Overview
The Uposatha is the day on which the monks gather to recite the Pāṭimokkha. The Mahāvagga allows the recitation “once a fortnight, on the fourteenth or the fifteenth” (sakiṃ pakkhassa cātuddase vā pannarase vā pātimokkhaṃ uddisituṃ, Kkh 1236:5, quoting Mahāvagga). The Parivāra and the commentaries count three kinds of Uposatha by the day on which it is held (divasavasena tayo uposathā, Kkh 1236:3): the fourteenth-day, the fifteenth-day and the Uposatha of harmony. Only the fifteenth-day Uposatha falls on the full moon (or new moon) night; the fourteenth-day one does not, which is why this page speaks of “Uposatha days”, not “full-moon days”.
The List
- Cātuddasiko Uposatha - Fourteenth-day Uposatha: of the Uposathas of a year, twenty-four in all, six are of the fourteenth day: two in the third and seventh fortnights of each of the three seasons, winter, summer and rains (Kkh 1236:4). With a fitting reason, an Uposatha may be held on another fourteenth day (Kkh 1236:5).
- Paṇṇarasiko Uposatha - Fifteenth-day Uposatha: the remaining eighteen of the twenty-four are of the fifteenth day (Kkh 1236:4); this is the regular rule (pakaticārittaṃ).
- Sāmaggī-uposatha - Harmony Uposatha: when, as told in the Kosambaka section, a split Saṅgha is reconciled, “the Uposatha is to be held at once, the Pātimokkha is to be recited” (tāvadeva uposatho kātabbo, pātimokkhaṃ uddisitabbaṃ, Vin-iii 2698:1). Any day other than the fourteenth and the fifteenth can be the day of the Uposatha of harmony (Kkh 1236:8). The Ṭīkā defines it as “the Uposatha to be held on the day of the Saṅgha’s harmony” (Vin-alaṅke 1035:4).
Quote
Tayo uposathā – cātuddasiko, pannarasiko, sāmaggiuposatho.
There are three Uposathas: the fourteenth day, the fifteenth day, and the harmonious Uposatha.— Vinaya Piṭaka (Parivāra, Tikavāra) · TPR
Textual References
- Canonical: Uposatha Khandhaka (Mahāvagga, Vinaya) – Gives only two Uposatha days: “Dveme, bhikkhave, uposathā – cātuddasiko ca pannarasiko ca” (Vin-iii 817:4). The Parivāra (Vin-v 1982:1) is the Mūla text that adds the third, “sāmaggiuposatho”.
- Commentary: Kaṅkhāvitaraṇī (Kkh 1236:3-8) – “Divasavasena hi tayo uposathā cātuddasiko pannarasiko sāmaggiuposatho”; six fourteenth-day Uposathas fall in each year (the third and seventh fortnights of each season) and the other eighteen are fifteenth-day; the Uposatha of harmony is held on the very day a split Saṅgha is reconciled (Kosambaka section, “tāvadeva uposatho kātabbo”, Vin-iii 2698:1).
- Ṭīkā: Vinayālaṅkāra-ṭīkā (Vin-alaṅke 1035:2-4) – the same three, and the Uposatha of harmony is “the Uposatha to be done on the day of the Saṅgha’s harmony”.