San Mg Bu Pm Np 10Excessive Prompting for Robe Funds

Excessive Prompting for Robe Funds

(San Mg Bu Pm Np 10 — Comparative Vinaya · Sanskrit)

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Source Status

This scripture item belongs to the Comparative Vinaya — Sanskrit collection in the Inti Dharma textual system, numbered San Mg Bu Pm Np 10, with the Sanskrit title Rāja. The complete original Sanskrit text of this training rule has not yet been directly collated in the accessible database. Therefore, the presentation below is an AI explanation based entirely on the provided descriptive information, including the Vietnamese title, English title, and classification code, and is not a translation from the original canonical text. Readers should keep this in mind when citing it for research purposes or for intensive practice.

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Background

The classification code Bu Pm Np shows that this training rule belongs to the Nissaggiya Pācittiya group (Forfeiture and Expiation), for bhikkhus (Bhikkhu), within the framework of the Vinaya Piṭaka. This is the system of discipline for male renunciants, belonging to the tradition of the Sectarian Scriptures with a Sanskrit textual foundation.

The Nissaggiya Pācittiya group is a special level of discipline concerning possessions and material requisites: when an offense is committed, the bhikkhu must not only confess (pācittiya) but must also forfeit (nissagga) the related item before the confession is considered complete. The fundamental spirit of this group of rules is to cut off attachment to material possessions and to preserve the simple, modest life of one gone forth.

The serial number Np 10 in the classification code places this training rule in the tenth position within the Nissaggiya Pācittiya group according to the Sanskrit system of this sectarian tradition. This numerical position may correspond, or may not correspond exactly, to the equivalent rule in other Vinaya collections such as the Pāli or Chinese canons, depending on the arrangement of each school.

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Content That Can Be Determined From the Descriptive Information

From the title “Excessive Prompting for Robe Funds” and the Sanskrit title Rāja (meaning “king,” or connected with royalty and persons of high status), several core elements of this training rule may be identified:

Regarding the person involved: The term Rāja suggests that the training rule revolves around a situation in which a king, the royal household, or a person of authority undertakes to offer funds for purchasing robes (cīvara) for a bhikkhu. This is the context of a robe fund, that is, a sum of money or property set aside to purchase robes for a renunciant, entrusted by a layperson through an intermediary.

Regarding the prohibited conduct: The title identifies the core conduct as “excessive prompting.” This refers to a bhikkhu repeatedly requesting, reminding, or putting pressure on the manager of a robe fund or on the benefactor in order to receive the robe or material item sooner. A single reminder in an appropriate circumstance may be acceptable, but when the reminding exceeds a reasonable degree, it becomes a violation of the discipline.

Regarding the mechanism of forfeiture and expiation: The item received through excessive prompting, in this case the robe or its equivalent, must be forfeited before the Sangha or before one or more bhikkhus; only afterward does the offending monk perform confession. This forfeiture carries deep symbolic meaning: the renunciation of possession and of the inner attitude that led to the offense.

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Meaning for Practice

This training rule reflects one of the fundamental principles of Buddhist monastic life: conformity and patient waiting in serenity, without pursuing material things even when those things are nominally lawful and already set aside for oneself.

Buddhism is concerned not only with the result of an action, but especially with the state of mind and the method by which that result is obtained. A bhikkhu may lawfully receive a robe from a donated fund, but if desire and inner urgency cause him continually to put pressure on others, that conduct has defiled both the relationship between donor and Sangha and the inner quality of the renunciant himself.

The spirit of fewness of wishes and contentment is the foundation of the holy life. When a bhikkhu presses a donor or intermediary, even only regarding robes, he is displaying a subtle clinging to material things, contrary to the ideal of relinquishment that the discipline is meant to protect. Moreover, this may also cause distress and pressure for laypeople, diminishing their faith in the Sangha jewel.

This training rule also reminds us that the dignity of the Sangha is protected not only by avoiding gross conduct, but also by preserving grace, patience, and non-demanding conduct in everyday situations that may appear ordinary.

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Comparative Note

Because the full Sanskrit source text of the training rule San Mg Bu Pm Np 10 has not yet been directly collated, all specific details regarding the persons involved, the circumstances of the rule’s establishment, exceptional cases (anavajja), and the full procedure of forfeiture and expiation cannot yet be presented precisely. Researchers wishing to understand it more deeply should consult the original Sanskrit canonical text of the relevant sectarian tradition directly, or specialized scholarly works on sectarian Vinaya, in order to have a firm basis for comparison.