天台菩薩戒疏 1.38

1.38

初、殺人戒。菩薩萬行，慈悲為本，視眾生猶如父母，六道輪轉，互不相知。故下文云「而殺而食者，即殺我父母」，傷慈之甚，是故先制。所言殺者，斷彼命也。從識初託，訖于老死，斷彼連持相續之命，並名為殺。通緣有二：一、稟菩薩律儀；二、住自性，非顛狂等。此通諸戒，故名通緣，下不復出。別緣具四：一、是人；二、人想；三、有殺心；四、命斷，便犯，闕緣結輕。一一戒中通具三意：初、制止惡；次、制行善；三、舉過結犯。初文又三：初、標人列於殺事；次、因下，列成殺業；三、「乃至」下，舉輕況重。初言「若佛子」者，通指之辭，謂發發菩提心，受菩薩戒，從佛法生，通名佛子。「若自殺」下，列殺事，五句不同。初自殺有二：一、殺自身；二、殺他身。殺自身有三義：一、惡心自殺。二、厭身自殺，並違聖教俱結輕垢，故經云：說身無常，不說厭離於身也。三、為生為道亡身濟物，如薩埵王子等，是故下文令捨自命等則得福無犯。二、自殺他，具緣犯夷。次教他殺者，教他殺人，彼人未死，能教前死亦犯重罪。何以故？戒無盡故。不同小乘順權文說，命終戒失結方便蘭。三、方便讚歎殺者，見他正殺歎其德也。一、讚能殺之人，二、讚所殺之法，如律中云「用此惡活為」等名方便讚歎殺。四、見作隨喜者，約於已殺隨喜之也，若見若聞皆隨喜故。五、「乃至呪殺」者，殺相猶多，刀杖坑穽藥毒等類，呪殺希故越却多種，而云乃至，如呪咀人令其命斷等。次、列成殺業中四句不同，自有殺心為因，刀杖等為緣，造趣方便為法，以殺為務名業。三、舉輕況重，故云「乃至有命」者，故知除人之外並犯輕垢。下文雖無別條，義推應爾。如制春夏放火，非護生草木及護損傷物命，但結輕。次、「是菩薩」下，制令行善。言「常住慈悲心」者，無緣慈悲與理相稱，體同法界實相，故名為常住。三、「而反」下，舉過結犯。言「波羅夷」者，此云「他勝處」。緣理持戒當感聖果名為佛事，即自勝處。毀禁墮獄名為魔事，即他勝處。

First, the precept against killing living beings. Among the ten thousand practices of a bodhisattva, compassion is the root; one regards sentient beings as parents, yet revolving in the six destinies, they do not recognize one another. Therefore the text below says: "One who kills and eats them kills my parents." As this severely harms compassion, it is instituted first. What is called "killing" means severing their life. From the first descent of consciousness up to old age and death, severing that continuous, sustained life is in all cases termed killing. There are two general conditions: 1. possessing the bodhisattva's deportment [precepts]; 2. abiding in one's own nature, not being deranged or the like. These are common to all precepts, so they are called general conditions, and will not be stated again below. There are four specific conditions: 1. it is a human; 2. the perception of it as a human; 3. having the intention to kill; 4. life is severed—then an infraction occurs; if conditions are lacking, a minor [offence] is constituted. Within each precept there are generally three intents: first, prohibiting evil; next, enjoining the practice of good; third, stating the fault to constitute an infraction. The first text also has three [parts]: first, identifying the person and listing acts of killing; second, from "causes" below, listing the fulfillment of the karma of killing; third, from "and even" below, citing the minor to illustrate the major. In the first, "if a disciple of the Buddha" is a general designation, meaning one who has generated the bodhicitta, received the bodhisattva precepts, and been born from the Buddha-Dharma; all are called disciples of the Buddha. From "whether killing oneself" below lists the acts of killing, which have five distinct phrases. First, "killing oneself" has two [senses]: 1. killing one's own body; 2. killing another's body by oneself. Killing one's own body has three meanings: 1. killing oneself with an evil mind; 2. killing oneself out of revulsion toward the body—both contravene the holy teaching and constitute minor defilements, as the sūtra says: "It speaks of the body as impermanent, not of revulsion toward the body." 3. Renouncing the body to save beings for the sake of sentient beings and the Way, like Prince Sattva and others; therefore the text below enjoining the abandonment of one's own life yields merit without infraction. Second, killing another by oneself, possessing the conditions, incurs a pārājika. Next, "instructing another to kill": if one instructs another to kill a person, and before that person dies, the instructor dies first, a major offense is still committed. Why? Because the precepts are inexhaustible. Unlike the Lesser Vehicle, which speaks in accord with provisional texts where the precepts are lost at death, constituting a preparatory thullaccaya. Third, "praising killing by expedient means": seeing another in the act of killing and praising its virtue. 1. Praising the person capable of killing; 2. praising the method of killing, as in the vinaya: "Why live such an evil life?" and so forth—this is called praising killing by expedient means. Fourth, "rejoicing upon seeing it done": rejoicing with respect to an act of killing already committed, whether seeing or hearing it and rejoicing. Fifth, "and even killing by incantation": the marks of killing are still numerous, such as blades, staves, pits, traps, poisons, and the like; since killing by incantation is rare, it bypasses many types and says "and even," such as cursing a person to cause their life to be severed. Next, in listing the fulfillment of the karma of killing, there are four distinct phrases: having the intention to kill oneself is the cause; blades, staves, and the like are the conditions; carrying out expedient means to approach it is the method; and taking killing as one's business is called the karma. Third, citing the minor to illustrate the major: therefore it says "and even anything having life"; hence we know that apart from humans, all [other killing] incurs a minor defilement. Although the text below has no separate clause, it should be so by rational inference. Just as setting fires in spring and summer, if not to protect living plants and avoid injuring beings' lives, merely incurs a minor [offence]. Next, from "this bodhisattva" below, enjoining the practice of good: "ever-abiding mind of compassion" means unconditional compassion accords with principle, its essence identical to the true mark of the dharmadhātu; hence it is called "ever-abiding." Third, from "yet instead" below, stating the fault to constitute an infraction: "pārājika" is here translated as "defeat (parājaya)." Upholding the precepts in accord with principle will induce holy fruit, which is called the Buddha's work—namely, one's own victory; violating prohibitions and falling into hell is called Māra's work—namely, defeat by another.