Soon afterwards Venerable Ānanda was offered an extra bowl. He wanted to give it to Venerable Sāriputta, who was staying at Sāketa. Knowing that the Buddha had laid down a rule against keeping an extra bowl, Venerable Ānanda thought, “What should I do now?” He told the Buddha, who said, “How long is it, Ānanda, before Sāriputta returns?” “Nine or ten days, venerable sir.” Soon afterwards the Buddha gave a teaching and addressed the monks: “Monks, you should keep an extra almsbowl for ten days at the most. And so, monks, this training rule should be recited like this:

Final ruling ‘A monk should keep an extra almsbowl for ten days at the most. If he keeps it longer than that, he commits an offense entailing relinquishment and confession.’”

Definitions For ten days at the most: it should be kept ten days at a maximum. An extra almsbowl: a bowl that is not determined, nor assigned to another. An almsbowl: there are two kinds of bowls: the iron bowl and the ceramic bowl.