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The Thirteen Dhutanga Observances

The Visuddhimagga (“The Path of Purification”, 5th century CE) describes thirteen optional observances that a monastic may voluntarily undertake to support contentment, simplicity and energy in practice. It groups them by what they relate to: two concern robes, five concern alms food, five concern dwelling, and one concerns effort. None is a rule of the monastic code; each is a personal undertaking, adopted and relinquished according to circumstances and guidance.

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Dhutanga.org Editorial Team
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Doctrinal review pending
Tradition
Theravada, with comparative notes
Published
Last reviewed

Robes

  1. Wearing robes made from discarded cloth

    Paṃsukūlikaṅga

    Using only cloth that has been thrown away, rather than robes offered by householders.

  2. Keeping only the three robes

    Tecīvarikaṅga

    Owning no cloth beyond the outer robe, upper robe and lower robe.

Alms food

  1. Eating only food received on the alms round

    Piṇḍapātikaṅga

    Living on food gathered by walking for alms, rather than on invitations or food supplied to the community.

  2. Walking for alms house by house

    Sapadānacārikaṅga

    Receiving alms from each house in order, without skipping poorer homes or seeking out generous ones.

  3. Eating at a single sitting

    Ekāsanikaṅga

    Taking the day’s food in one sitting, and not eating again after rising.

  4. Eating only from the bowl

    Pattapiṇḍikaṅga

    Placing all food in the single alms bowl and eating from it alone, without other dishes.

  5. Refusing food offered later

    Khalupacchābhattikaṅga

    Once one has indicated that one has had enough, declining any further food offered afterwards.

Dwelling

  1. Living in the forest

    Āraññikaṅga

    Dwelling away from villages, in the wilderness, for the sake of seclusion.

  2. Living at the foot of a tree

    Rukkhamūlikaṅga

    Dwelling beneath a tree rather than under a roof.

  3. Living in the open air

    Abbhokāsikaṅga

    Dwelling without a roof or tree overhead.

  4. Living in a charnel ground

    Sosānikaṅga

    Dwelling near a place of cremation to contemplate death and impermanence.

  5. Accepting whatever dwelling is assigned

    Yathāsanthatikaṅga

    Using whatever lodging is allotted, without asking for a better one.

Effort

  1. Sleeping sitting up — never lying down

    Nesajjikaṅga

    Keeping to the postures of sitting, standing and walking, and not lying down to sleep.

Sources and further reading

  1. The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), Chapter II, tr. Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (opens an external site)
  2. SN 16.5 Jiṇṇa Sutta — Mahākassapa and the ascetic practices (opens an external site)
  3. AN 5.181 Āraññaka Sutta — five kinds of forest dwellers (opens an external site)
  4. AN 1.188–197 — Mahākassapa foremost among those who uphold the ascetic practices (opens an external site)
  5. Kamala Tiyavanich, Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in Twentieth-Century Thailand (University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1997)

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