concerning robes, rugs, bowls, and other rather uninteresting topics,
all discussed in the form of a confession.[39] The church-reader goes
over the rules in the presence of the congregation, and asks at the
end of each section whether any one is guilty of having broken this
rule. If at the third repetition no one responds, he says, 'They are
declared innocent by their silence.' This was the first public
confessional, although, as we have shown above, the idea of a partial
remission of sin by means of confession to the priest is found in
Brahmanic literature.[40] The confession extends to very small
matters, but one sees from other texts that the early congregation
laid a great deal of weight on details, such as dress, as the sign of
a sober life. Thus in _Mah[=a]vagga_, V. 2 ff., certain Buddhists
dress in a worldly way. At one time one is informed of the color of
their heretical slippers, at another of the make of their wicked
gowns. All this is monastic, even in the discipline which 'sets back'
a badly behaved monk, gives him probation, forces him to be
subordinate. In _Cullavagga_, I. 9, there is an account of stupid
Seyyasaka, who was dull and indiscreet, and was always getting 'set
back' by the brethren. Finally they grow weary of probating him and
carry out the _nissaya_ against him, obliging him to remain under the
superintendence of others. For, according to Buddha's rule, a wise
novice was kept under surveillance, or rather under the authority of
others, for five years; a stupid uninformed monk, forever. Buddha's
relations with society are plainly set forth. One reads how his
devoted friend, King Seniya Bimbis[=a]ra, four years younger than
Buddha, and his protector (for he was King of M[=a]gadha), gives him a
park, perhaps the first donation of this sort, the origin of all the
monastic foundations: "The King of M[=a]gadha, Bimbis[=a]ra, thought
'here is this bamboo forest Venuvana, my pleasure-garden, which is
neither too near to the town nor too far from it.... What if I were to
give it to the fraternity?' ... And he took a golden vessel (of water)
and dedicated the garden to Buddha, saying, 'I give up the park to the
fraternity with Buddha at its head.' And the Blessed One accepted the
park" (_Mah[=a]vagga_, i. 22).[41] Another such park Buddha accepts
from the courtezan, Ambap[=a]li, whose conversation with Buddha and
dinner-party to him forms a favorite story with the monks (_Mah[=a]v._
v. 30; _Cull_. ii