No. 11.— 1858-9.] LAWS OF THE BUDDHIST PRIESTHOOD. 5 



is to be brought on his couch to the place of meeting. If 

 he be placed under restraint by enemies, so as to be unable 

 to attend, the Sangha is to depute a member to see him, 

 and to receive his declaration of personal purity, and of his 

 assent to the meeting being held. 



The senior priests must be present before the TJpdsatha 

 service is commenced. 



If from any cause, a minority of the priests in the dis- 

 trict commence the service, and afterwards a number 

 larger than those present at the commencement should 

 come in, the service is to be re-commenced : but if the 

 members, who come last, be only equal to those who com- 

 menced the service, or fewer, the service is not to be re- 

 commenced, but only the declaration of personal purity to 

 be received from those who came last. 



It is necessary that five priests should be present to 

 constitute a Sangha for ordinary purposes ; but if only four 

 be present, the TJpdsatha service may be attended to : if 

 there be only two or three persons, they may state their 

 own personal purity. 



If any one has been guilty of a fault, he must go to a 

 pure priest, and having removed his robe from one shoulder, 

 kneel down before him, and with uplifted hands confess 

 his fault : if he profess himself to be sorry for what he has 

 done, and state his determination not to repeat the offence, 

 he may be absolved. But this applies only to minor trans- 

 gressions : absolution from the crimes called Sanghddisesa, 

 can only be granted by the Sangha. 



The Pdtimokkha, which is directed to be recited at 

 every bi-monthly TJpdsatha meeting, contains the whole of 

 the precepts recorded in the Pdrdjika and Pachiti divisions 

 of the Vinaya Pitaka, but without the reasons for their 

 enactment, or the adjudged cases recorded in illustration of 

 the law. The priests being assembled in the TJpdsatha hall, 



