The idea of total detachment pervading every sentence of this verse illustrates concisely the fundamental ambience associated with the early Buddhist quest: detachment, freedom from ties, renunciation of the world, celibacy. As both religious attitude and life style practice, adoption of an attitude of total detachment has done much to define the image of the monk throughout the ages since the beginnings of Buddhism. In the world today, and in several recent centuries for which good evidence is available, there is no doubt that the order of Buddhist monks has had plenty of interaction with society; in many countries it has necessarily been integrated within the pattern of social, cultural and even political systems. A fundamental dichotomy appears then as the monks who received the earliest Buddhist message were expected to live it as homeless mendicants, severing all ties with society in order to devote themselves fully to the search for enlightenment. The problem faced in this book is to explain how, right from the beginning, Buddhism has from a doctrinal viewpoint required of its order of monks the practical application of an ethic of renunciation and detachment and yet this very same order has remained a vibrant part of society, culture or politics wherever Buddhism has flourished.