四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 2.108

2.108

Whether male or female, lay or monastic, all are hut owners; when there are no such owners, it is called 'ownerless.' As for a 'hazardous place,' in the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya it means [places infested with] tigers, wolves, down to ants. The Samantapāsādikā says: "Down to if there is an anthill, one must not build; if ants are traveling in search of food and one drives them away, one may build. Why? Because the Tathāgata has compassion for sentient beings and for bhikṣus." The Pañcavargika-vinaya says: "At crossroads where many people gather to play, near prostitutes, market stalls, pasture grounds, vicious beasts, hidden precipices, gardens and fields, sacred trees, tombs, pressed up against villages, or close to roads—these are hazardous places." As for an 'obstructive place,' the Vinaya says: "Down to not having room for a hay cart to turn around." The Samantapāsādikā says: "It is someone else's field or garden, or a place with enemies, bandits, a śmaśāna, a protected royal reserve, or where a twelve-rung ladder cannot pass around its four sides, with only a fist or a cubit of space." The Daśādhyāya-vinaya says: "Within one fathom of land on the four sides of the dwelling, there is stūpa ground, official land, ground belonging to householders, tīrthikas, or bhikṣuṇīs, or large rocks, running water, large trees, deep pits, and so forth—these are obstructive places." The Vinayavibhāṣā says: "Hollow trees, mountain cliffs, rocky overhangs, and the like, where one can walk, stand, sit, and lie down, are treated like the building of huts." The explanation says: For places such as those above, if one wishes to dwell in them, they must be partitioned off; one must assemble bhikṣus to prepare the ground by karman. The reason for this is that if it does not accord with the proper measure, much labor is wasted; and if there are obstructions or hazards, one harms oneself and troubles others. Thus we know that for both saṃgha land and private land, one must request permission to build. The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya says: "If there is no one in the saṃgha capable of performing the karman, the entire saṃgha goes to that building site, and one person proclaims: 'The entire saṃgha designates the hut for bhikṣu so-and-so.' Saying it three times also suffices." If the place is distant, separated by water, or there is cold, heat, rain, snow, or much illness so that they cannot all go together, they should assign two or three people; four people must not be assigned by karman. Those who go to designate the site may be of four types: those from past years, bhikṣus of a different boundary, those with many private huts, or those at sites with obstructions or hazards—none of these can effect it. As this Vinaya says, send trustworthy persons to inspect; thus we know there must be a selection. The Sarvāstivāda-vinaya-vibhāṣā says: "One may build at the designated place, but not elsewhere. If another person builds an upper story upon this hut and the hut owner permits it, it is permissible; there is no offense of lacking designation." The Samantapāsādikā says: "Decreasing one span from the length while adding one span to the width, mutually compensating for the excess, both incur a saṃghāvaśeṣa. If the hut is not yet completed and one leaves, and a visiting monk completes it, there is no offense. Because one person does not have a single share of a hut, if piece by piece the individual shares cumulatively exceed the measure, one also commits an offense." Question: Why is this not like extra robes, where both conditions must be exceeded to constitute an offense? Answer: For this hut, the offense is incurred through construction; for extra robes, the offense is incurred through storing and accumulating. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya says: "If one instructs another to build and the person instructed exceeds the measure, an offense is committed; if one is the hut owner, one incurs a saṃghāvaśeṣa; the craftsman incurs a thullaccaya." For obstructions and hazards, each incurs a duṣkṛta; for exceeding the measure and not requesting permission, two saṃghāvaśeṣa offenses. In the 'no offense' section of the Vinaya: being under the measure, lacking obstructions and hazards, or building for a stūpa, a lecture hall, for the saṃgha, a dwelling for multiple people, a grass hut, or a small hut just large enough for the body.