(Mv.VIII.13.1) [150] Then the Blessed One, having stayed at Rājagaha as long as he liked, set out on a wandering tour toward Vesālī. While traveling on the road from Rājagaha to Vesālī, he saw several monks coming along loaded down with robe-cloth, having made a mattress of robe-cloth on their heads or on their backs/shoulders or on their hips. On seeing them, the thought occurred to the Blessed One, “All too quickly have these worthless men backslid into abundance in terms of robe-cloth.

“What if I were to tie off a boundary, to set a limit on robe-cloth for the monks?”

(Mv.VIII.13.2) Then, traveling by stages, the Blessed One arrived at Vesālī. There at Vesālī, he stayed at the Gotamaka shrine. Now on that occasion during the cold winter middle-eight nights[1] when snow was falling, the Blessed One sat in the open air wearing one robe and was not cold. As the first watch (of the night) was ending, the Blessed One became cold. He put on a second robe and was not cold. As the middle watch (of the night) was ending, the Blessed One became cold. He put on a third robe and was not cold. As the last watch (of the night) was ending, as dawn rose and the night smiled, the Blessed One became cold. He put on a fourth robe and was not cold.

(Mv.VIII.13.3) The thought occurred to him, “Those in this doctrine and discipline who are sons of respectable families — sensitive to cold and afraid of the cold — even they are able to get by with triple-robes. Suppose I were to tie off a boundary, to set a limit on robe-cloth for the monks, and were to allow three robes.”

Then the Blessed One, having given a Dhamma talk with regard to this cause, to this incident, addressed the monks:

(Mv.VIII.13.4) “Just now, as I was traveling on the road from Rājagaha to Vesālī, I saw several monks coming along loaded down with robe-cloth, having made a mattress of robe-cloth on their heads and a mattress of robe-cloth on their backs/shoulders and a mattress of robe-cloth on their hips.

“Seeing them, I thought, ‘All too quickly have these worthless men backslid into abundance in terms of robe-cloth. What if I were to tie off a boundary, to set a limit on robe-cloth for the monks?’

(Mv.VIII.13.5) “And just now, during the cold winter middle-eight nights when snow was falling, I sat in the open air wearing one robe and was not cold.

“As the first watch (of the night) was ending, I became cold. I put on a second robe and was not cold.

“As the middle watch (of the night) was ending, I became cold. I put on a third robe and was not cold.

“As the last watch (of the night) was ending, as dawn rose and the night smiled, I became cold. I put on a fourth robe and was not cold. The thought occurred to me,

“’Those in this doctrine and discipline who are sons of respectable families — sensitive to cold and afraid of the cold — even they are able to get by with triple-robes. Suppose I were to tie off a boundary, to set a limit on robe-cloth for the monks and were to allow three robes.’

“Monks, I allow you three robes: a double-layer outer robe, a single-thickness upper robe, and a single-thickness lower robe.”[2]