San Sarv Bu Pm Tf 11 Np 9Requesting Fine Robes From a Combined Robe Fund

Requesting Fine Robes from a Combined Robe Fund

Dutiyaupakkhata — San Sarv Bu Pm Tf 11 Np 9
Comparative Vinaya — Sanskrit | Sectarian Canonical Tradition · Comparative

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Source Status

The full source text of this training rule has not yet been directly collated in the current database. The explanation below is not a translation of the original scripture and does not pretend to reproduce verbatim the Sanskrit of the Sarvāstivāda tradition. What can be presented here is based only on the provided descriptive information, including the training rule number, Vietnamese title, English title, Sanskrit name Dutiyaupakkhata, and its position in the system of Comparative Sanskrit Vinaya. Readers and practitioners should consult the original Sanskrit text or specialized scholarly editions of the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya in order to obtain an accurate and complete comparison.

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Background

This training rule belongs to the system of Comparative Sanskrit Vinaya, within the Sectarian Canonical Tradition, under the designation San Sarv Bu Pm Tf 11 Np 9. This designation allows several important structural details to be identified:

• San Sarv: indicates a Sanskrit text belonging to the Sarvāstivāda tradition, the “School That Holds That All Exists,” one of the major early Buddhist schools, which had wide influence in India, Central Asia, and Tibet.
• Bu: indicates the Vinaya section for bhikṣus, that is, male renunciants who have received full ordination.
• Pm: indicates the Prātimokṣa catalogue, the core disciplinary code that each bhikṣu must recite and observe regularly.
• Tf 11: indicates the eleventh group of training rules in the Nissaggiya Pācittiya classification, the forfeiture-and-expiation rules concerning the relinquishment of items and confession of violations.
• Np 9: the ninth training rule in the eleventh Nissaggiya Pācittiya group.

The Sanskrit name Dutiyaupakkhata, which may be analyzed as dutiya, “second,” and upakkhata or upasaṃkhata, “prepared,” “accumulated,” or “assigned beforehand,” suggests that this is the “second” training rule related to a robe fund or source that has already been established. This corresponds to the title: Requesting Fine Robes from a Combined Robe Fund, meaning the act of requesting high-quality robes from a common robe fund that has been assigned or accumulated for various purposes.

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Content That Can Be Determined from the Descriptive Information

Based on the title and its position in the Prātimokṣa system, the training rule Dutiyaupakkhata concerns the regulation of a bhikṣu requesting fine robes, robes of high quality, from a combined robe fund, that is, a source of material goods assigned or accumulated not for oneself alone but for many people or for the Sangha community.

In the Vinaya system, rules belonging to the Nissaggiya group usually regulate conduct related to possessing, accumulating, or requesting material items, especially robes, beyond the permitted limit or contrary to the regulations of the Sangha. Violation of these rules requires the bhikṣu to relinquish the item and confess before the Sangha or before another bhikṣu.

The phrase “combined robe fund” suggests a situation in which several donors or the Sangha have jointly contributed to establish a common source of cloth or robes. When a bhikṣu on his own requests a better, finer, or higher-quality robe from this common source, exceeding the share assigned to him, that conduct is regarded as a violation of discipline and falls under the category of forfeiture and expiation.

The name Dutiya, “second,” shows that this training rule is the second in a pair of training rules related to the same topic of upakkhata, an assigned robe fund, differing in certain details of conditions or specific circumstances from the first rule.

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Meaning for Practice

This training rule reflects one of the core values of the renunciant life: contentment (saṃtuṣṭi), knowing what is enough and not seeking beyond measure. In the renunciant tradition, robes are not a means of displaying personal status or quality, but requisites that support practice and cover the body. When a bhikṣu asks for a better robe from a common source, that conduct not only violates a specific rule but also expresses a mentality of craving, self-regard, and lack of respect for fairness within the Sangha community.

Moreover, this training rule reminds practitioners of the importance of transparency and integrity in the use of common property. The common robe fund is a symbol of generosity from faithful donors, people who have aroused the intention to make offerings in support of the monastic life. Exploiting or exceeding one’s assigned share from that common source is conduct that loses moral dignity and the trust of the assembly.

For students of Vinaya and practitioners in traditions following the Vinaya lineage, understanding this training rule is an opportunity to contemplate one’s own mind: in daily life, do we give rise to the wish to receive a better share of what belongs to the collective? This is a subtle but profound lesson in non-greed and equanimity of mind in communal life.

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Comparative Note

Because the full Sanskrit text of the training rule Dutiyaupakkhata has not yet been directly collated in the current system, all presentation here is general in nature, based on the descriptive information and the common structure of the Sarvāstivāda Prātimokṣa. Researchers engaged in deeper study should compare this with the original Sanskrit texts of the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya, as well as equivalent Chinese translations in the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya, or the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, in order to clarify further details regarding the conditions for an offense, permitted exceptions, and the confession procedure corresponding to this training rule.