Robe color prohibitions and "entirely"

Q & A
1

I’m wondering about this passage

At that time the monks from the group of six wore entirely blue robes, entirely yellow robes, entirely red robes, entirely magenta robes, entirely black robes, entirely orange robes, and entirely beige robes; and robes with borders made from a single piece of cloth, robes with long borders, robes with floral borders, robes with borders decorated with snakes’ hoods, close-fitting jackets, Lodh-tree robes, and turbans. People complained and criticized them, “How can the Sakyan monastics wear turbans? They’re just like householders who indulge in worldly pleasures!”

“You shouldn’t wear entirely blue robes, entirely yellow robes, entirely red robes, entirely magenta robes, entirely black robes, entirely orange robes, entirely beige robes, robes with borders made from a single piece of cloth, robes with long borders, robes with floral borders, robes with borders decorated with snakes’ hoods, close-fitting jackets, Lodh-tree robes, or turbans. If you do, you commit an offense of wrong conduct.”

It appears on it’s face that a monastic could sew together pieces of blue and black cloth and make an allowable robe as long as they used a mixture of colors. I have always understood that the color prohibition was on the colors, not just an entire robe made of the prohibited color.

What is the correct way to understand this according to the Pali? Are their other passages that prohibit the colors completely? I’m really only interested in hearing from monastics, not just random opinions. (I guess monastic random opinions would be fine, lol)

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2

… bhikkhū sabbanīlakāni cīvarāni …

sabba- means wholely, entirely, etc.

I believe sabba would have to have been declined as sabbe if it were intended to modify bhikkhū (i.e. “the whole group”) So I don’t see how any other translation is possible here. It really does seem to mean “entirely blue robes”

Bhikkhū Pācittiya 58, of course, actually requires the robe be partially stained blue (or brown or black)

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3

I have wondered this too.

I have always heard it taught as we shouldn’t wear those colours at all, but I agree with Ven. Khemarato about the actual translation.

Bring on the technicolour dreamrobe!

“I allow you to use six kinds of dye:
10.1.5 dye from roots, dye from wood, dye from bark, dye from leaves, dye from flowers, and dye from fruit.”

On a more practical level, it is much easier to collect enough dye material from bark and leaves than it is from flowers and fruit. Roots would be a pain because of digging. So maybe the reason we have these colours is purely practical. Barks etc have antiseptic type properties and can be used regularly for laundry.

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This is generally assumed to be the case. I think the assumption might be defended thus:

Elsewhere in the Khandhakas precise directives are given as to how robes are to be dyed. If these are followed, then one simply won’t end up with robes of motley colour. Hence a prohibition against such would be redundant. All that’s needed is a specification of which colours are not permitted.

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