Xct Mu Bu Pm Np 28Rainy-Season Robes
Pāli / Sanskrit:Vassikasāṭika
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DISCOURSE ON RAINY-SEASON ROBES (VASSIKASĀṬIKA)
Background
Theravāda Buddhist law is built on the foundation of the Vinaya Piṭaka, the collection of rules of practice governing the communal life of monks and nuns. In it, the regulations concerning the living requisites of the Sangha were not established arbitrarily, but arose from specific situations in the life of the Buddha and the early disciples.
The discourse on the rainy-season robe (Vassikasāṭika) is found in the Pātimokkha, the basic code of the bhikkhus. The Pāli title "Vassika" means the rainy season, the season of great waters in India, when monastics usually gathered to practice in one place (the rains retreat). This discourse concerns the regulation of a special kind of cloth robe permitted for use during the rainy season, intended to protect the health of monastics under harsh climatic conditions.
The foundation of this rule is the compassion of the Blessed Buddha, who always considered the practical needs of his practicing disciples without falling into either austerity or indulgence.
Main Content
According to the Pāli Canon tradition, the rule concerning the rainy-season robe was established when the Blessed Buddha saw bhikkhus enduring hardship because of rain, wind, and prolonged dampness. The rainy-season robe (vassikasāṭika) is an additional cloth robe, distinct from the three basic robes that each bhikkhu is permitted to keep: the upper robe (uttarāsaṅga), the lower robe (antaravāsaka), and the outer robe (saṃghāti).
The main purpose of this rule is to allow monastics to possess an additional robe during the rainy season so that it may dry quickly and be kept clean more easily. According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, the rainy-season robe is considered part of the "requisites provided for the Sangha" (nissaggiya pācittiya), meaning that if a bhikkhu possesses more than the permitted number, he must relinquish it to the Sangha. This expresses the principle of "knowing moderation" (mattaññā) in Theravāda practice.
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