi; if a laywoman is mentioned but not named, assume it was Visākhā, and so on.
Thank you venerable 