TY - JOUR
T1 - The Story of Dharmadinna
T2 - Ordination by Messenger in the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya
AU - Yao, Fumi
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - In the Ksudrakavastu of the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya, the nun Dharmadinna is ordained not in the usual way, but rather by a messenger, a valid type of ordination listed in the various lists of types of ordination in Indian Buddhist texts. While both the story of Dharmadinna and these lists have received some scholarly attention, what has not been noted is the peculiarity of the Mulasarvastivadin tradition in relation to other existing vinayas on the issue of ordination by messenger. In this paper, I examine the story of Dharmadinna's ordination in the Ksudrakavastu with special reference to its highly narrative characteristics and its surprising lack of legal elements. Then I discuss how the above characteristics are related to the list of different types of ordination which appears in other parts of this vinaya. As Appendices, I present a comparative table of the story and its counterparts in the other vinayas and a comparative table of the lists of types of ordination found in different texts.
AB - In the Ksudrakavastu of the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya, the nun Dharmadinna is ordained not in the usual way, but rather by a messenger, a valid type of ordination listed in the various lists of types of ordination in Indian Buddhist texts. While both the story of Dharmadinna and these lists have received some scholarly attention, what has not been noted is the peculiarity of the Mulasarvastivadin tradition in relation to other existing vinayas on the issue of ordination by messenger. In this paper, I examine the story of Dharmadinna's ordination in the Ksudrakavastu with special reference to its highly narrative characteristics and its surprising lack of legal elements. Then I discuss how the above characteristics are related to the list of different types of ordination which appears in other parts of this vinaya. As Appendices, I present a comparative table of the story and its counterparts in the other vinayas and a comparative table of the lists of types of ordination found in different texts.
KW - avadana
KW - bhiksuni
KW - Dharmadinna
KW - Ksudrakavastu
KW - Mulasarvastivada Vinaya
KW - nun
KW - ordination
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U2 - 10.1163/15728536-05800062
DO - 10.1163/15728536-05800062
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84941054680
VL - 58
SP - 216
EP - 253
JO - Indo-Iranian Journal
JF - Indo-Iranian Journal
SN - 0019-7246
IS - 3
ER -