四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 3.42

3.42

Second, explaining sitting mats. The Dharmaguptaka states: It was instituted for the sake of the body, for the sake of the robes, and for the sake of the bedding. Its length is two spans of the Buddha (pronounced *zhagē*, meaning the distance between the outstretched thumb and middle finger; this character fits the rule, the character *jié* with the hand radical next to *jié* 桀. The one with the foot radical next to *jié* is the character *tà* 𨃥, pronounced *chīgē*, meaning taking one step with the foot is a *tà*, and taking two steps is a pace. The two meanings are completely distinct), its width is one and a half spans, and one may further add half a span to both width and length. The various treatises differ on the span. Relying now on the Pañcavargika, one span of the Buddha is two chi long. Measured by the Tang chi, it is slightly more than one chi, six cun, and seven fen; here, using two chi as a span corresponds to the chi of the Ji-Zhou dynasty. This is the constant standard across both yin and yang lands, never changed (that is, when the Tang statutes say a chi, they use one chi and two cun as a chi). However, following popular custom, the measure is unfixed (within this Tang state alone, there are five or six different types of chi in use). The Vinayavibhāṣā states: A person is eight chi tall, and the Buddha is twice that, which is sixteen chi (hence quoting extensively the correct proofs to know the size of the chi). The Daśādhyāya-vinaya states: A new one has two layers; an old one has four layers. The Saṃghabhedavastu treatise is also the same. The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: One must not carelessly and perfunctorily take small, old fine cotton to make a sitting mat; it must be made in two layers; if of woolen cloth, one layer; of cotton, two layers. One must not fold the head to measure, nor contract the measure. If one sprinkles water when measuring, intending that after drying it will become longer and larger, once completed one incurs a pāyattika, and using it is a vinayātikrama. The Vinaya [piṭaka] states: For a new niṣīdāna, take an old one and hem its four borders to disfigure its color; if one makes it, one should attach a border. The Pañcavargika states that one must fold the four corners; if not folded, then leave it. The Dharmaguptaka states: If one makes it smaller than the measure, or folds it into two layers, both are permissible (meaning two layers is the standard, and folding it is out of fear of exceeding the measure). The Daśādhyāya-vinaya states: One should not formally accept a single-layer niṣīdāna; being separated from it overnight is a duṣkṛta. The Mātṛkā states: Being separated from it overnight does not require forfeiture and expiation, because it was not instituted by the Buddha, yet one still should not be separated from it overnight. The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: If one adds further to it, make it two or three layers, sewing them back-to-back. Mutually decreasing or exceeding is in each case a pāyattika. When the various vinayas permit an addition, it is added outside the border. In the "Seven Hundred Recitation" of the Dharmaguptaka: It is permissible to keep an unbordered sitting mat (this being illicit, they practiced it arbitrarily). According to the indication of adding a fringe, leaving it uncut is not an offense; if one keeps an oversized sitting mat without cutting it, it should also be without fault (these Vṛji monks arbitrarily practiced ten points, which was settled among the saṃgha of Jambudvīpa). This should long have been discarded, yet nowadays it is frequently revived, which means applying the fraudulent practices of the Vṛjis. The Daśādhyāya-vinaya considers a niṣīdāna made without added thread borders to be valid. The Saṃghabhedavastu treatise says: Not attaching the ends is a pāyattika (nowadays, broadly measuring by taking the addition text, if it is five chi long and so on, it is all condemned as a pāyattika offense). One that accords with the Dharma: after taking the initial measure, cut it and attach a border. If, when sitting, one's knees touch the ground, then according to the augmented measure, piece an extension onto one end and one side. This is the definitive text of the fixed teaching (if one does not follow this method, throughout one's life there will be no place conforming to the Dharma where one can sit). The Sarvāstivāda states: In the Buddha's time, most monks did not lie down, so it was small. Later, adding a fringe was permitted: from the woven edge, add one more span only to one end, to allow the monks to lie on the saṃgha's bedding (the one-span mentioned in some current versions of the prātimokṣa belongs to the Daśādhyāya-vinaya; its presence in the Dharmaguptaka is an erroneous substitution. According to the treatise, it is generally six chi by the standard chi, and three chi wide; the saṃgha's bedding is eight chi by four chi). The method for sitting mats explained in the Dharmaguptaka is different and need not be used; just use the method of addition (if one insists on applying it, one must keep it, but it does not count as formally received and held; treat it as an item for formal declaration of purity).