四分律行事鈔資持記 3.660

3.660

三中，二段，前引《僧祇》，通示四時。文略成道轉法輪二日，故云乃至。（今時但知降生涅槃，二時供養，餘二舉世未聞。聞者行之。）薩下，次定日月，又二；初引文示異，《多論》總明四日。但二日重疊，今取下《瑞應》，四月八日降生；復準《涅槃》，二月十五日滅度，則四日各異，修供可行，復是此方機緣所樂；故一年四日，釋門時節；二月八日成道，二月十五日涅槃，四月八日降生，八月八日轉法輪；適時之義，勿事專隅。成道一日，唯出《多論》；生滅二日，如下自明；轉法輪日者，準今《四分》；成道後五十六日，梵王方請（四月初五，一小月故。）；尋至鹿野，四月調機（八月初七，二小月故；過此說法，即八日也。）；或有經說，成道後，過六七日說法；或云二七，或云三七，皆不可定。次引《瑞應》，別示降生。具云：《太子瑞應本起經》，有二卷。後引《涅槃》月德，別明入滅。《涅槃》初云者，即第一卷序分中文，簡後三十故；彼云：娑羅雙樹間，爾時與大比丘八十億百千人俱，前後圍繞，二月十五臨涅槃時；十仙者，一闍提首那，二婆私吒，三先尼，四迦葉氏，五富那，六淨梵志，七犢子，八納衣梵志，九弘廣婆羅門，十須跋陀羅，此十並外道上首；聞佛涅槃，歸依得度；過三月者，即五月半後；又第三十卷師子吼言：世尊何故二月涅槃？佛言：善男子！二月，陽春之月；萬物生長，華果敷榮；江河盈滿，百獸孚乳（孚，猶生也。）；是時眾生，多生常想；為破眾生如是常心故，師子吼言：如來初生，出家、成道、轉妙法輪，皆以八日；何故涅槃獨十五日？佛言：善男子！如十五日，月無虧盈；諸佛如來，亦復如是入大涅槃，無有虧盈故。（故知一經，前後自別，今時即用後文。）月德中，與上《多論》相近；《阿含》亦云：如來八月八日涅槃。此並下，二約義會通，初正明。二引證。舍婆提，即是舍衛；文中且舉見聞，準論，具云：舍衛九億家，三億家眼見佛，三億家耳聞有佛而眼不見，三億家不聞不見佛，在舍衛二十五年，而此眾生不聞不見，何況遠者。（論舉王舍億數，不說見聞。）由慢業者，出不見及不聞之所以。我輩生不值佛，豈非慢重。撫膺自責，深痛沈淪。嗚呼！佛下，舉況。滅後正法，不及現在；像不及正，末不及像，故云轉輕，謂奉佛之心薄也。心業，即慢習也。（古記，並以夏殷周三代正朔，和會諸文者，甚違租意；若可和會，即非見聞不同；況復經論，並據西竺日月，那將此方正朔和會耶！）《感通傳》祖師問天人云：此土傳佛生時不定，如何指的？天人答云：皆有所以，弟子是夏桀時生，具見佛之垂跡；然佛有三身，法報二身，非人天所見；化身普被三千，故有百億釋迦，隨機所感，前後不定，不足疑也。（準知昔記，不可依也。）

In the third [part], there are two sections. First, it cites the Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya, generally indicating the four periods. The text abbreviates the two days of the attainment of the Way and the turning of the wheel of the Dharma, hence it says "and so forth." (Nowadays people only know to make offerings during the two periods of the nativity and parinirvāṇa; regarding the other two, nothing is heard of them throughout the world. Those who hear of them should practice them.) From "Sarvāstivāda" downward, next it determines the months and days, which again has two parts: first, citing texts to demonstrate discrepancies, the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya Vibhāṣā generally clarifies four days. However, two days overlap. Now, taking the Benqi jing below, the nativity was on the eighth day of the fourth month; further following the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, parinirvāṇa was on the fifteenth day of the second month. Thus, the four days are each distinct, the cultivation of offerings can be carried out, and furthermore this is what pleases the spiritual capacities of people in this land. Therefore, the four days in one year are the seasonal periods of the Śākya clan's lineage: the attainment of the Way on the eighth day of the second month, the parinirvāṇa on the fifteenth day of the second month, the nativity on the eighth day of the fourth month, and the turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the eighth day of the eighth month. These are the appropriate temporal meanings; do not obstinately cling to one corner. The single day of the attainment of the Way comes solely from the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya Vibhāṣā; the two days of nativity and parinirvāṇa are clear in their own right below; regarding the day of turning the wheel of the Dharma, according to the present Dharmaguptaka-vinaya, fifty-six days after attaining the Way the Brahmā king finally requested [the preaching of Dharma] (the fifth day of the fourth month, because of one short month); proceeding directly to the Deer Park, for four months he conditioned their capacities (the seventh day of the eighth month, because of two short months; preaching the Dharma after passing this is precisely the eighth day). Alternatively, some sūtras say that after attaining the Way, six seven-day periods passed before preaching the Dharma; or they say two seven-day periods, or three seven-day periods—none of these can be definitively fixed. Next, citing the Benqi jing, it separately shows the nativity. In full, it is called Taizi ruiying benqi jing, in two fascicles. Later, citing the 'Virtue of the Moon' [chapter] of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, it separately clarifies the parinirvāṇa. That which the Nirvāṇa Sūtra initially states is the text within the introductory section of the first fascicle, distinguishing it from the later thirty [fascicles]; it says: 'Between the twin śāla trees, at that time together with great bhikṣus numbering eighty koṭis, a hundred thousand people, surrounded front and back, approaching the parinirvāṇa on the fifteenth day of the second month.' As for the ten ṛṣis: first, Jātiśoṇa; second, Vāsiṣṭha; third, Śreṇika; fourth, Kāśyapa; fifth, Pūrṇa; sixth, the Pure Brahmacārin; seventh, Vatsaputra; eighth, the Rags-wearing Brahmacārin; ninth, the Great and Vast Brāhmaṇa; tenth, Subhadra. These ten were all leaders of non-Buddhists; hearing of the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, they took refuge and attained liberation. 'Passing three months' means after the middle of the fifth month. Furthermore, in the thirtieth fascicle, Siṃhanāda says: 'For what reason did the World-Honoured One enter parinirvāṇa in the second month?' The Buddha said: 'Good man! The second month is the month of bright spring; the myriad things grow and develop, flowers and fruits flourish, rivers and streams are full, and all the beasts give birth and nurse (fu is like sheng, giving birth); at this time sentient beings mostly give rise to the notion of permanence. In order to break this mind of permanence in sentient beings [I did so].' Siṃhanāda said: 'When the Tathāgata was first born, went forth from the household, attained the Way, and turned the wondrous wheel of the Dharma, all were on the eighth day; why is parinirvāṇa alone on the fifteenth day?' The Buddha said: 'Good man! Just as on the fifteenth day the moon neither wanes nor waxes, all Buddha-Tathāgatas likewise enter great parinirvāṇa without waning or waxing.' (Hence we know that within a single sūtra, the earlier and later parts are themselves distinct; nowadays, we use the later text.) In 'Virtue of the Moon,' it is close to the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya Vibhāṣā above. The Āgamas also state: 'The Tathāgata entered parinirvāṇa on the eighth day of the eighth month.' From 'All these...' downward, second, integrating and synthesizing them according to their principles, first it directly clarifies it; second, it adduces proof. Shepoti is precisely Śrāvastī. The text temporarily presents seeing and hearing; according to the treatise, it fully states: 'In Śrāvastī there were nine hundred million households: three hundred million households saw the Buddha with their own eyes; three hundred million households heard with their ears that there was a Buddha but did not see him with their eyes; three hundred million households did not hear of or see the Buddha. Although he stayed in Śrāvastī for twenty-five years, these sentient beings did not hear of or see him, how much less those who were far away!' (The treatise brings up the hundreds of millions in Rājagṛha, without discussing seeing and hearing.) 'Owing to the karma of arrogance' explains the reason for not seeing and not hearing. For those of us born without encountering the Buddha, how could it not be that our arrogance is heavy? Striking our chests and reproaching ourselves, we deeply lament our sinking down. Alas! From 'The Buddha...' downward, it gives an analogy. After the extinction, the True Dharma does not equal the present; the Semblance [Dharma] does not equal the True; the Final [Dharma] does not equal the Semblance. Hence it says 'turns slighter,' meaning that the mind of honoring the Buddha has grown thin. 'Mental karma' is precisely the habit of arrogance. (As for earlier commentaries that harmonized the various texts according to the calendar systems of the three dynasties of Xia, Yin, and Zhou, they greatly go against the Patriarch's intent. If they could be harmonized, then seeing and hearing would not be different. How much more so given that the sūtras and treatises all rely on the months and days of the Western Realm of India—how could one harmonize them using this land's calendar systems!) In the Gantong zhuan, the Patriarchal Master asked a celestial being: 'In this land the tradition of the Buddha's time of birth is unfixed; how can it be pointed out definitively?' The celestial being answered: 'All have their reasons. I was born in the time of Jie of Xia and fully witnessed the traces left by the Buddha. However, the Buddha has three bodies: the Dharma-body and the Reward-body are not what humans and devas can see; the Manifested Body universally covers the three-thousandfold world, so there are ten billion Śākyas who, responding to what capacities induce, are unfixed in earlier or later times; it is not worth doubting.' (According to this, we know that past records cannot be relied upon.)