By Kurtis Schaeffer (University of Virginia, 2009)
This is the Tengyur’s section of commentaries on Vinaya (འདུལ་བ་, ’dul ba), and contains forty-six works in eighteen volumes. As in the preceding Abhidharma section, Zhuchen classifies all the works here as Hīnayāna. The beginning of the section (D.4133-D.4139) is dominated by large commentaries on the Aphorisms on Personal Liberation (སོ་ཐར་གྱི་མདོ་, so thar gyi mdo, pratimokṣa-sūtra, D.0002), the basic text of monastic regulation for monks. These commentaries fill nearly six volumes, and collectively amount to over fifteen-hundred folios. They are followed by a single commentary on the monastic regulations for nuns (D.4141).
The next major work is Aphorisms on Monastic Conduct (འདུལ་བའི་མདོ་, ’dul ba’i mdo, vinaya-sūtra, D.4146) by Guṇaprabhā (ཡོན་ཏན་འོད་, yon tan ’od); this work, along with its four lengthy commentaries (D.4148-D.4251), came to hold a central place in the Tibetan scholastic curriculum.
A diverse group of minor works, mostly in verse, concludes the section. Zhuchen refers to these (D.4146-D.4178) as commentaries upon the “general intention” of the Vinaya teachings. These include four brief narrative works (རྟོགས་པ་བརྗོད་པ་, rtogs pa brjod pa, avadāna) of Indian figures (D.4173-D.4176). The section concludes with a brief commentary on the famous “ye dharma” prayer (D.4178).