The kasaya is the emblem of sages, respected by Buddhist communities since ancient times. There are ten benefits of wearing the kasaya: first, supreme enlightenment; second, respected among humans and devas; third, reverence from parents; fourth, a dragon’s son sacrifices himself; fifth, a dragon’s cloak protects from calamities; sixth, respect and faith from kings; seventh, worship from sentient beings; eighth, respect from rakshasas; ninth, protection from heavenly dragons; tenth, attainment of Buddhahood.
The kasaya, Sanskrit Kasāka, Pali Kasāya, literally translated into Chinese as “bad color,” “improper color,” “dyed color,” “filthy color,” “red color,” refers to the monastic robe wrapped around monks’ bodies, named for its impure color.
Also called kasaya ye, gyaroshaye, gasha, jia sha. Kasaya is the most important garment of monks.
The color of the kasaya varies in different Vinaya texts, but generally, three impure colors are agreed upon: green, mud (black), and madder (magnolia color) are considered the lawful colors of the kasaya (also called bluish, blackish, or magnolia-like color).
After Buddhism was introduced into China, during the Han and Wei dynasties, monks wore red clothes (called red robes), later there were black robes (zi robes), green robes, and brown robes.
After the Tang and Song dynasties, the court frequently bestowed purple and scarlet robes to eminent monks. In the Ming dynasty, Buddhism was divided into three categories: Chan (Zen), Lecturing (Tiantai, Huayan, Faxiang sects), and Teaching (also called Vinaya, engaged in funeral and ritual ceremonies). The court explicitly regulated that Chan monks wear tea-brown clothes and greenish jade kasayas, Lecturing monks wear jade-colored clothes with green-trimmed light red kasayas, and Teaching monks wear black clothes with black-trimmed light red kasayas, with the common practice afterward being mostly black clothes.

Wearing the dharma kasaya comes in two styles: “cross-shoulder,” which drapes across both shoulders, and “right shoulder exposed,” which exposes the right shoulder while draping the left shoulder. When making offerings to the Buddha or teacher monks, the right shoulder is exposed; for outings or visiting lay residences, the cross-shoulder style is worn.
The ten benefits and various names of the kasaya state that it is a banner of sages, respected by Buddhist communities since ancient times. Volume five of the Mahayana Birth and Mental Ground Contemplation Sutra lists ten benefits of wearing the kasaya: 1) covering the body to remove shame and develop modesty; 2) protection from cold, heat, mosquitoes, and wild beasts; 3) manifesting the appearance of a śrāmaṇa, which pleases viewers and removes evil thoughts; 4) a precious banner for humans and devas, cultivating the blessings of Brahma; 5) when worn, generates the image of a precious stupa and removes sins; 6) because its color is impure, it breaks attachment to the five desires, preventing greed; 7) the kasaya is the Buddha’s pure robe, permanently cutting off defilements and serving as fertile land; 8) eliminating sins and producing ten wholesome deeds; 9) like good land, able to increase the path of bodhi; 10) like armor, it protects against the poisonous arrows of afflictions.
Furthermore, according to Volume One of the Essential Summary of the Śakya Clan, when Shakyamuni was formerly a great compassionate Bodhisattva, before the treasure Buddha, he vowed that at his own Buddhahood, the kasaya would accomplish five merits: 1) even if disciples hold various wrong views, if they respectfully honor the kasaya, they will achieve the fruits of the three vehicles — śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, Bodhisattva — and not regress; 2) devas, dragons, spirits, humans, and non-humans who honor the kasaya will also not regress on the path to liberation of the three vehicles; 3) if hungry, thirsty, or poor ghosts and humans obtain even a small piece or a quarter of the kasaya, they will be filled and satisfied; 4) when beings have conflict and resentments, if they think of the kasaya’s spiritual power, they will develop compassion; 5) those who respectfully possess even a small piece of the kasaya will always be victorious in battle.

Colors
The kasaya’s color is variably recorded in the Vinaya texts, mostly agreeing on the three impure colors: green, mud (black), and madder (magnolia color) as the lawful kasaya colors (or bluish, blackish, or magnolia-like color). The Four-Part Vinaya's Essential Supplement and Practice Manual volume notes five proper colors – green, yellow, red, white, and black – and five inter-colors – scarlet, red, purple, green, sulfur yellow – as improper colors.
However,
Qing Ping golden embroidered kasaya
In the Great Bhikshu’s Rules of Three Thousand Etiquettes lower volume, Śāriputra Question Sutra, and others, five sects wear distinct colors: green (Dharmaguptaka), yellow (Sarvāstivāda), red (Mahāsāṃghika), black (Sautrāntika), and magnolia (Yuganipata). Volume three of the Dharma Treasury Commentary on Bodhisattva Precepts explains kasaya as a mixture of green and the other five colors dyed into one impure color. However, Yiji in the same commentary’s volume three says the five sects of the Hinayana each use one color, while Mahayana Bodhisattvas wear all five impure colors without partiality.
Also, the Vajra Prajñā Commentary volume two, Xuan Ying’s Phonetics volume fifteen, Southern Sea Letters volume two, and others consider the dirty red of kasaya as the original Buddhist standard, with green, yellow, and magnolia only differing in spots printed on the cloth. Though these are powerful accounts, they seem less convincing. The Vinaya Maternal Sutra volume eight mentions that after repeated washing, monks’ robes fade, and the Buddha allowed dyeing with ten colors, proving the dharma robe is not just red blood color.
After Buddhism reached China, monks wore red robes (called red robes) in the Han and Wei eras, later black robes (zi robes), green robes, and brown robes.
After the Tang and Song dynasties, the court often bestowed purple and scarlet robes on high monks. In the Ming dynasty, Buddhism divided into Chan (Zen), Lecturing (Tiantai, Huayan, Faxiang sects), and Teaching (also called Vinaya, handling funeral and ritual ceremonies). Regulations mandated Chan monks to wear tea brown clothes and greenish jade kasayas, Lecturing monks to wear jade-colored clothes and green-trimmed light red kasayas, Teaching monks to wear black robes and black-trimmed light red kasayas; later, most wore black robes.
Cloth Body
The kasaya’s fabric is called the cloth body or cloth wealth.
Regarding the types of cloth body, Volume fourteen of the Śāriputra Vinaya Vibhaṣā lists six types: crusher, ancient shell, kuśa grass, kimpuruṣa, śāna, and bhiks.aṅga; Volume sixteen of Ten Abodes Vibhaṣā lists two: laypeople’s clothing and dung sweeping clothes; Volume twenty-eight of Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya lists seven; Volume thirty-nine of the Four-Part Vinaya lists ten. All count as one layer of the law, though very thin fabric may be layered and called “heavy law.” The monastic robe’s aim is to differentiate monks from laypeople and heterodox practitioners.
Therefore, the Four-Part Vinaya’s volume forty lists embroidered hand clothes, grass clothes, bark clothes, etc., as heterodox methods not worn by monks. Volume twenty-eight of the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya says bright-colored robes are not different from lay people’s clothes, referring to dyes like kuača dye, gamija dye, green dye, flower color, etc., none of which are worn at all. However, whether silk fabric is allowed is debated. The precept master Daoxuan considered it illegal, while Tripitaka Master Yijing considered it lawful.
Making Method
First, cloth is cut into small pieces, then sewn together like patches in a field, hence also called field robe, patchwork robe, and also compassion garment, unsurpassed robe, dust-free robe, liberation robe, and others.
[2] Patchwork means that once cut and sewn into the kasaya, it cannot be sold or traded. This ensures disciples abandon desire for the robe and eliminates thoughts of theft. Though all three robes use patchwork rules, when cloth is insufficient, monks may use an outer leaf sewn with threads without patchwork or field pattern, called “stitched leaf.” In one of the Anta sects, folding leaves sewn is allowed, called “folded leaf.”

Sewing methods are divided into horse-tooth stitch and bird-foot stitch. The kasaya edges are hemmed to prevent damage. The four corners inside the hem have “stitches” called “four stitches,” commonly known as the Four Heavenly Kings, helping mend minor tears; also, the left shoulder inside has a “patch” called “shoulder stitch” because the area easily collects dirt and deteriorates quickly, so it’s reinforced. A sash is worn on the patch area; front edges have buttons to prevent the robe from falling off. Positioning of buttons and sashes vary; in later times ivory circular rings called “rings” or “zhenna rings” replaced hooks and were placed at the chest front.

Wearing Dharma
There are two styles: cross-shoulder draping both shoulders and exposing the right shoulder while draping the left. When making offerings to Buddhas and teacher monks, the right shoulder is exposed; when going out or entering lay dwellings, the cross-shoulder style is worn. The upper volume of the Great Bhikshu’s Rules of Three Thousand Etiquettes also lists five customs using the dharma robe, which serve as rules for going out. The nineteenth volume of the Four-Part Vinaya and the tenth volume of the Vinaya state monks must neatly wear the three robes.
The twentieth volume of the Five-Part Vinaya allows mandating flipping the kasaya according to time. There are four conditions under which not wearing the kasaya does not constitute a fault, as recorded in the upper volume of the Great Bhikshu’s Rules of Three Thousand Etiquettes: 1) no stupa or temple; 2) no bhikshu monks; 3) presence of thieves; 4) ruler disapproves of the Dharma.
Merits and Alternate Names
The kasaya is a banner of sages, respected by Buddhist communities since ancient times. Volume five of the Mahayana Birth and Mental Ground Contemplation Sutra lists ten benefits of the kasaya; volume eight of the Compassionate Flower Sutra and volume six of the Mahayana Compassionate Amitābha Sutra record the kasaya’s five sacred merits.
The kasaya also has various alternate names, such as field robe, symbolizing the four great benefits of the dharma robe, increasing wholesome minds and nurturing the dharma body of wisdom. Wearing the three impure colors suppresses greed, called dust-free robe; those entering the path wear this garment, which causes afflictions to fall away, called the emaciating robe; metaphorically pure and spotless like the lotus flower, called lotus robe; with the three colors interspersed to form one garment, called inter-color robe. These four names derive from volume two of the Vajra Prajñā Commentary.
Also, when the kasaya is draped on the body and appears as a decorated dharma banner, it is called the victorious banner robe; as it is not destroyed by heretics, it is called the anti-evil robe; as it is not overthrown by many evils and thus called banner-form robe, liberation banner-form robe. Additionally, there are names like merit robe, spotless robe, form-less robe, unsurpassed robe, liberation robe, path robe, transcendence robe, compassion robe, endurance robe, armor of patience, and the supreme enlightenment robe of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.