Bu Np 2626. Asking for thread
Pāli / Sanskrit:Suttaviññatti
A monk who asks for thread and then has robe-cloth woven with it must relinquish the robe-cloth and confess the offense.
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Suttaviññatti Sutta (Bu Np 26): Asking for Thread
Background
The Suttaviññatti Sutta is found within the Bhikkhunī Pācittiya (the minor offenses of nuns) of the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition. This rule reflects the historical context in which early Buddhism gave material form to regulations concerning the robes of monks and nuns, particularly the robes upon which monastics depended.
Robes are not ordinary clothing but a symbol of the renunciant life. According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, a monastic is permitted to possess at most three sets of robes. This regulation aims to restrain acquisitiveness and to uphold the spirit of emptiness and simplicity, even if those robes are worn and threadbare. Accordingly, the process of obtaining cloth for sewing robes is also carefully governed; one may not arbitrarily request or receive materials in excess of genuine need.
Principal Content
The offense of Suttaviññatti concerns the situation in which a nun actively requests another person to provide thread (sutta), and then uses that thread to weave or sew into robe cloth (vatthakasiṇa). This action violates the principle that one should not solicit or press householders into providing requisites beyond what is legitimately needed.
According to the Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka, a nun may receive cloth from a householder, but on the condition that she does not actively make a request—"ñatti" and "viññatti" signifying a request or petition. If a nun actively asks for thread and subsequently uses it to weave robe cloth, she is thereby participating in attachment and abusing the goodwill of householders.
The penalty prescribed for this offense is clearly defined: the nun must completely relinquish the woven robe cloth (it must be returned or ownership renounced) and she must confess the offense (pabbājati tassa vatthakasini, āpatti—she must give up that robe cloth; there is an offense of paccaya). This is among the pācittiya rules, that is, an offense requiring confession but not legal rehabilitation; it is sufficient to disclose it to an appropriate party.
Practical Significance
This rule teaches us that practice consists not only in governing one's actions but also in governing one's intentions.
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