諸經要集 17.43

17.43

The Commentary states: This too was before the gradual prohibitions of the early teaching; therefore, apart from what was killed for one's own sake which could not be eaten, if it died naturally and rotted, conceived of as grasses and trees, he provisionally permitted it to be eaten, and so forth. Those wishing to eat were made to recite the incantation to give rise to a sense of shame, and only then was it permitted to be eaten. After the prohibition was enacted, all varieties of meat, without question of natural death or leftovers by birds, may not be eaten at all. Just as the Weicengyou jing permits drinking liquor and the Wenju wen jing permits eating meat, when considering these sūtras, they were all when the Tathāgata first attained bodhi: measuring the capacities of sentient beings, they could not be abruptly cut off and abruptly prohibited; therefore he gradually permitted and gradually prohibited them. Later, knowing that the roots of sentient beings were mature, he then permanently cut off and permanently prohibited it, not allowing even the finest hair. If the root origin were not excerpted, foolish people of the time, reading this sūtra exclusively, would immediately indulge in transgressions, failing to understand that allowing and prohibiting, opening and closing are different. Therefore, I have collected the texts of the gradual and sudden together, so that the intention of their branches and roots may be known, hoping to cause it to be permanently severed and to manifest brahmacarya.