四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 1.516

1.516

Second is the rite of receipt face-to-face [with another monk]. One should be fully equipped with proper deportment and say to the bhikṣu: "Venerable One, be mindful with single-mindedness! I, bhikṣu so-and-so, now receive the seven-day rite to go outside the boundary. For such-and-such an affair, I shall return to spend the varṣā here (spoken three times)." However, regarding the two rites of mental resolution and face-to-face [receipt], there is no text in the various Vinayas; they merely permit the receipt of the rite. Traditionally, it is based on the motion-formula of the karman; although it was not spoken by the Buddha, reasoning by analogy makes it faultless. If one has received the seven days but has not yet used them, it is also permissible to use them after seven days have passed, because the original cause remains; if it no longer exists, the rite lapses. This is unlike the seven-day medicine: there, the limit has expired, and because the illness has changed, it is lost. If that is so, should the rite remain if the illness persists? Answer: It was instituted by the Buddha. As the treatise says: taking it for seven days dissolves stubborn illnesses. Question: When requesting these seven days, can one include the nights? Answer: One cannot. Because the text says: "On the seventh day one must return." It differs from the Daśādhyāya-vinaya, where according to the text one receives seven nights. Moreover, one must not change it to say "seven nights," because the Vinaya traditions differ. Nor may one uphold the karman of the Dharmaguptaka while applying the procedures of the Mahāsāṃghika to complete the affair, as explained in full in the section on the separate practices of the various Vinayas.