Lzh Dg Bu Pm Pc 89Rainy-Season Robes
Pāli / Sanskrit:Vassikasāṭikā
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SUTRA ON RAINY-SEASON ROBES (VASSIKASĀṬIKĀ)
Background
The Vassikasāṭikā sutra is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga or Bhikkhu Vibhaṅga, depending on the recension. It concerns regulations on making and using monastic robes during the rainy season (vassa), a very important period of practice in the Theravāda tradition.
The rainy season (vassa) is a three-month period, roughly July to October by the solar calendar, during which bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs do not travel but concentrate their practice at monasteries or monastic dwellings. During this period, the Buddha and his disciples usually resided in one place to have better conditions for Dharma practice. The Vassikasāṭikā sutra was established to address a practical problem: how bhikkhus could prepare appropriate monastic robes for the rainy season, when the climate is damp and robes are easily damaged.
Main Content
This sutra records regulations on the right to use certain kinds of cloth and the manner of making special robes for the rainy season. According to the Pāli Canon tradition, a bhikkhu is permitted to prepare a “rainy-season robe” (vassikasāṭika) from certain kinds of cloth, not overly luxurious but sufficiently durable and capable of keeping warmth in damp weather.
The sutra clearly regulates the time of preparation: a bhikkhu should prepare this robe before the official beginning of the rainy season. If someone prepares it after the deadline, permission from the Sangha is required. This reflects a principle of the Vinaya: all activities related to the use and possession of material things require the oversight and consent of the monastic community, in order to avoid arbitrariness and preserve common discipline.
In addition, this sutra also mentions exceptional situations: if a bhikkhu is ill or in difficult circumstances, he is permitted to ask someone else to make the rainy-season robe for him under specific conditions. This shows that the Buddha’s Dharma is not rigid, but always takes humane circumstances into account.
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