四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 1.306

1.306

Third, explaining whether there is the arising of Dharma or not: Some say that the arising of Dharma is due to performing wholesome dharmas, which then produces wholesome unmanifest [karma], subsumed under the aggregate of wholesome karmic formations. This wholesome dharma corresponds to the location, so that wherever is indicated within the markers, there is the arising of Dharma everywhere. This does not mean that wholesome dharmas are linked to the neutral ground, nor that they fail to reach one another. The Samantapāsādikā states: 'After demarcation according to the markers, even if the boundary markers are subsequently lost, if someone digs the earth down to the water table, the boundary is still not lost; even if a three-story house is built upon it, all belongs to the same boundary. If there is a rocky mountain, broad at the top and narrow at the bottom, and a boundary is demarcated atop it, the saṃgha below the mountain crags does not obstruct the Dharma above.' This is because the boundary is a material dharma (rūpa-dharma): conforming to the width or narrowness of the location, it enters down into the earth. Therefore the text says: 'If after demarcation, rushing water forms a chasm, even though water flows, if one erects a pavilion in the midst of it and performs procedures on top, all are valid.' Relying on these many texts, what doubt can there be regarding the arising of Dharma? In the past it was said that there is no arising of Dharma. The text says: 'What is the presence of the boundary? It is performing the karman and proclaiming the limits.' This refers to the place where the procedure is applied, without discussing whether there is the arising of Dharma. The Sarvāstivāda states: 'By the awesome power of the boundary, it is protected by wholesome deities.' This is as explained earlier from the Pañcavargika-vinaya. The Xiaofa miejin jing states: 'When the kalpa-fire arises, sites where a saṅghārāma once stood are not burned by fire, and even reach down to the vajra-maṇḍala as an earthen terrace.'