請觀音經疏闡義鈔 3.63

3.63

The sūtra says 'do not drink alcohol': as the *Mahīśāsaka-vinaya* states, 'In the town of Bhadravatī there was a poisonous dragon, which rained hailstones and damaged the crops. A householder invited Svāgata to subdue it. Subsequently [the people] gave him wine to drink, and he vomited and lay by the roadside. The Buddha said: "Formerly he subdued a poisonous dragon; now he cannot even subdue a toad." Because of this, he taught the gradual precept of abstaining from alcohol.' Because alcohol makes people confused and disorderly, those who uphold the dhāraṇī now must not drink it. In terms of principle, alcohol is ignorance. The *Nirvāṇa [Sūtra]* says: 'It is like a drunken person seeing the sun and moon spinning.' Regarding 'do not consume meat': if explained in terms of phenomena, as the *Laṅkāvatāra* says, 'There are limitless causes and conditions why one should not eat meat,' and further says, 'It causes the practitioner not to give rise to a mind of compassion, and causes mantras not to be accomplished, and so forth.' Regarding 'It is great compassion without conditions': this is explained in terms of principle.