[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [廣弘明集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103) › 5.52 # 廣弘明集 5.52 廣弘明集 5.52 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.52](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.5.52) 答曰。民資肉食而火粒未啟。便令不肉教豈得行。前論言之已具。不復重釋。眾生緣果所遭各有期會。當昔佛教未被。是其惡業盛時。後之聞法是其善業萌時。善惡各有其時。何關淳厚之與澆薄。五支之戒各有輕重。非殺戒偏重四支並輕。且五業雖異而互相發起。犯人之戒。人重故先出。犯獸之戒。獸輕故後被。訓記之道次第宜然。周公孔子漸弘仁惻。前論已詳。請息重辯。若必以釋教乖方域之理。外此自一家之學所不敢言。 > Answer: When the common people depended on meat for sustenance and fire-cooked grains had not yet been introduced, how could a teaching forbidding meat have been put into practice? This has already been discussed in detail in the preceding treatise and will not be explained again here. The conditions and fruits encountered by sentient beings each have their appointed time. When the Buddhist teaching had not yet spread in antiquity, that was the time when their bad karma was flourishing; when they subsequently heard the Dharma, that was the time when their good karma sprouted. Good and bad each have their season; what has this to do with being genuine and simple or frivolous and corrupt? The five precepts each have degrees of gravity and lightness; it is not that the precept against killing is exclusively heavy while the other four are entirely light. Moreover, although the five karmas differ, they stimulate one another. Regarding the precepts against harming humans: because humans are of great consequence, these were set forth first; regarding the precept against harming animals: because animals are of lesser consequence, it was applied later. The order of instruction and transmission is appropriately like this. The Duke of Zhou and Confucius gradually propagated benevolence and compassion, as the preceding treatise detailed; please let this repetitive dispute cease. If one insists that the Śākya teaching runs contrary to the principles of a specific region, that falls outside \[our concern\], as the doctrine of a single school, of which one dares not speak. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 5.51](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.5.51) - [Next: 5.53](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.5.53) - [Up: 5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.5) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103~en-mt.5.52) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.5.52](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.5.52) · Pramāṇa