四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 2.162

2.162

Correctly explaining the base precept: This is the precept against storing up precious substances; the nineteenth and twentieth [in other texts], or here the ninth and tenth, are the precepts against taking hold of precious substances; the text speaks of taking by hand, which refers to an intention at a separate time. It possesses four conditions: first, it is money or precious substances; second, one knows it is; third, it is for oneself; fourth, upon receiving and taking it, an offense is incurred. Regarding this single precept, many people fall ill to it. Internally lacking loftiness of principle, externally they become sordid and defiled; not contemplating the severe and fierce admonition of the Sage, they solely indulge beginningless greed and ignorance. Therefore the Vinaya states: 'They are not my disciples.' According to this, they have lost the precepts! Furthermore, it states: 'The Buddha told the great ministers: If you see a śramaṇa, a son of the Śākyan, who takes me as master yet receives gold, silver, money, and precious substances, then know with certainty that he is not a śramaṇa, a son of the Śākyan.' Also, the Saṃyuktāgama states: 'If one who is a śramaṇa, a son of the Śākyan, personally receives and stores them, you should know that the merits of the five desires ought all to be pure.' Moreover, the Ekottarikāgama states: 'The brāhmaṇa texts narrate that if one is a Tathāgata, he does not receive precious substances.' Therefore, I briefly cite numerous texts to substantiate and clarify what is unacceptable and spurious. The Buddha, the Bhagavat, wished to elevate his disciples, causing them to abandon sordid occupations, to transcend far beyond the three realms, and up close to serve as models for the world. Yet nowadays, on the contrary, people cast themselves into ruin, storing them themselves and taking them themselves—worse than merchants in the city markets, true clouds of smoke over the Buddha's Dharma; conversely they boast and assert themselves, wildly setting aside the laws and disciplines, saying: 'As long as one lacks a greedy mind, how could there be an offense or fault?' Those who utter these words presumptuously puff themselves up; they do not consider that their rank is that of low ordinary mortals, yet they lightly brush aside the Great Sage. Calculating even a single fraction of profit, they fall short of the lofty detachment of laymen. How does this differ from the wisdom of a praying mantis resisting an axle, or the competence of a flying moth rushing into a fire? Is it merely that storing and taking them fosters greed? It is indeed the very inception of grave theft. Therefore, I briefly set forth admonitions and exhortations, so that those with wisdom will ponder deeply when confronting these situations. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra states: 'If one can stay far away from the eight venomous-snake practices, this is called the pure, noble saṃgha, a merit field that ought to receive offerings from humans and gods; its pure retributions cannot be distinguished by the fleshly eye.' It also states: 'The Jetavana bhikṣus do not dwell, recite the precepts, or perform pravāraṇā together with those who receive gold and silver, nor drink water from the same river; regarding articles of gain and sustenance, none are shared with them. If any share in saṃgha affairs with them, upon the end of their lives they fall into the great hells.' The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: 'A renunciant bodhisattva, for the sake of safeguarding the precepts, does not store wealth or material goods, because the merit of precepts surpasses that of giving.' Furthermore, the eleventh fascicle of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra states below: 'A bodhisattva's keeping of precepts that extinguish worldly censure is no different from the naturally grave [precepts].' There are extensive, clear passages. The precepts that extinguish worldly censure are precisely those obtained through the fourfold motion-and-resolution karman. Such passages are found therein, and must constantly be read with care. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya states: 'As for money, there are eight kinds: gold, silver, and so forth, having inscriptions or images upon them.' The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: 'Genuine colour and resembling colour both incur a pāyattika. Genuine colour is gold; resembling colour is silver (resembling is like an image).' As for money, it depends on what is used in the country. In all cases, one must not take hold of it; taking hold of it incurs a pāyattika, which should be confessed within the saṃgha. The Sarvāstivāda-vinaya-vibhāṣā states: 'As for the seven precious substances, they are gold, silver, maṇi, genuine pearl, coral, tridacna, and agate; should one take them, one incurs a niḥsargika-pāyattika. Do not take them with one's own hands; if one performs the ritual of purification according to the Dharma, there is no offense. As for resembling precious substances: copper, iron, amber, crystal, imitation pearls, brass, and the like—if one takes them by the five methods for the sake of storing them, it is a duṣkṛta; one should not take them oneself, but doing so after performing the ritual of purification according to the Dharma is permissible. If one takes hold of gold leaf or a gold statue, or conceals and puts away the precious substances of oneself or another, both incur a pāyattika, but do not violate this precept. If resembling precious substances are included among the hundred and one items, one need not perform purification, and one is permitted to keep one of each; anything beyond the hundred and one items is surplus property; if they are not included among the hundred and one items, one performs purification as described before.' The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: 'Impure items are gold, silver, and money, because they must not be touched; the remaining precious substances may be touched, hence they are called pure; but they must not be worn [or attached to oneself], hence they are called impure items. If they are impure items, whether one takes hold of them oneself or causes another person to do so, all incur a pāyattika. If the characteristics are fulfilled, but the country does not use them as currency, an exception is permitted. Whenever one obtains money, as well as the price for varṣā robes, one must not take it with the hand, but have a kappiyakāraka know of it; if there is none, point to the ground beside one's foot and tell him, "Be aware of it here." After it is placed on the ground, one personally uses leaves, bricks, tiles, and so forth to throw over it from a distance to cover it; later, one leads the kappiyakāraka to take note of it and carry it away. If he is not trustworthy, make him walk in front; if he is trustworthy, allow him to manage and hold it at will.' The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya states: 'Regarding the relinquishment herein: inform a trustworthy person, and after he arrives, say, "This is something not suitable for me; you should take charge of it." If that person takes it and gives it back to the bhikṣu, he should accept it for the sake of that person's property, and order a kappiyakāraka to take charge of it. If that person trades it for robes, bowls, and so forth for the bhikṣu, the bhikṣu should take what has been traded and receive and keep it. If that upāsaka, having taken it, gives pure robes and bowls to the bhikṣu, he should take and keep them. If one does not tell that person to take charge of it or see to it, it is a duṣkṛta.' The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: 'If one manages affairs of the Buddha, Dharma, or Saṃgha, and there is money or precious substances to be stored as a reward: if on raw earth, have a kappiyakāraka be aware of it; where covered by dead earth, have a bhikṣu dig it up. If the kappiyakāraka is not trustworthy, blindfold him, spin him three times, and then, after he identifies the ground, place the money into the pit; if any is scattered, bricks and tiles may be thrown in over it. Having done this, blindfold him as before and send him away. Later, when it is needed, by the previous method go to the place of the money and precious substances; if the kappiyakāraka is not trustworthy, again blindfold him, spin him three times, and bring him along to take it. If a donor makes a gold bowl and has a bhikṣu receive and use it so that [the donor] may attain merit: when he brings food, the bhikṣu stretches out his hand to indicate the vessel, and should say, "Received, received, received"; having spoken this three times, he eats from it. He must not touch the four edges of the vessel, praise it, or take hold of it with his hands—this falls under the later ninety [pāyattika precepts].' The Sarvāstivāda-vinaya-vibhāṣā states: 'There are five ways of receiving: first, receiving with the hand; second, taking with the robe; third, taking with a vessel; fourth, saying, "Put it in here"; fifth, saying, "Give it to this kappiyakāraka." All incur a niḥsargika. The lower three assemblies also must not store them; storing them incurs a duṣkṛta.' The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: 'If by the body, this means any part of the body, down to the hands, feet, and so forth; if by physical accessories, this refers to fastening it to the ties of the three robes, down to inside the bowl—all incur a niḥsargika-pāyattika.' The Sarvāstivāda-vinaya-vibhāṣā states: 'There are five kinds of surplus property: first, precious substances; second, resembling precious substances; third, robes or robe-cloth that exceed the allowed measure; fourth, all robes not conforming to the allowed measure, and robe-cloth; fifth, all grains and rice. Precious substances are relinquished to a like-minded kappiyakāraka, and the offense is confessed in the saṃgha. If it is money or precious substances, a bhikṣu must not store them; if among the saṃgha, the one next in line performs the ritual of purification. The remaining resembling precious substances and those counted among the hundred and one items are all relinquished to an agreeable kappiyakāraka, and the offense is confessed as a duṣkṛta. Purification of money and precious substances has two cases: first, if a layperson brings them to give to the bhikṣu, the bhikṣu says, "These are impure items; I should not store them. If purified, I shall receive them," whereupon he immediately performs purification. Second, if the kappiyakāraka says to exchange them for pure goods to store, he immediately performs purification. If neither speaks to the other, taking them incurs a niḥsargika-pāyattika. When relinquishing them, give them to a layperson; they must not be given to a śrāmaṇera.' The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: 'Maudgalyāyana took the novice Zhuantou to Lake Anavatapta to collect gold sand, intending to place it beneath the Buddha's wash basin; [or another case] down to an old bhikṣu taking a novice back to their native village, where relatives, because they had no food for traveling the road, tied money inside their robes. On the road, in both cases, non-human beings circled them counter-clockwise, threw dirt over them, and cursed them, saying, "This is inauspicious!" They each reported the matter [to the Buddha], who in both cases ordered them to discard it; the non-human beings then made prostrations to them, circled them clockwise, and passed by. These cases were still remediable, so they only encountered unseen reproaches, like the mockery of the lake deity; those who have not confessed other transgressions will surely suffer manifest execution, like the class of people with swollen cheeks.'