Ka Bu Pm Np 8Requesting Fine Robes From a Robe Fund
Pāli / Sanskrit:Upakkhata
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The Upakkhata Discourse: Requesting Robes From a Sangha Robe Fund
Background
The Upakkhata discourse is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, specifically in the Pātimokkha Nissaggiya section, offenses of a kind that require relinquishment. This discourse arose from a practical need in Sangha life: how to manage communal property and distribute the requisites of practice.
In the Buddha’s time, monasteries often established common funds to collect robe cloth donated by the people. This fund was called a “robe fund” or “vassa” for caring for the whole Sangha. However, problems arose when monastics tried to request fine, beautiful robes from the common fund for themselves, instead of using coarse robes in accordance with the Vinaya.
Main Content
The Upakkhata discourse concerns the issue of monks and nuns requesting finer, better cloth robes from the common fund dedicated to Sangha affairs. The Vinaya regulation is clear: monks and nuns should use requisites appropriate to the spirit of solitary renunciation and should not be fastidious about the quality of the cloth they wear.
According to the rules in the Pātimokkha, requesting fine robes from the Sangha fund, except in specially permitted cases such as requesting a robe to give to another monastic or in difficult circumstances, is considered a Nissaggiya offense, that is, an offense requiring relinquishment of the item or another means of correction.
The noteworthy point is that the Vinaya does not forbid monks and nuns from possessing fine robes, but forbids greedily or improperly requesting good robes from the common fund. The Vinaya encourages purity in the use of communal property and prevents greed, one of the main mental diseases that Buddhist practice seeks to overcome.
Practical Meaning
The Upakkhata discourse teaches us a profound lesson about purity in the use of common property. In the context of the twenty-first century, this regulation still has spiritual value: abandon the attitude of fastidiousness and greed toward better material things.
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