Lzh Dg Bi Vb Np 28Swapping Robes

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– NISSAGGIYA PĀCITTIYA

RULE 28

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, in the land of Śrāvastī. At that time, the bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā exchanged a robe with another bhikkhunī. Afterward, out of anger, she seized it back, saying: "Return the robe to me. I did not exchange it with you. Your robe belongs to you. My robe belongs to me. You take your own robe. I will take back my own robe."

At that time, the bhikkhunīs who heard of this — among them those of few desires and contentment, who practiced the dhutaṅga, who delighted in training in the precepts, who possessed a sense of shame and remorse — reproached the bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā: "How could you exchange a robe with a bhikkhunī, and then, out of anger, seize it back and say, 'Return the robe to me. I did not exchange it with you. Your robe belongs to you. My robe belongs to me. You take your own robe. I will take back my own robe'?"

The bhikkhunīs then went and reported this to the bhikkhus. The bhikkhus went and reported it to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this matter, convened an assembly of the bhikkhu Saṅgha and rebuked the bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā:

"What you have done is wrong, is not proper conduct, is not the practice of a renunciant, is not pure conduct, is not in accordance with the training, and is something that should not be done. Bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā, how could you exchange a robe with another bhikkhunī and then, out of anger, seize it back?"

Having rebuked the bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā by numerous means, the Buddha said to the bhikkhus:

"This bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā is a field that cultivates many kinds of defiled seeds, and she is the first to commit this offense. From this day forward, I shall lay down the precept for the bhikkhunīs, comprising ten points of meaning, up to and including the phrase 'so that the true Dharma may long endure.'"

The precept should be spoken as follows:

Whatever bhikkhunī exchanges a robe with another bhikkhunī, and afterward, out of anger, seizes it back or instructs another to seize it back, saying, "Return my robe to me. I did not exchange it with you. Your robe belongs to you. My robe is to be returned to me" — nissaggiya pācittiya.

B. THE ANALYSIS OF THE RULE

Bhikkhunī: As explained above.

Robe: There are ten kinds, as above.

Exchange: Using a robe to exchange for a robe; using a robe to exchange for a non-robe; using a non-robe to exchange for a robe; or using a non-robe to exchange for a non-robe. Or exchanging with gold, knives, thread, or miscellaneous articles; down to exchanging with a single pill of medicine.

If a bhikkhunī exchanges a robe with another bhikkhunī and afterward, out of anger, seizes it back, or instructs another to seize it and puts it away — nissaggiya pācittiya. If she seizes it but does not put it away — dukkaṭa. If the other bhikkhunī has hung the robe on a tree, on a wall, on a fence, on a post, on an elephant's tusk, on a robe-peg, on a rope bed, on a wooden bed, on a large or small mattress, or has spread it on the ground, and she takes it from that place — nissaggiya pācittiya. If she takes it without removing it from that place — dukkaṭa.

This nissaggiya item must be forfeited to the Saṅgha, as before. After forfeiting, one must confess, as before.

The Saṅgha must return that robe through a motion-and-one-proclamation formal act, as before. If it is not returned, receiving it as one of the five robes, or continuing to use and wear it — all such cases incur dukkaṭa, as above.

For a bhikkhu — dukkaṭa. For a śikṣamāṇā, a śrāmaṇera, or a śrāmaṇerī — dukkaṭa. These are the offenses.

Non-offense: If one speaks gently and persuasively, saying, "Venerable, I am regretful. Please return my robe to me," and the other, knowing of the regret, returns the robe — there is no offense. Or if another bhikkhunī says, "This bhikkhunī wishes to exchange back; you should return the robe to her" — there is no offense.

Or if the other has borrowed and worn the robe in an improper manner, and therefore one must reclaim it — there is no offense. Or if one foresees that it will be lost, or fears it will be damaged; or if the other party has broken the precepts, broken right view, or broken proper conduct; or if she has been formally accused, or expelled, or is subject to expulsion; or if the matter would lead to a threat to one's life or to one's brahmacariyā — and one seizes the robe back without putting it away — in all such cases there is no offense.

Those who commit no offense: one who offends for the first time before the rule has been promulgated; one who is insane, mentally deranged, or overcome with severe pain.

Vietnamese translation: Bhikkhu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. FOUR-PART VINAYA, PART ONE

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated by: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

(Chinese translation, fascicles 1–21; Vietnamese translation, volumes 1 and 2)

Buddhist Studies Editorial Board, 2002