When I read through the unit seven's notes, I found the words "crow-chaser"(kakuttepaka)in Buddhism order which referred to children as young as seven can be accepted into the order.I had read an article in "Dharma Light Monthly" in Chinese stated the sources of this term in various vinaya in different schools in Chinese and how the term was misinterpreted.My interest are :
From which part of the pali vinaya that this story came from?
How Therevada Buddhism perceived this rule?
What was the meaning of "crow-chaser"in its original text?
Was it the children are able to chase away crow on their own?
Was it the children can chase away crow when they are eating?
Was it the children can help to chase away crow while other members in the order are eating?
Why the ability to chase crow was adopted by Buddha?
Was there any other occasions that Buddha mentioned about other abilities as the prerequisite for children younger than fourteen to enter the order?
Any historical evidences that crows were important during lifetime of Buddha in India?
How the order adopting this rule in modern days?
"Crow-chaser" (kakuttepaka)
I'm going to try to reply this based on my own interpretation.
The only mention is in the text book, but I haven't really did a literature search.
Going back, if you go to a temple in the evenings, you see young children (about 7 - 12) playing in the courtyard, and chasing the birds (for fun). I guess that's why they just call them crow chaser. They are too young to understand the patimokka, such as lust, money... most likely they are just orphaned, staying under the protection of the temples.
I guess its just a simple term we call those kids "crow chaser". If the kids get a kick out of chasing cows, they'd probably were called "cow chaser" instead.
Historical perspective
Thanks for your sharing. But i would like to know more from the historical perspective and from the original text what actually happened at that point of time.