Lzh Mg Bi Pm Np 3Out-of-Season Robe Cloth
Pāli / Sanskrit:Akālacīvara
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
The Sūtra on Out-of-Season Robe Cloth (Akālacīvara)
Background
The Akālacīvara is an important section within the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. It is recorded among the regulations governing the community of bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs of Theravāda Buddhism, specifically within the Pātimokkha, or the fundamental rules of training.
The context of this text concerns the management of material requisites for monastics—specifically robe cloth (cīvara). Within the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Buddha established detailed regulations regarding how monastics make use of material goods and manage communal property. This is by no means outside the scope of the Dhamma—it is, rather, an integral part of the practice of purity and the avoidance of exploitation.
Principal Content
This text addresses the matter of using robe cloth outside of the prescribed season. According to the rules of the Vinaya Piṭaka, cloth and robes are subject to specific periods of permissible use. Retaining or making use of robe cloth outside of the designated period is regarded as conduct incompatible with monastic discipline.
Specifically, the Buddha taught that monastics should not accumulate or use robes outside of the prescribed seasons—the rainy season, the dry season, and the windy season. Each season brings different needs, and excessive accumulation or retention of robes beyond the appropriate period is regarded as a form of concealed greed.
This matter also relates to the principle of non-possessiveness (apariggaha)—monastics should retain only what is necessary for their practice. Robes are among the "five basic requisites" (pañcakaṅga) that a monastic requires, yet to exceed one's actual needs constitutes a violation of the spirit of the Vinaya.
Practical Significance
The Akālacīvara is not merely an administrative regulation—it reflects a profound principle of the Buddhadhamma: the cultivation of independence and the relinquishment of desire. By instructing monastics to retain only what is necessary and only at the proper time, the Buddha assists them in cultivating non-covetousness (anabhijjhā), one of the three wholesome actions.
Furthermore, the careful management of communal property serves to sustain harmony within the monastic Sangha.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.