四分比丘戒本疏 2.61

2.61

Thirty-second: the precept on parampara-bhojana. This means that a previous household has invited one for the five primary foods, and having agreed to accept the invitation, one turns one's back on it and accepts the five primary foods of a subsequent household; eating at the subsequent household incurs a prāyaścittika offence with every swallow. Turning one's back on the former and accepting the latter is called 'parampara' (successive eating). If one turns one's back on food that is insufficient, improper, impure, and so forth, because the emotional transgression is slight, one only incurs a duṣkṛta. If one eats improper food, insufficient food, impure food, or does not eat at all at the subsequent household, so that the dānapati upon hearing of it does not give rise to serious resentment, it is also merely a duṣkṛta. 'Except on other occasions' means except on the other permitted occasions. The text of the permissions lists two, which in doctrinal elaboration become three, and when pursued to the ultimate principle become four. As for the two: first, when one is sick; second, the time of robe-giving. As for the three: first, the time of illness. This illness must be such that one is unable to drink or eat, and even if one obtains fine food one still cannot eat it; only then is it within the scope of the permission. Therefore the vinaya states: 'The sick person cannot finish eating in one sitting, so fine food satisfies him.' Second, the time of robe-giving: according to the vinaya text, this is divided into two kinds. First, during the one month of kārttika following the end of the previous rains retreat, or throughout the five months when the kaṭhina robe is received; within this period, it is the time for receiving donations, so it is called 'the time of robe-giving'. Second, even if it is not within the one-month or five-month period, during other times, if a dānapati donates food and robes, one is also permitted to turn one's back on the former and accept the latter robes and food, which is also called 'the time of robe-giving'. Adding the former permission for illness, there are thus three permissions. As for the four: this adds relinquishing the invitation; that is, when one wishes to turn one's back on the former and accept the food of the subsequent household, one should relinquish the former invitation. As the vinaya text states: 'Venerable, I ought to go there, and now I give it to you.' (This is the formula for the procedure. In full it should say: 'Venerable, today I have accepted the invitation from the dānapati of the Zhang family in such-and-such a quarter and lane. I ought to go there, and now I give it to you.') According to this vinaya text, one must genuinely give it to a person, and the recipient must proceed to receive the dānapati's food; only when both benefit does it constitute non-offence. This is unlike the Mahāsāṃghika, where at dawn one merely forms a mental intention for protection. Therefore, practitioners since ancient times have, in this precept, explained the meaning of the six mindfulnesses of the Mahāsāṃghika. According to fascicle 16 of that Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya, the meaning should properly be stated as follows: The first mindfulness: whether this month is long (or short), the bright half (or dark half), the first day (recalling the number as the second, third day, etc.). The intention of this mindfulness is to distinguish long or short months based on the general consideration of the dark and bright halves; as for counting days, one distinguishes the first, second, etc., according to whether it is in the dark or bright half. The second mindfulness, according to the Mahāsāṃghika, states: 'Whatever food I obtain today, I give to so-and-so. So-and-so holds no grudges against me, and I shall eat it' (spoken three times). Now, the Mahāsāṃghika's intention is that regarding the food to be obtained within a single day, one performs the method of vikalpana in advance at dawn, mentally intending and verbally speaking the giving of it to the five assemblies. Therefore the textual meaning states: 'Whatever food I obtain today, I give to the novice so-and-so. The novice so-and-so holds no grudges against me (meaning that the novice does not begrudge me this food; if given to a bhikṣu, it is also spoken accordingly). I shall eat it (meaning forming the thought of eating the food of that novice or other person).' According to this, one does not genuinely relinquish it to another person. If the other person does not go, the dānapati's preparations are in vain, which differs from this vinaya's requirement of a genuine relinquishment. Therefore, according to this vinaya, mere mental protection does not resolve it; hence when forming the mindfulness, one merely intends to remember that one should carry out the relinquishing of the invitation. Thus one should mindfully say: 'The second mindfulness: I will not eat by turning my back on an invitation.' If at midday there are multiple invitations and one intends to turn one's back on one, one must separately relinquish the invitation, as should be understood from above. If there is a circumstance of illness, one should say: 'The second mindfulness: I have a circumstance of illness, so I may eat by turning my back on an invitation.' Other circumstances follow this. The third mindfulness: 'In such-and-such a year of the sexagenary cycle (such as yichou, etc., understood accordingly), the first month, beginning with yichou (or jiazi, etc.), on the second day bingyin (or jiazi, etc.), at the time of mao, with a one-foot gnomon casting a two-foot shadow, I received the full ordination, having not yet had any rains retreats' (the length of the gnomon shadow at the time of zi, chou, etc., should be stated according to the time, and one or two rains retreats, etc., should also be stated accordingly). If at the time of receiving the precepts it was cloudy and without sun, one simply says: 'At the initial division of the time of mao, I received the full ordination' (the middle and final divisions should also be stated accordingly). The fourth mindfulness: 'The three robes and the bowl are complete' (if any are missing, one should say: 'The saṃghāṭī and uttarāsaṅga are complete; the antarvāsaka is not yet complete, and I shall make it complete.' The remaining robes and bowl are stated according to what is lacking). 'They have already been taken up and retained' (if not yet taken up and retained, one says according to what has not been retained: 'The saṃghāṭī has not yet been taken up and retained, and I shall take it up and retain it.' The rest can be understood accordingly). 'The extra robes have already undergone vikalpana' (if one or two pieces have not undergone vikalpana, one says: 'Such-and-such a robe has not undergone vikalpana, and I shall perform vikalpana; the remaining robes have already undergone vikalpana'). The fifth mindfulness: 'I will not eat separately from the assembly' (or if there is a cause for gaṇa-bhojana, one should say: 'I have a circumstance of illness, so I may eat separately from the assembly.' Other circumstances should be stated following this). The sixth mindfulness: 'I am now free from illness, and practice the path relying on the assembly' (if there is a circumstance of illness, one should say: 'I am now sick and ought to be treated'). The first mindfulness is to know the date for the recitation of the prātimokṣa, and also to contemplate impermanence and the passage of days and months so as to cultivate revulsion for saṃsāra; the second mindfulness guards against harassing donors; the third mindfulness guards against the affliction of arrogance and also guards against the offence of stealing; the fourth mindfulness reverently cultivates individual practice; the fifth mindfulness reverently cultivates harmonious practice; the sixth mindfulness reverently cultivates non-negligence, so that all practices are brought to completion. According to the vinaya, turning one's back on the former incurs a prāyaścittika; turning one's back on the latter incurs a duṣkṛta. That is, if one accepts ten invitations and turns one's back on the first invitation, whichever food one accepts among the subsequent nine households, with every swallow in between, one commits one prāyaścittika and eight duṣkṛtas. This is because only the first household was the prior invitation, and the other nine households are all subsequent. If one turns one's back on the second household and goes to eat at the first household, with every swallow one commits nine duṣkṛtas.