Mahavagga

Mahavagga, meaning Great Chapter, is the first book of the Vinaya Pitaka, the disciplinary portion of the Pali Canon in Theravada Buddhism. It provides the narrative frame for the Vinaya material, presenting material related to the life of the Buddha and the founding of the bhikkhu sangha, and it introduces the basic framework of monastic discipline that is elaborated in later sections. The Mahavagga covers aspects of the Buddha’s early life and renunciation as a preface to the establishment of the monastic community, and it recounts the processes by which new monks and nuns are ordained and admitted into the community. It also outlines procedures for keeping and reciting the monastic rules—the Patimokkha—and for the governance of monastic life. The book thus functions as both biographical and regulatory, linking the historical origins of the sangha with the institutional code that governs daily monastic practice.

In textual history, the Mahavagga is regarded as an early Vinaya text, preserved in the Theravada tradition and represented in parallel forms in other canons, including Chinese translations in the Taisho edition. It is typically followed by Cullavagga, which continues Vinaya material with further details on ordination, procedures, and monastic regulations. Scholarly study of the Mahavagga focuses on its dating, authorship, and its role in shaping the early Buddhist monastic code.