After staying at Vesālī for as long as he liked, the Buddha set out wandering toward Benares. When he eventually arrived, he stayed in the deer park at Isipattana. On that occasion the sarong of a certain monk had a hole. He thought, “The Buddha has allowed three robes: a double-layered outer robe, a single-layered upper robe, and a single-layered sarong. Since my sarong has a hole, let me add a patch. It will have a double layer of cloth on all sides, but only a single layer in the middle.”

And that’s what he did. Just then the Buddha was walking about the dwellings, and he saw that monk patching his robe. He went up to that monk and said, “What are you doing, monk?” “I’m patching my robe, sir.” “Well done. It’s good that you are patching your robe.” Soon afterwards the Buddha gave a teaching and addressed the monks: “When the cloth is new or nearly new, I allow a double-layered outer robe, a single-layered upper robe, and a single-layered sarong. When the cloth is worn, I allow an outer robe of four layers, a double-layered upper robe, and a double-layered sarong. With rags, you may have as much as you like. With scraps of cloth from a shop, you should search for them. And I allow patches, mending, hems, strips of cloth for marking, and strengthening.”

18. The account of Visākhā