THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY INDIAN BUDDHISM 67According to tradition, Asoka's successors showed no interest in continuing
his policies, and the fall of the Mauryas half a century after his death may have
been due, in part, to their shortsightedness. Asoka's main success was in his
contribution to the Buddhist tradition. His example established an extremely
influential model of the ideal but practicable Buddhist state and the dedicated
lay person-a model that later Buddhists never forgot. Thus, alongside the
Sangha and its monastic ideals, there developed a parallel tradition whose goals
involved achieving the Dharma's ends in social and political contexts.3.4 RELIGIOUS LIFE IN THE
EARLY CENTURIESThe early canons provide an account of the practices of the community, lay as
well as monastic, during the second century B.C.E. The Vinaya Piraka pre-
scribes the correct life for the monks and nuns, and describes, in telling the
origin of each rule, the colorful abuses against which the order had to protect
itself. In doing so, it paints a detailed and quite realistic picture of the monas-
tic community, along with its relations with the laity. At the same time, pas-
sages from the Vinaya and Siitra also disclose the norms for lay Buddhist
practice. Archaeological evidence, in the form of art and architectural remains,
completes this picture by indicating cultic aspects of religious life in the early
years of the tradition.
3.4.1 The Code of Discipline for Monks
The Bhik?u Pratimok~a (in Pali, Bhikkhu Patimokkha), the central code of disci-
pline and the heart of the Vinaya Pi!aka, defines five classes of offense, pre-
scribes rules of deportment, and establishes procedural guidelines for the
peaceful running of the community in a way that is at the same time con-
ducive to the individual training of the mind. A similar code governed the
lives of nuns. The following account draws from the Pali and Mahasanghika
versions, which differ only in minor details.
Four offenses warrant immediate and permanent expulsion: fornication,
grand larceny, killing a human being (this includes recommending abortion),
and falsely claiming spiritual attainments (Strong EB, sec. 2.3.1). Thirteen of-
fenses require a formal meeting of the Sangha chapter and are punished with
probation. The first five of these concern sex: intentional ejaculation, touch-
ing a woman with lustful intent, speaking suggestively to her, telling her that
she would benefit spiritually by yielding sexually to a man of religion, and
serving as a matchmaker. Two rules deal with the prescribed size and the ap-
proved site of monks' dwellings. Six pertain to concord in the order. For ex-
ample, it is an offense to falsely accuse a fellow monk of an offense that merits
expulsion or to support such an accusation with misleading testimony. It is an