[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) › [法苑珠林](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122) › 3.40 # 法苑珠林 3.40 法苑珠林 3.40 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.3.40) 如起世經云。一切眾生有四種食。以資諸大得自住持。何等為四。一麁段及微細食。二觸食。三意思食。四識食。何等眾生應食麁段及微細食。如閻浮提人等。飯\[麩-夫+少\]豆肉等名為麁段食。按摩澡浴拭膏等名為微細食。自外三洲下人及六欲諸天等。並以麁段微細為食。自此已上色界無色天。並以禪悅法喜為食。無復麁段微細食也。問曰。何等眾生以觸為食。答曰。一切卵生得身故以觸為食。何等眾生以思為食。若有眾生意思資潤。諸根增長。如魚鼈蛇蝦蟆伽羅瞿陀等。及餘眾生以意思潤益諸根壽命者。此等皆用思為食。何等眾生以識為食。所謂地獄眾生及無邊識處天等。皆用識持以為其食。四天王天並食須陀味。朝食一撮暮食一撮。食入體已轉成身。是須陀味園林池苑並自然生。是須陀味亦能化作佉陀尼等八種飲食。一切欲界諸天食亦皆如是。色界諸天從初禪乃至遍淨以喜為食。無色界已上諸天以意業為食。問曰。諸天飲食云何。答曰。如經說云。欲界諸天隨其貴賤好惡不同。其福厚者。隨其所思無不具足。飲則甘露盈杯。食則百味俱至。其福薄者。雖有飲食恒不稱心。以不足故猶下食來。故經云。譬如諸天共寶器食。隨其福德飯色有異。上者見白。中者見黃。下者見赤。色界諸天以禪悅為味。若以四食言之。唯有觸食法也。 > As the \*Lokasthiti-sūtra\* states: All sentient beings have four kinds of nutriment to sustain the primary elements so that they may maintain themselves. What are the four? First, coarse solid food and subtle nutriment; second, contact nutriment; third, mental volition nutriment; fourth, consciousness nutriment. Which sentient beings consume coarse solid food and subtle nutriment? Such as the humans of Jambudvīpa, for whom cooked rice, roasted flour, beans, and meat are called coarse solid food, while massage, bathing, and anointing with ointments are called subtle nutriment. Aside from this, the humans of the three other continents down to the devas of the six desire realms all take coarse solid and subtle food as their nutriment. From here upwards, the devas of the form and formless realms all take the bliss of dhyāna and the joy of the Dharma as their nutriment, having no coarse solid or subtle food. Question: Which sentient beings take contact as their nutriment? Answer: All oviparous beings, because they acquire their bodies \[through contact\], take contact as their nutriment. Which sentient beings take thought as their nutriment? If there are sentient beings whose mental volition nourishes and moistens them so that their faculties grow—such as fish, turtles, snakes, toads, \*kāra-go-dha\* (monitors), and the like, as well as other sentient beings whose faculties and lifespans are nourished and benefited by mental volition—all these take thought as nutriment. Which sentient beings take consciousness as their nutriment? Namely, beings in hell and the devas of the Realm of Boundless Consciousness, all of whom are sustained by consciousness and take it as their nutriment. The devas of the Four Heavenly Kings all eat the flavor of sudhā (ambrosia); they eat a pinch in the morning and a pinch in the evening, and after being ingested into the body, it transforms into the body. This flavor of sudhā arises spontaneously in parks, groves, ponds, and courtyards. This flavor of sudhā can also transform into the eight kinds of food and drink, such as khādanīya. The food of all devas of the desire realm is likewise. The devas of the form realm, from the first dhyāna up to Śubhakṛtsna, take joy as their nutriment. The devas from the formless realm upwards take mental karma as their nutriment. Question: What is the food and drink of the various devas like? Answer: As the sūtra states: Among the devas of the desire realm, differences exist according to their high or low status, and their excellence or inferiority. For those whose merit is abundant, whatever they think of is fully provided: for drink, amṛta fills their cups; for food, the hundred delicacies arrive together. For those whose merit is deficient, although they have food and drink, it is never satisfying; because of deficiency, they are still served inferior food. Therefore a sūtra states: 'For example, when devas eat together from a jeweled vessel, the color of the rice differs according to their merit: the superior see it as white, the middling see it as yellow, and the inferior see it as red.' The devas of the form realm take the bliss of dhyāna as their flavor; if spoken of in terms of the four nutriments, they possess only the dharmic nutriment of contact. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.3.39) - [Next: 3.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.3.41) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122~en-mt.3.40) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.3.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.3.40) · Pramāṇa