(Mv.IV.5.1) [231] Now on that occasion there were five monks staying in a certain residence on the day of the Invitation. Then the thought occurred to them, “It has been laid down by the Blessed One that the Saṅgha should invite. But we are five people — how should we invite?”

They reported the matter to the Blessed One.

“I allow the Saṅgha to invite when there are five.”

(Mv.IV.5.2) Now on that occasion there were four monks staying in a certain residence on the day of the Invitation. Then the thought occurred to them, “It has been laid down by the Blessed One for the Saṅgha to invite when there are five. But we are four people — how should we invite?”

They reported the matter to the Blessed One.

“Monks, I allow that a mutual Invitation be performed when there are four.”

(Mv.IV.5.3) “And, monks, you should invite like this:(2)

“An experienced and competent monk should inform the monks:

“‘May the venerable ones listen to me. Today is the Invitation.

“‘If the venerable ones are ready, we should mutually invite.’

“The senior(most) monk should arrange his upper robe over one shoulder, sit in the kneeling position with his hands placed palm-to-palm over the heart and say,

“‘Friends, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.(3)

“‘A second time, friends, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A third time, friends, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.’

“A junior monk should arrange his upper robe over one shoulder, sit in the kneeling position with his hands placed palm-to-palm over the heart and say,

“‘Venerable sirs, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A second time, venerable sirs, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A third time, venerable sirs, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.’”

(Mv.IV.5.4) Now on that occasion there were three monks staying in a certain residence on the day of the Invitation. Then the thought occurred to them, “It has been laid down by the Blessed One for the Saṅgha to invite when there are five, and that a mutual Invitation be performed when there are four. But we are three people — how should we invite?”

They reported the matter to the Blessed One.

“Monks, I allow that a mutual Invitation be performed when there are three.”

“And, monks, you should invite like this:

“An experienced and competent monk should inform the monks:

“‘May the venerable ones(4) listen to me. Today is the Invitation.

“‘If the venerable ones are ready, we should mutually invite.’

“The senior(most) monk should arrange his upper robe over one shoulder, sit in the kneeling position with his hands placed palm-to-palm over the heart and say,

“‘Friends, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A second time, friends, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A third time, friends, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.’

“A junior monk should arrange his upper robe over one shoulder, sit in the kneeling position with his hands placed palm-to-palm over the heart and say,

“‘Venerable sirs, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A second time, venerable sirs, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A third time, venerable sirs, I invite the venerable ones to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.’”

(Mv.IV.5.5) Now on that occasion there were two monks staying in a certain residence on the day of the Invitation. Then the thought occurred to them, “It has been laid down by the Blessed One for the Saṅgha to invite when there are five, that a mutual Invitation be performed when there are four, and that a mutual Invitation be performed when there are three. But we are two people — how should we perform the Invitation?”

They reported the matter to the Blessed One.

“Monks, I allow that a mutual Invitation be performed when there are two.”

(Mv.IV.5.6) “And, monks, you should invite like this:

“The senior monk should arrange his upper robe over one shoulder, sit in the kneeling position with his hands placed palm-to-palm over the heart(5) and say to the junior monk,

“‘Friend, I invite the venerable one to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A second time, friend, I invite the venerable one to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A third time, friend, I invite the venerable one to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.’

“The junior monk should arrange his upper robe over one shoulder, sit in the kneeling position with his hands placed palm-to-palm over the heart and say,

“‘Venerable sir, I invite the venerable one to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A second time, venerable sir, I invite the venerable one to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.

“‘A third time, venerable sir, I invite the venerable one to speak to me — out of sympathy — with regard to what is seen, heard, or suspected. On seeing (the offense), I will make amends.’”

(Mv.IV.5.7) Now on that occasion there was one monk staying in a certain residence on the day of the Invitation. Then the thought occurred to them, “It has been laid down by the Blessed One for the Saṅgha to invite when there are five, that a mutual Invitation be performed when there are four, that the mutual Invitation should be performed by a (group) of three, and that the mutual Invitation should be performed by a (group) of two. But I am alone — how should I perform the Invitation?”

They reported the matter to the Blessed One.

(Mv.IV.5.8) “Monks, there is the case where there is one monk staying in a certain residence on the day of the Invitation.

“Having swept the place where the monks gather — an assembly hall, a pavilion, or the root of a tree — having set out drinking water and washing water, having laid out a seat, having made a light, he should sit down.

“If other monks arrive, he should invite together with them. If not, he should determine: ‘Today is my Invitation.’ If he does not determined (this): an offense of wrong doing.(6)

(Mv.IV.5.9) “In the case that five monks are staying together, a Saṅgha of four should not invite after having brought the invitation of one. If they should invite: an offense of wrong doing.

“In the case that four monks are staying together, the mutual Invitation should not be performed by a Saṅgha of three after having brought the invitation of one. If they should invite: an offense of wrong doing.

“In the case that three monks are staying together, the mutual Invitation should not be performed by a Saṅgha of two after having brought the invitation of one. If they should invite: an offense of wrong doing.

“In the case that two monks are staying together, one should not determine, after having brought the invitation of one. If he should determine: an offense of wrong doing.”(7)