Soon afterwards a certain monk was afflicted with a corn on his foot. The monks had to hold him while he urinated and defecated. Just then, the Buddha was walking about the dwellings and saw this. He went up to those monks and said to them,

“What illness does this monk have?” “He has a corn on his foot, sir. That’s why we do this for him.” Soon afterwards the Buddha gave a teaching and addressed the monks: “I allow you to wear sandals if your feet are painful or cracked, or you have a corn on your foot.”

Then the monks made use of the beds and benches with dirty feet. Their robes and the furniture got dirty. “When you know that you are about to make use of a bed or a bench, I allow you to wear sandals.”

Then, when the monks were walking to the observance hall or to a meeting in the dark of night, they stepped on stumps and thorns, hurting their feet. “I allow you to wear sandals within a monastery, and also to use a torch, a lamp, and a walking stick.”

6. The prohibition against wooden shoes, etc.