Xct Mu Bu Vb Np 10Excessive Prompting for Robe Funds

The Rāja Sutta: On Excessive Prompting for Robe Cloth

Background

This discourse belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, specifically the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga. Its content records an event that occurred at Sāvatthī while the Buddha was still living. A bhikkhunī, in the name of the Buddha-Dharma, excessively urged female lay devotees to provide cloth for making robes, going beyond proper need. This action reflects attachment to appearances and lack of moderation in the management of requisites, a deep ethical issue within the monastic community.

The Buddha recognized the faulty nature of this conduct and established a training rule (sikkhāpada) to correct it. The establishing of the rule was not for punishment, but to educate bhikkhunīs to understand clearly the boundary between reasonable need and unrestrained greed. The Rāja Sutta is therefore a symbol of balance in practice, acknowledging that requisites are necessary while training the mind not to be governed by them.

Main Content

According to the regulation in the discourse, if a bhikkhunī urges those who provide cloth excessively, or repeats her request in an imposing manner, this action violates a rule. Specifically, “excessive prompting” (atireka-samudācāra) is not merely an act of speech, but also reflects a mental state when it arises from desire, heedlessness, or lack of respect.

The discourse states clearly: if the bhikkhunī deliberately urges the donor repeatedly, or uses alluring and persuasive words in order to obtain cloth beyond a legitimate purpose (such as making clothing according to actual need), this constitutes an offense. The action is regarded as “excessive robe-cloth prompting” (atireka-cīvara-samudācāra), connected with the abuse of laypeople’s trust and the breaking of confidence.

This rule also protects the Buddhist lay community from actions that could damage the honor of the Sangha.