勝鬘寶窟 1.48

1.48

第三明受戒不同門。依《瓔珞經》受戒有三種：一者諸佛菩薩在前受，得真實上品戒。二者諸佛菩薩滅度後，千里內有前受戒菩薩者請為法師，教授我戒，我前禮足。應以如是語：「請大尊者為師，授與我戒。」其弟子得正法戒，是中品戒。三者佛滅度後，千里內無法師之時，應在諸佛菩薩像前，胡跪合掌，自誓受戒。應如是言：「我某甲白十方諸佛及大菩薩等，我學一切菩薩戒」者，是下品戒。第二第三亦如是說。今勝鬘現前值佛是上品，但是自誓受、非佛所授。但第二從法師受有二種：若依《瓔珞經》，戒師不作羯磨方法，初令禮過去一切佛、次禮未來佛、次禮現在佛。如是三禮已，法僧亦爾。次令受三歸依戒法，次令懺悔三世罪，次後正授十無盡戒。若如《地持》，菩薩戒師前為作羯磨，然後授戒相。乃是前後方便，非正授戒。又如受五戒十戒，受三歸已說戒相者，方名受戒。此則受三歸復說戒相乃得戒。何以知之？如直受三歸人，但得歸不得戒，如受大比丘戒前羯磨。則已受戒竟，後說四重等，令受者堅持，非說戒相為受戒也。以此證知，須前作羯磨方得授戒。而《瓔珞》、《梵網》無羯磨者，或可前略、或可教門不定，適時而用。問：菩薩戒師，為用在家人、為用出家人？答：通於道俗。《瓔珞經》云「夫妻六親得互為師」也。問：第三於佛像前受戒，若無佛像，得自誓受不？答：依《普賢觀經》，但虛心奉請釋迦為和上、文殊為闍梨、彌勒為教授師、一切佛為尊證、一切菩薩為同學，不論有像無像也。問：何故戒法一種要須受耶？答：欲顯惡可頓止。以戒是止惡為宗，故有受法，以要期頓發故也。善難並生，餘行皆是修善為宗，故無受法，以漸生故也。問：若惡可頓止、善不可頓生者，亦應惑可頓滅、解不可頓生。答：戒是止相，其相即靜，故常有戒法。惡有頓止之義，餘善是動相，修習方生，不可一時並修諸善。滅惑生解，並是行善，故與此非類。問：自誓發戒，與從師發戒何異？答：若從戒師作法成時，則一時俱發。今既心發口言，隨發隨生，非一時。問：授戒受戒，得何功德？答：《瓔珞經》云「若能教一人出家授菩薩戒，勝造八萬四千塔。其受戒者，墮在菩薩之數，超過三劫生死之苦。」問：受戒而犯，何如不受不犯。答：《瓔珞》云「有戒而犯，勝無戒不犯。有犯名菩薩，無犯名外道。」問：五戒有受一分，乃至具足受五。菩薩戒云何？答：《瓔珞》云「十重戒中有受一分名一分菩薩，乃至二分三分。若受十分名具足受戒。十重有犯無悔，得使重受。八萬四千威儀戒，盡名為輕，有犯得使悔過，對手便滅。」

Third, the section on differences in receiving the precepts. According to the Yingluo jing, there are three modes of receiving the precepts: First, receiving them in the presence of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, whereby one obtains the true superior-grade precepts. Second, after the nirvāṇa of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, if within a thousand li there is a bodhisattva who has previously received the precepts, one requests them to be one's Dharma master, saying: 'Instruct me in the precepts; I bow at your feet before you.' One should speak with these words: 'I request the great venerable one to be my master and confer the precepts upon me.' The disciple thereby obtains the precepts of the true Dharma; this is the middle-grade precepts. Third, after the Buddha's nirvāṇa, when within a thousand li there is no Dharma master, one should kneel on both knees and join one's palms before images of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, making a vow by oneself to receive the precepts. One should speak thus: 'I, named so-and-so, address the buddhas and great bodhisattvas of the ten directions: I will train in all the bodhisattva precepts.' This is the inferior-grade precepts. The second and third are also explained in this manner. Now, Queen Śrīmālā met the Buddha directly in person, which is the superior grade; yet it was a self-vowed reception, not conferred by the Buddha. However, as for the second, receiving from a Dharma master, there are two kinds: If one relies on the Yingluo jing, the precept master does not perform a formal karmavācanā ritual, but first has one bow to all buddhas of the past, next bow to the buddhas of the future, and next bow to the buddhas of the present. Having made these three bows, it is likewise for the Dharma and the Saṅgha. Next, he has one receive the precept-dharma of the three refuges, next has one repent of sins of the three times, and subsequently confers the ten inexhaustible precepts directly. If according to the Bodhisattvabhūmi, the bodhisattva precept master first performs a karmavācanā for the recipient, and then confers the marks of the precepts. These are merely preliminary upāyas before and after, not the direct conferring of the precepts themselves. Furthermore, just as in receiving the five precepts or the ten precepts, only after receiving the three refuges and having the marks of the precepts explained is it termed receiving the precepts. This means that only by receiving the three refuges and having the marks of the precepts explained again does one obtain the precepts. How is this known? For example, one who directly receives only the three refuges obtains only the refuges and does not obtain the precepts; just as in receiving the precepts of a great bhikṣu, the karmavācanā is performed beforehand, and the precepts have already been received completely, after which the four pārājikas and so forth are explained so that the recipient may firmly uphold them—it is not that explaining the marks of the precepts constitutes receiving the precepts. By this evidence one knows that the karmavācanā must first be performed before the precepts can be conferred. As for why there is no karmavācanā in the Yingluo jing or the Brahmā Net Sūtra, it may be that they were abbreviated above, or that the styles of teaching are not fixed, but applied according to the circumstances. Question: For a bodhisattva precept master, does one use a householder or a monastic? Answer: It is open to both the clerical and the lay. The Yingluo jing states: 'Husbands, wives, and the six relations may mutually serve as masters.' Question: As for the third, receiving precepts before a buddha image, if there is no buddha image, may one take the vows by oneself? Answer: According to the Samantabhadra Contemplation Sūtra, one need only invite with an open mind Śākyamuni as the upādhyāya, Mañjuśrī as the ācārya, Maitreya as the instructing master, all buddhas as the venerable witnesses, and all bodhisattvas as fellow students, regardless of whether there is an image or not. Question: Why is it that the precept-dharma alone must necessarily be received? Answer: It is intended to show that evil can be ceased abruptly. Because the precepts take the cessation of evil as their fundamental principle, there is a method of reception, since it arises abruptly through an earnest vow. Good is difficult to generate simultaneously; other practices all take the cultivation of good as their fundamental principle, so there is no method of reception, as it is generated gradually. Question: If evil can be ceased abruptly while good cannot be generated abruptly, then delusion should also be extinguished abruptly, while understanding could not be generated abruptly. Answer: Precepts are the characteristic of cessation; their characteristic is tranquil, hence there is always a precept-dharma. Evil has the sense of abrupt cessation; other virtues are the characteristic of activity, which arise only through cultivation, and all virtues cannot be cultivated at once. Extinguishing delusion and giving rise to understanding are both the practice of virtue, so they are not analogous to this. Question: What is the difference between generating the precepts through a self-vow and generating them from a master? Answer: If it is from a precept master, when the ritual is completed, they all arise simultaneously. Now, since they arise from the mind and are spoken by the mouth, they are generated as they are expressed, not all at once. Question: What merit is gained from conferring and receiving the precepts? Answer: The Yingluo jing states: 'If one can teach one person to leave the household life and confer the bodhisattva precepts upon them, it surpasses building eighty-four thousand stupas. One who receives the precepts falls into the ranks of bodhisattvas and surpasses the suffering of saṃsāra for three kalpas.' Question: How does receiving the precepts and violating them compare with not receiving and not violating them? Answer: The Yingluo jing states: 'Having the precepts and violating them is superior to having no precepts and not violating them. One who commits a violation is called a bodhisattva; one without violation [who has not received them] is called an outsider.' Question: Among the five precepts, there is receiving one portion, up to receiving the five in full. How is it with the bodhisattva precepts? Answer: The Yingluo jing states: 'Among the ten major precepts, receiving one portion is called a one-portion bodhisattva, up to two portions and three portions. If one receives all ten portions, it is called fully receiving the precepts. If there is a violation among the ten major ones without repentance, one can be made to receive them again. The eighty-four thousand precepts of deportment are all termed minor; if there is a violation, one can be made to repent of the fault, and it is extinguished immediately before an interlocutor.'