四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.136

3.136

問：觸淨何過，佛苦制之？答：佛欲增尚弟子，令行勝行，內有勝法，外行亦勝，如世貴人，安坐受食，不自執勞，以形勝故。二為現大人相。三世三聖並不自作，今若宿觸，失聖人法故。三諸佛立教，通大小乘，俱無宿煮。如《稜伽》、《十誦》所述。四長貪壞信。五廢修出業。六死入糞坑。《護淨經》云：由有宿捉等，眾僧食不淨食，後墮臭屎池中，五百萬世受苦惱竟；復各五百萬世墮猪狗及蜣蜋中，常食不淨；後出為人，生貧窮家，衣食不供。佛告比丘，眾僧住止之處，作不淨食，不足往食；如法持鉢，乞白衣食，是名淨命。因說知事比丘，觸僧淨器及食，食眾僧故，墮餓鬼中，五百餘年不見漿水，正欲趣廁，護廁鬼神打不得近。如是廣說因緣。《智論》：若沙門福田食，以不淨手觸，或先噉，或以不淨物著中，入沸屎地獄中。廣如第十七八九卷中。《大集》〈日藏分濟龍品〉中，廣明僧食難近難用。《僧護》等經，明非法受用僧物。文廣不具錄。通而言之，若無慚愧，輕慢佛語，自物尚犯，何況僧物？深須自勉，可得出期。《五百問》中明，持戒知事，指挃僧器，羅漢代懺苦緣，如是廣知。

Question: 'What fault is there in touching pure [food] that the Buddha so severely prohibited it?' Answer: 'The Buddha wished to elevate his disciples to practice superior conduct: possessing superior Dharma within, their outward conduct should also be superior, just as worldly nobility sit peacefully and receive food without doing manual labor themselves, because of the superiority of their form. Second, to manifest the marks of great beings: the three sages of the three ages do not prepare food themselves; if one now keeps overnight and touches [food], one loses the way of the sages. Third, all Buddhas established teachings across both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, and in neither is there keeping overnight and cooking, as described in the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra and Daśādhyāya-vinaya. Fourth, it increases greed and ruins faith. Fifth, it hinders cultivating the karma for transcendence. Sixth, upon death one enters a cesspool. The Hujing jing states: "Because of keeping overnight and handling [food], the saṃgha eats impure food; later they fall into a pit of foul excrement, suffering torment for five million lifetimes; furthermore, for five million lifetimes each they fall among pigs, dogs, and dung beetles, constantly eating impure things; later, reborn as humans, they are born into poor families, lacking food and clothing. The Buddha told the bhikṣus: 'Where the saṃgha dwells and prepares impure food, it is not worthy to go and eat; begging food from laypersons while holding the bowl according to the Dharma is called pure livelihood.'" Thereupon he spoke of an administrative bhikṣu who touched the saṃgha's pure vessels and food and fed the saṃgha, falling among the hungry ghosts for over five hundred years without seeing water; when he was about to approach a latrine, the spirits guarding the latrine beat him so he could not approach. Such causes and conditions are explained in detail. The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: "If one touches the merit-field food of the śramaṇas with impure hands, eats it first, or places impure items inside it, one enters the Hell of Boiling Excrement." This is detailed in fascicles seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen. In the Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra, "Section of the Sun Matrix, Chapter on Rescuing the Dragons," it explains at length that the food of the saṃgha is difficult to approach and difficult to use. Sutras such as the Saṃgharakṣita-sūtra explain the illicit consumption of saṃgha property. The texts are vast and cannot all be recorded. Speaking generally, if one lacks a sense of shame and conscience and treats the Buddha's words with contempt, one transgresses even regarding personal possessions—how much more so regarding saṃgha property? One must deeply exert oneself so that a time of liberation may be attained. In the Five Hundred Questions it is explained that when a vinaya-holding administrator merely touched a saṃgha vessel with his finger, an arhat repented on his behalf for the painful consequences; this should be known extensively in this manner.'