律相感通傳 1.129

1.129

He replied: "Nearly two hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, monks in Northern India lived together with non-Buddhists. The non-Buddhists were jealous of them and secretly inserted sharp knives into the folds of their robes, and went together to the king's court. The non-Buddhists told the king: 'The Śākyamuni-son śramaṇas conceal sharp knives within, intending to harm the king.' Upon investigation, they were discovered, and on account of this all the monks throughout the entire country were executed. At that time, there was the arhat Yaśas, who instructed all the monks to temporarily stitch them together as an expedient, in order to avert mortal peril. This was an expedient measure instituted in the north due to circumstance; it was not a dispensation permitted by the Buddha. Nowadays, there are monks in the south who all stitch them together, and those without understanding also copy them in stitching them."