Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 106Borrowed Robes

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 106

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Bhagavā was dwelling in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, in the country of Śrāvastī. At that time, a bhikkhunī put on another person's saṅghāṭī robe without informing the owner, and went into a village to seek alms. The owner, not knowing, thought that her robe had been lost, and upon searching found the bhikkhunī wearing it, and said:

"You have committed theft."

That bhikkhunī said:

"I did not steal your robe. I took it to wear thinking it belonged to a close acquaintance."

The bhikkhunīs heard of this, and among them were those of few desires, who were content, who practiced the ascetic practices, who were fond of training in the rules, and who had a sense of shame and remorse. They rebuked that bhikkhunī: "Why did you take and wear another person's robe without telling the owner, causing them to think their robe had been lost?"

The bhikkhunīs then went and reported the matter to the bhikkhus. The bhikkhus went and reported it to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this matter, assembled the Sangha of bhikkhus and rebuked that bhikkhunī:

"What you have done is wrong, unbecoming, not in accordance with the deportment of a monastic, not in accordance with pure conduct, not in accordance with proper behavior — it is something that should not be done. Why did a bhikkhunī take and wear a robe without telling the owner, causing the person to think the robe was lost and to go searching for it?"

The Blessed One, having rebuked her with countless expedient means, said to the bhikkhus:

"This bhikkhunī is a field that nurtures many kinds of defiling seeds, and she is the first to transgress this rule. From this day forward, I shall lay down a rule for the bhikkhunīs consisting of ten bases of meaning, up to and including the phrase 'so that the true Dharma may long endure.'"

The rule should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikkhunī takes another person's robe and wears it without asking the owner: pācittiya.

B. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RULE

Bhikkhunī: as defined above.

Whatever bhikkhunī takes another person's robe and wears it without informing the owner, and goes into a village seeking alms: pācittiya.

For a bhikkhu: dukkaṭa. For a sikkhāmānā, a sāmaṇera, or a sāmaṇerī: dukkaṭa. These are called transgressions.

Non-transgression: if she has informed the owner; or if they are close acquaintances, or a close acquaintance says, "Go ahead and wear it — I will inform the owner on your behalf," then there is no transgression.

Those who do not transgress: one who transgresses for the first time before the rule has been laid down; one who is insane, of deranged mind, or afflicted and overwhelmed by 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 Publication Committee, 2002