成唯識論述記 4.441

4.441

The Commentary states: Matter produced by superior meditative absorption is also of the class of the matter-base; it cannot nourish and benefit at the time of transformation and decay, and hence is not morsel food. Because at the time of transformation and decay visible matter cannot nourish and benefit its own faculty; since it has no nourishing utility for its own faculty, it also has no function for the other faculties and does not nurture them. Furthermore, visible matter is coarse and conspicuous, and can only serve as an object when separated from the faculty, not in contact with the faculty; therefore it is not food, as fascicle ninety-four of the 'Vastu-saṃgrahaṇī' also analyzes in detail, and fascicle five of the 'Maulī Bhūmi' fully explains; it cannot be recounted at tedious length. Sound is tenuous and distant; its function arises apart from physical matter and it cannot nourish and benefit, and therefore is not food. Question: When these three act as food, is it in relation to their own faculties or also in relation to other consciousnesses? Answer: When these three enter the stomach and transform and decay, they first nourish their own faculties to provide sustenance, and only then can they nourish the other faculties. Rendering the arising of consciousness clear and sharp is called food; it does not necessarily relate distinctively to what is grasped by its own consciousness. The various categorical distinctions of retention and elimination are as explained in the separate chapter.