釋門章服儀 1.12

1.12

形服之所感人，懷生務本；道法之所迴向，啟化初源。故釋父逾城，途經林澤，行見獵者服以袈裟，便脫寶衣，貿得麁布僧伽梨，即而服之，成正覺道及開化也。若自若他，創染玄綱，先乘此服。故善來聲發，俗衣變而成法衣，八事隨身。如《善見》說：「羯磨等受，先立形同正儀。」故《律》云：「彼剃髮著袈裟，與出家人同。」此誠證也。斯何故耶？良由非變服無以光其儀，非異俗無以顯其道也。括其大歸，莫非截苦海之舟航，夷生涯之梯隥。故《賢愚經》云：「服此法衣，當於生死疾得解脫。」故梵王布化，存生而立運通；釋尊垂範，亡我而捐罪福。傾五住於心塵，排二死於內外者也。是知戲女一披，歷長劫而依脫縛；獸王纔見，忍死苦而識歸心。誠不虛也。

The way outward form and robes inspire people causes living beings to attend to the fundamental; the way the Dharma of the Way directs [merit] opens the initial source of transformation. Therefore, when the father of the Śākya clan leapt over the city walls and passed through the forest and marsh, he saw on the road a hunter wearing a kāṣāya; he immediately took off his precious robes, bartered for the coarse cloth saṃghāṭī, put it on at once, achieved the Way of perfect enlightenment, and began his teaching. Whether for oneself or others, when first dyed by the mysterious net, one first puts on this robe. Therefore, when the voice saying 'Come, monk' was uttered, worldly garments transformed into Dharma robes, and the eight requisites accompanied the body. As the Samantapāsādikā states: 'In receiving [ordination] through karman and so forth, one must first establish the correct decorum of identical appearance.' Thus the Vinaya states: 'He shaved his hair, donned the kāṣāya, and became identical to those who have renounced the world.' This is genuine proof. Why is this? It is truly because without altering one's robes, there is no way to glorify one's deportment; without differing from the worldly, there is no way to manifest the Way. Summarizing its overarching purpose, it is nothing other than a boat to cross the ocean of suffering, a ladder to smooth the path of life. Thus the Damamūkanidāna-sūtra states: 'Wearing this Dharma robe, one will swiftly attain liberation from birth and death.' Therefore, when King Brahmā spread transformation, he preserved life and established cyclical progression; when the Śākya Honored One bequeathed his model, he extinguished the self and cast away both sin and merit, overturning the five entrenchments in the dust of the mind and dispelling the two kinds of death within and without. Thus we know that when an actress donned it once, she came to be freed from bondage through long kalpas; when a king of beasts merely saw it, he endured the agony of death and recognized taking refuge. It is truly not in vain.