Lzh Dg Bu Pm 2 Np 27Rainy-Season Robes
Pāli / Sanskrit:Vassikasāṭika
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Discourse on the Rainy-Season Robe (Vassikasāṭika)
Background
In the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, regulations concerning robes are not dry prohibitions, but reflect the wisdom of the Buddha in guiding the Saṅgha in practice. The Vassikasāṭika discourse, the rainy-season robe, is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Pātimokkha, the basic precepts, and arises from specific situations encountered by bhikkhus in their practice of the path.
In the Buddha’s time, the land of India had a long rainy season called vassa. During this season, bhikkhus usually stayed in one place for practice, the rainy-season retreat. The rainy-season robe was not a separate type of robe, but an additional piece of cloth intended to support bhikkhus under damp weather conditions, where robes easily became moldy or damaged.
Main Content
The rule concerning the vassikasāṭika relates to the permission for bhikkhus to possess an additional piece of cloth (sāṭika) during the rainy season in order to protect and maintain the formal robes. This is not an arbitrary exception, but a reasonable regulation within monastic law, approved by the Buddha to meet the practical needs of practitioners.
The discourse stipulates that this robe may be used and kept only during the rainy period, from the fifth to the seventh lunar months in India. After the rainy season ends, the bhikkhu must relinquish this robe or allow it to be counted as part of the property of the Saṅgha. This rule reflects the basic principle of bhikkhu discipline: abandoning what is unnecessary and not accumulating possessions beyond actual need.
The conditions concerning the rainy-season robe also clearly regulate economical and reasonable use. The Buddha did not want bhikkhus or bhikkhunīs to become private owners of too many objects, because that could lead to material attachment and obstruct the path of practice.
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