四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 2.222

2.222

In the Vinaya, seven conditions are allowed where no offense is committed: First, at the time of sickness: down to having cracked heels. The *Samantapāsādikā* says: sand and soil enter inside, making one unable to walk. Second, at the time of making robes: after pravāraṇā, one month without a kaṭhina robe, or five months if there is one. Third, at the time of bestowing robes: as in the earlier precept on turning one's back on an invitation, traveling on a road or boat forms the fourth and fifth conditions, which refers down to traveling back and forth or up and down within half a yojana. Sixth, when a great assembly gathers: when there are four persons eating and an extra person causes distress; up to a hundred persons where an extra person causes distress (this refers to times of famine, when two households in the east and west each prepare food offerings, the eastern household forms a group of four and the western household has one person; because the group is formed at the eating place, the one person in the western household would originally be a problem of a separate [saṃgha]; this happens in times of abundance, but due to famine it is permitted. Moreover, the offerings and vessels are restricted and not allowed to be shared and sent; begging outside is difficult to obtain, so out of famine it is permitted and validated). Nowadays, when offerings are laid out in the capital, there are often monks not listed on the register who crowd the front doors; the host family turns them away and closes the doors, not allowing them to enter at will; eminent virtues and men of talent sit calmly eating, knowing there are monks outside, without thinking of summoning them. Having personally witnessed this, the fault is profoundly base and vulgar; I hope all practitioners, upon seeing or hearing this, will restrain their conduct. The *Pañcavargika-vinaya* says: if there are guest bhikṣus outside the door who cannot enter, down to telling them to go to their home monastery to fetch food, etc. It is detailed as in the 'Procedures for Funerary Invitations'. Seventh, at the time a śramaṇa provides food: this refers to all those who have gone forth outside this Śākyan son śramaṇa. Furthermore, according to the treatises, the saṃgha rotation is not an offense; the *Pañcavargika* [counts] the robe time, making a total of nine conditions. The *Ekottarika-āgama* states: When the elder Siṃha specifically invited five hundred arhats, the Buddha said, 'It is not as good as one person from the saṃgha rotation; the merit is immeasurable.' He then said, 'Just as drinking from the great ocean is drinking from all the streams.' Siṃha said, 'From now on, I will not make specific invitations.' The Buddha said, 'I also do not command giving specific offerings, for there is no merit.' Siṃha then gave equitably, without saying whether they were observing or breaking precepts. The Buddha praised him: 'Excellent! An equitable gift obtains immeasurable merit; an equitable giver is foremost among givers.' The *Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish* mentions offering fine cotton cloth to the Buddha, and the Buddha yielded it to the saṃgha; the meaning is the same as this. Even if in the future the Dharma is about to be extinguished, and bhikṣus keep wives and clutch children, if four or more persons bear the name of the saṃgha, in giving offerings indiscriminately, one should respectfully regard them like Śāriputra and the others. The Vinaya clarifies the conditions of allowance: the saṃgha rotation is the one kind that benefits both oneself and others; the conditions like sickness only benefit oneself (meaning that when three persons are specifically invited, and one person, due to sickness or travel, enters into the previous number, he himself is allowed and benefited, while the others commit the offense of a separate saṃgha). In the Vinaya, if there are no such conditions as above, one should immediately rise and announce: 'I have no valid cause or condition in this meal of a separate saṃgha; I now wish to leave.' Other persons without valid conditions should do likewise. If someone with a condition for a separate saṃgha meal wishes to enter, he should announce: 'I have a condition for a separate saṃgha and wish to enter.' Having announced, he enters in order. If one has a condition but does not announce it, it is a duṣkṛta. Those not committing an offense are as permitted above.