四分律行事鈔資持記 3.32

3.32

The initial cause in the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya also relies on measurement by cubits. However, it adapts to the person and cannot be uniformly standardized, hence it is termed 'variable'. The Buddha ordered that it adapt to the body, which must rely on [the measure from] shoulder to ankle as the standard according to the Karma Commentary. The earlier [rules of] various schools were established based on an average person of eight feet; moreover, they are divided into three grades, which adequately adapt to the body, hence those grade measurements are retained. The two measurements cited above exhaustively cover all capacities and circumstances: the fixed measurement curbs greedy inclinations, while the flexible measurement accommodates varied physical retribution. In the broad teaching of the treatises, modesty and frugality take precedence. Therefore, the Protocols for Robes states: 'Making them reduced in size accords with the decorum of frugality; multiplying them improperly beyond the limits entails the rules of transgressing.' (In some cases it incurs the offense of keeping extra cloth; in others it is prohibited as illicit.) It also states: 'In recent years the base have indulged in haughtiness and extravagance; as for discussing frugality and modesty, I have yet to see such a person.' The rest is as explained elsewhere. (Some say that the Manual's citation of the flexible text abolishes the fixed measurement; this merely complies with obstinate attachment and improperly rejects the sacred teachings.) Question: If one strictly relies on the flexible text, is exceeding the measurement permissible? Answer: Relying on the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya Vibhāṣā, if one performs the deśanā of excess for what is beyond the measurement, it is not impermissible. However, present wearers do not perform deśanā and thus incur the fault of keeping extra cloth; furthermore, wearing them brings certain inconveniences. Question: What faults are there in wearing excessively long robes today? Answer: There are many faults. First, exceeding the measurement incurs a pāyattika of keeping extra cloth; second, wearing it incurs a duṣkṛta of abandoning the proper robe; third, hanging long beyond the elbow, it bears the appearance of an elephant's trunk, incurring a duṣkṛta at every step. If one fears cause and effect, please follow the correct teaching.