大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 26.44

26.44

Regarding the Commentary's statement 'a hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, milk was inferior to water,' the Aśokarāja-sūtra explains: King Aśoka constantly made offerings to all the noble saṃgha. The elder ate somewhat more milk, so King Aśoka addressed him: 'If you eat much milk, I fear it may cause illness.' The elder said: 'What potency does this milk have? It is not equal to water when the World-Honoured One was in the world. Now that the Buddha has attained parinirvāṇa, all quintessence has sunk into the earth.' King Aśoka wished to see water from when the Buddha was in the world; the elder extended his hand beneath the earth and fetched water. King Aśoka tasted it, and it was truly superior to milk, clearly showing that when meritorious persons perish, beneficial affairs perish with them. If it was thus after only a hundred years, how much more so now when we are nearly two thousand years removed from the Sage! It is even more insipid, to say nothing of the extreme decrease [of the kalpa], where iron becomes the supreme adornment and barnyard grass becomes the supreme flavor, as expounded in sūtras such as the Lokasthiti-sūtra.