Lzh Mg Bi Pm Pc 71Borrowed Robes
Pāli / Sanskrit:Cīvarasaṅkamanīya
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The Cīvarasaṅkamanīya Sutta: The Vinaya Rule on Borrowed Robes
Background
The Pātimokkha (Code of Discipline) within the Vinaya Piṭaka records the detailed regulations that monks must observe. These rules took shape through the teachings of the Blessed One Śākyamuni based on specific situations that arose within the monastic community. The Cīvarasaṅkamanīya falls within the Pācittiya section, the regulations concerning offenses requiring confession — conduct that is less grave but must nonetheless be corrected with due seriousness.
Specifically, the Vinaya recensions of the various Early Buddhist schools all record events related to the use of another person's belongings, particularly robes. This portion of the text arose from conflicts or misunderstandings among monks who borrowed one another's robes without clear consent from the owner.
Main Content
The regulation concerning Cīvarasaṅkamanīya (the borrowing of robes) aims to protect individual ownership and to maintain harmony within the Saṅgha. The text stipulates that a monk is not permitted to borrow another monk's robe without explicit approval from that monk or from a person duly authorized by him. If a monk takes another's robe without asking — whether inadvertently or intentionally — he commits a Pācittiya offense.
However, this regulation also acknowledges exceptional circumstances. If the owner of the robe has clearly granted permission to borrow it, or if there exists a general understanding within the community that certain items may be used in common, then such use is legitimate. What is essential is that there be sacetanā (awareness, clear intention) on the part of the owner.
This rule likewise relates to the broader principle of respecting the property of others, a part of Buddhist ethics. Among the fundamental Five Precepts, the monastic must observe the precept of Adinnādānā veramaṇī (refraining from taking what is not given), and the regulation on borrowed robes is a specific application of this principle within the life of the Saṅgha.
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