"::BOOK V::" THE SANGH - The Sangh and its Organisation. - Buddha and his dhamma,

:: 1. The Sangh and its Organisation. ::
1. The followers of the Blessed Lord were divided into two classes: bhikkhus and Lay Followers called upasakas. 
2. The Bhikkhus were organised into a Sangh v while the Upasakas were not. 
3. The Buddhist Bhikkhu is primarily a Pariv-rajaka. This institution of Parivrajaka is older than that of the Buddhist Bhikkhu. 
4. The old Parivrajakas were persons who had abandoned family life and were a mere floating body of wanderers. 
5. They roamed about with a view to ascertain the truth by coming into contact with various teachers and philosophers, listening to their discourses, entering into discussion on matters of ethics, philosophy, nature, mysticism, etc. 
6. Some of the old type of Parivrajakas lived under a teacher until they found another. Others lived singly without acknowledging any master.
7. Among these older type of Parivrajakas there were also women wanderers. The female Parivrajakas sometimes lived with men Parivrajakas; sometimes they lived alone and by themselves.
8. These old type of Parivrajakas had no Sangh, had no rules of discipline and had no ideal to strive for. 
9. It was for the first time that the Blessed Lord organised his followers into a Sangh or fraternity, and gave them rules of discipline and set before them an ideal to pursue and realise.