法苑珠林 3.40

3.40

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.