Lzh Sarv Bi Vb Np 23Asking a Group for Fine Robes

Sutra Interpretation: Asking a Group for Fine Robes

Background

This sutra belongs to the Nipāta section (Pātimokkha, the prohibitions) of the Vinaya Piṭaka, one of the three main collections of the Pāli Canon. The Vinaya Piṭaka is the collection of rules for practice established by the Buddha for the community of monks and nuns, in order to protect the religious life and maintain discipline in the Sangha.

This sutra concerns how to deal with material goods, especially valuable requisites such as fine outer robes (uttarasaṅga, the outer garment). In the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, monks are permitted to possess the necessities for practice, but are forbidden to accumulate or urge for possessions that may lead to greed and attachment to self. This sutra identifies specific situations in which monks may or may not request fine material goods from people or from others in the community.

Main Content

In the Vinaya context, this sutra refers to the principle that a monk should not actively ask for or press (glosana) a group of people for valuable requisites, whether householders or other monks. The act of "asking for fine robes" expresses attachment to material things, which is contrary to the spirit of renouncing sensual pleasures (nekkhamma) that monks have vowed to uphold.

The sutra stipulates that if a monk deliberately asks for, takes great delight in, or expresses a desire to possess outer garments or cloth considered "fine" (good, of high quality, valuable), this action can give rise to many faults. First, it creates the conditions for householders to squander their property. Second, it causes jealousy or dissatisfaction among other monks. Third, it weakens public faith in the Sangha, because monastics appear as people who are greedy or not free from desire.

These regulations are intended to protect the purity of the Sangha and to maintain the image of monks as those who have truly gone forth, renouncing the world.