四分律行事鈔資持記 3.905

3.905

三中，《五分》。差次，謂知事差僧，及法食會集；非唯此二，故云等也。《四分》。學誦，謂誦外書俗典。世論，謂方算語論。雜法，即〈雜犍度〉。《十誦》。文頌，即今歌詩。可怖畏者，法將滅故。以書算卜術，俗典文頌，俱是世法，非出家業；為因緣故，時復許之。今時釋子，名實俱喪；能書寫則稱為草聖，通俗典則自號文章，擇地則名為山水，卜術則呼為三命；豈意捨家事佛，隨順俗流之名；本圖厭世超昇，翻習生死之業。故《智論》云：習外典，如以刀割泥；泥無所成，而刀自損；又如視日光，令人眼暗。然往古高僧，亦多異學；或精草隷，或善篇章，或醫術馳名，或陰陽顯譽；皆謂精窮本業，傍涉餘宗；無非志在護持，助通佛化。故《善戒經》云：若為論義，破於邪見；若二分經，一分外書，不犯；《四分》開誦，皆此意耳。今或沽名邀利，附勢矜能；形廁方袍，心染浮俗；畢身虛度，良可哀哉。《母論》。一句一偈，通指三藏教詮；雖是聖教，令觀時用舍，不可專固，故云應行即行等。後世比丘，即佛滅後，傳法祖師；凡有言教，亦須隨宜，故云亦爾。

In the third [section]: In the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya, "assignment of duties" refers to the monastery administrator appointing monks and assembly for Dharma or meals; it is not limited to these two alone, hence it says "and so forth." In the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya, "studying and reciting" refers to reciting external books and secular classics. "Worldly discussions" refers to arts, mathematics, and secular conversations. "Miscellaneous dharmas" refers to the "Miscellaneous Khandhaka" (Saṃyuktakkhandhaka). In the Daśādhyāya-vinaya, "literary eulogies" refers to the songs and poems of today. The phrase "to be feared" is because the Dharma is on the verge of extinction. Because calligraphy, mathematics, divination techniques, secular classics, and literary eulogies are all worldly dharmas and not the vocation of one who has left household life, they are only occasionally permitted on account of particular causes and conditions. Nowadays, Śākya disciples have lost both name and reality: if they can write, they call themselves "sage of cursive script"; if they are versed in secular texts, they style themselves masters of composition; if they choose sites, they call it geomancy; if they practice divination, they call it the "three destinies." How can they imagine having abandoned home to serve the Buddha, only to follow the fame of the secular current, originally aspiring to turn away from the world and transcend it, yet on the contrary practicing the karmic deeds of birth and death? Thus the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: Studying external texts is like cutting mud with a knife; the mud achieves nothing, and the knife itself is damaged. It is also like gazing at the sun's light, which makes a person's eyes go blind. However, eminent monks of the past also pursued varied studies: some were skilled in cursive and clerical scripts, some excelled in literary compositions, some were renowned for medical arts, and some were famed for yin-yang [divination]; yet all of them thoroughly mastered their fundamental vocation and merely touched upon other disciplines as side pursuits. None of them had any aim other than protecting and upholding [the Dharma], assisting in the propagation of the Buddha's transformation. Hence the Bodhisattvabhūmi-śāstra (*Śīlavyākaraṇa-sūtra*) says: If it is to debate doctrines to destroy heterodox views, or if two parts are sūtras and one part external texts, it is not an offense; the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya's allowance of recitation is entirely of this intent. Nowadays, some fish for fame and court profit, attach themselves to power, and boast of their abilities; their bodies mingle among square-robed [monks], but their minds are stained by frivolous secularity; wasting their whole lives in vain, it is truly lamentable! In the Mātṛkā, "a single phrase or a single verse" broadly refers to the doctrinal expressions of the Tripiṭaka. Even though it is the noble teaching, it instructs one to observe the time for applying or setting it aside, and one must not be obstinately rigid; thus it says, "if one should practice it, then practice it," and so forth. "Subsequent bhikṣus" refers to the transmission-ancestors after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa; whenever they have verbal instructions, one must also follow what is appropriate, hence it says "it is also like this."