Lzh Mi Bu Pm Np 10Excessive Prompting for Robe Funds
Pāli / Sanskrit:Rāja
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
DISCOURSE ON EXCESSIVE REQUESTING FOR FUNDS
Background
This text belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, the collection of rules governing the Sangha in Theravāda Buddhism. In the early period after the Buddha’s nirvana, the monastic community developed rapidly, leading to conflicts over lifestyle and material requests. Buddhist laypeople often gathered funds for the Sangha to buy robes, a basic need that could easily be abused.
Experienced bhikkhus in the monastery began to notice that some fellow practitioners lacked steadiness, frequently asked for too much, or put excessive pressure on the lay community. This caused disharmony, loss of trust, and damage to the image of the Sangha. To maintain discipline and protect the purity of the Sangha, the Buddha and the elder disciples established specific rules concerning how to request and use funds for robes.
Main Content
The specific content of this text has not yet been fully translated in the descriptive information; however, according to the Vinaya tradition, the rule “Rāja,” concerning excessive requests, aims to regulate unsuitable conduct by monastics.
According to the general principles of the Vinaya, this text may call upon monastics to observe such matters as: one should not request the same item many times if it has already been provided once. One should not make laypeople uncomfortable through convoluted speech or hints. One should not compare oneself with other bhikkhus in order to provoke jealousy. One should not point to the wealth of the lay community in order to stimulate requests.
Bhikkhus must accept the robe that is provided and use it until it is worn out. If there is a real need, they may request only once, politely, without an improper manner, and must be ready to decline if the layperson is not able. This reflects the Buddhist principles of moderation and self-control (indriyasamvara).
🌏 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.