BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

The Robe-cloth Chapter Chapter 7.1As noted under NP 1, Mv.V.13.13 states that if one is informed of a gift of robecloth,the counting of the time span does not begin until the cloth has reachedone's hand.As in the preceding rules, perception is not a mitigating factor. If one miscounts thedawns or thinks the cloth is properly determined, etc., when in fact it isn't, there isan offense all the same. The Vibhaṅga states that, with regard to a robe that has notbeen kept beyond the allowable time, if one perceives it to have been kept beyondthat time or if one is in doubt about it, the penalty is a dukkaṭa. As under thepreceding rules, this penalty apparently applies to using the robe.As for out-of-season cloth received shortly before the beginning of the robeseason, the countdown would begin when it is received, would be suspendedthroughout the robe season, and would resume at the robe season's end.However, as with many of the above issues, this situation rarely comes up inpractice, as it is a simple enough matter to determine the original cloth as requisitecloth or place it under shared ownership until one has enough cloth to make one'srequisite, remove it from those arrangements to make the requisite, and so avoidhaving to worry about this rule at all.Forfeiture & confession. The procedures for forfeiture, confession, and return of thecloth are the same as in the preceding rules. For the Pali formula to use in forfeitingthe cloth, see Appendix VI. Once the cloth is received in return and is now enoughfor the requisite one has in mind, it is classed as extra robe-cloth under NP 1. If not,the 30-day countdown starts all over again.Non-offenses. There is no offense if, before the 30 days are up, the original cloth islost, destroyed, burnt, or snatched away; if someone else takes it on trust; or if theowner determines it for use, places it under shared ownership, or abandons it. And,as stated above, this rule does not apply when the robe-season privileges are ineffect.Summary: Keeping out-of-season robe-cloth for more than 30 days when it is notenough to make a requisite and one has expectation for more — except when therobe-season privileges are in effect — is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense.4. Should any bhikkhu have a used robe washed, dyed, or beaten bya bhikkhunī unrelated to him, it is to be forfeited and confessed.The origin story here is one of the classics of Vinaya literature, although it is hard tosay which is more memorable — the dry, matter-of-fact style with which thenarrative relates the improbable events, or the reaction of the bhikkhunīs when theyhear what has happened."Now at that time Ven. Udāyin's wife had gone forth among the bhikkhunīs. Sheoften went to his place, and he often went to hers. One day he went to her place for159