Lzh Dg Bi Pm Np 1The Robe-Making Season
Pāli / Sanskrit:Kathina
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Explanation of the Kathina Scripture - The Robe-Making Season
Background
The Kathina scripture (Pāli: Kathina, translated as "frame for sewing") is an important part of the Theravāda Vinaya, recording the regulations related to the annual robe-offering ceremony held in the Buddhist Sangha. This event originated in the time of the Buddha Gautama, when mature devotees recognized the need to provide new robes for bhikkhus after the rains retreat (vassa).
Each year, after the end of the three-month rains retreat (around the tenth lunar month), the Sangha holds the Kathina ceremony to offer robes and practice requisites. This is not only a material act but also an expression of respect, confidence, and interaction between the Sangha and the Buddhist lay community in the world of practice.
Main Content
The Kathina scripture records detailed regulations on how this ceremony is to be organized. First, only bhikkhus (or bhikkhunīs) who have completed the rains retreat are allowed to receive robes from the Kathina offering. This is intended to maintain discipline and integrity in the Sangha.
Another important detail concerns the "Kathina frame" (kathina-pamukha)--a wooden frame used for sewing robes. The process of preparing the cloth, cutting, sewing, and completing the robe must be carried out within one day and night, beginning at sunrise and ending by sunrise the following day. This regulation symbolizes urgency, attentiveness, and the active cooperation of the community.
The Kathina scripture also stipulates that after the Kathina has been successfully held, the Sangha receives legal benefits: monastics are permitted to reside away from the monastery for a period, certain restrictions concerning the wearing of robes are relaxed, and robes may be used after the Kathina period until the next rains retreat without concern about criticism from outside.
Practical Meaning
Spiritually, Kathina is not merely an ordinary religious festival but a symbol of mutual correspondence between monastics and laypeople on the path of liberation.
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