"Begging for food." Also written in Chinese as tuobai 托钵. The monks and nuns gain their sustenance by begging for food from householders. There are various rules concerning begging set forth in the Vinaya texts， such as the limitation of begging time up to 12:00 noon and the limitation of begging only for what one needs for basic sustenance. （pinda-ca^rika， bhaiks!ya， pinda）