四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.328

3.328

Second, explaining the funeral methods. In the Central Realm (India), there are four types of burial: water burial, casting it into a river; cremation, burning it with fire; earth burial, interring it by a bank; and forest burial, discarding it in the wilderness to be eaten by vultures and tigers. In the vinayas, cremation and forest burial are mostly explained, though there are also interments. The Pañcavargika Vinaya states: "The corpse should be interred. If it is burned with fire, it must be on a stone; it must not be set on grass." The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya states: "Kauṇḍinya entered nirvāṇa with his right side touching the ground." It also states: "If someone dies, one hires a person to cremate (jhāpeti) them." The Daśādhyāya-vinaya states: "There was a bhikṣu who died in a forest; birds pecked open his belly and money came out, etc." The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya states: "The Tathāgata and cakravartin kings are cremated." Therefore, since cremation damages the corpse, hiring someone through intermediate arrangement is permissible by analogy. The Ekottarika-āgama states: "The bhikṣus scattered incense and flowers upon Maudgalyāyana's corpse." The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya states: "It is also permissible to make offerings in this way." In the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya: "The Bhagavat [permitted] the five assemblies to erect stūpas; from junior śrāmaṇerikās on up, all may pay homage to an elder's tomb." The Five Hundred Questions states: "One may erect an image of a deceased master." In the Biographies of Eminent Monks, there are many who were buried inside monasteries; this also appears in the sūtras and vinayas. The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya states: "For a Vinaya master, an administrative bhikṣu, or a bhikṣu of virtuous renown, a stūpa should be erected, with a spire bearing hung banners and canopies; it must be placed in a secluded spot and must not be built in a place for walking meditation (caṅkrama) or where many people walk; if one violates this, it constitutes an offense; if the saṃgha does not allow it, one should instruct them to achieve harmony and then build it." The Ekottarika-āgama states: "The Tathāgata personally carried one corner of his mother's bier, while Ānanda, Rāhula, and others each carried one leg, not permitting others to carry it in their stead, in order to repay her kindness." By analogy with this, the upādhyāya and ācārya nurture the Dharma-body; parents and elder siblings nurture the physical body; when one personally cradles the corpse to send it off, how could their kindness and virtue ever be fully repaid? The Samantapāsādikā states: "One must not escort a layperson's funeral, except for the purpose of contemplating impermanence. If one personally handles one's mother's corpse for the funeral and encoffining, there is no offense." Such being the sacred teachings, one must definitely follow them; in principle, one must assess the circumstances and act only when the time is appropriate.