Lzh Sarv Bu Pm 2 Pc 38Storing Food
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sannidhikāraka
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EXPLANATION OF THE SANNIDHIKĀRAKA SUTTA (THE SUTTA ON STORING THINGS)
Background
The Sannidhikāraka Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, specifically the Pātimokkha, the prohibitions of the Sangha. This code was established to regulate the practice life of bhikkhus, male monastics, within the Buddhist community, helping maintain discipline and create favorable conditions for study and practice.
The sutta is recorded in the law codes of different schools, especially in the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya, where it is classified among the lighter offenses, Pāyantika, faults requiring confession before witnesses. This sutta concerns the issue of storing and keeping items beyond the prescribed period, an act considered incompatible with the Sangha’s spirit of humility and non-possession.
Main Content
The Sannidhikāraka Sutta, from sannidhika, meaning present or kept nearby, and kāraka, meaning maker or doer, states that bhikkhus should not store or keep items necessary for monastic life, such as robes, bowls, and daily-use articles, beyond what is needed or beyond the prescribed time. According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, each bhikkhu is permitted to possess only the proper set of robes: inner robe (antaravāsaka), upper robe (uttarāsaṅga), and the outer robe (saṅghāṭī), together with the appropriate monastic cloth.
In addition, when a bhikkhu receives new robes from the community or from practitioners, if the donor gives old robes to him and does not request them back within ten days, those old robes belong to the Sangha. If the bhikkhu keeps them without following the rule, that is an offense. This prohibition is intended to prevent accumulation and private possession beyond actual need, thereby maintaining the spirit of renouncing material attachment.
Other items such as medicines, food, and so on also have similar regulations regarding storage periods.
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