Jīvaka cures King Pajjota of Ujjenī of an illness, and the king sends him a pair of costly cloths. Jīvaka offers the cloth to the Buddha and asks him to allow the monks to accept robes offered by lay people; after teaching, the Buddha agrees, adding that those who wish may go on wearing rag-robes (robes sewn from cloth others have thrown away). The later commentaries of the Southern tradition say that in the twenty years between the Buddha's awakening and this event no one had accepted robes offered by lay people, and all wore rag-robes. Pali Canon
Different Accounts
Order: the Pali Vinaya says the Buddha gave permission only after Jīvaka offered the robe; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya first records the Buddha allowing robes from donors, and only afterwards records King Bimbisāra, Jīvaka and the male of Rājagaha sending robes in turn. Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (2)
Names: the donor is Jīvaka in the Southern tradition, Qipo in the Chinese Dharmaguptaka and Sarvāstivāda Vinayas and Qiyu in the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, all the same person; the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya calls what was allowed the acceptance of “robes given by householders”.
Place: the Pali Vinaya has the Bamboo Grove at Rājagaha.
Dating
After Year 21 after the Awakening (the Buddha aged fifty-five or more), at the latest in the year of the Buddha's passing. This is derived from the later commentaries' statement that “for twenty years after the Awakening no one accepted robes offered by lay people”; the canonical text itself gives no year. Another arrangement places this event at the turn of Year 20 to Year 21, and the two accounts stand side by side.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded only in the Pali canon of the Southern tradition. Recorded by one school.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it); converted from the Buddha's age (reckoned from the Buddha's age). Time precision: year uncertain.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 8:1.29.4.1
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 8:1.1.1
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Mv-a，§337，PTS 5.1119
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.854c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.855a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.854c–855a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Mv-a，§337
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.133c–134b
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1435 p.194c
- 大正藏大正藏 T23 no.1435 p.855aVerified location: 大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.855a