諸經要集 6.28

6.28

As the Śāriputra-paripṛcchā-sūtra states: Śāriputra addressed the Buddha, saying, 'There are dānapatis who build saṅghārāmas and generously provide provisions. In future ages, there will be monks who resemble renunciants who, at an improper time, go to the food-distributing monk to demand food and eat it. What sin do the giver and the eater incur, and what merit does the original dānapati obtain?' The Buddha said, 'One who [eats at] an improper time is a breaker of precepts and an offender of theft. One who gives at an improper time is likewise a breaker of precepts and an offender of theft. They steal the dānapati's property; this is taking what is not given, which is not the intention of the donor. The donor receives no merit, for the property was lost; yet there remains the good of having generated the aspiration to establish it.' Śāriputra said, 'If one receives at the proper time and eats at the proper time, and if what is not finished is eaten again at an improper time, or if one receives at the proper time but waits until an improper time to eat it, does one still obtain merit?' The Buddha said, 'Those who are pure in eating at the proper time are indeed puṇyakṣetras; they are true renunciants, the true Saṅgha, good friends to gods and humans, and guides to gods and humans. Those who are impure are still precept-breakers; they are great robbers, they are hungry ghosts, and they are dens of sin. If one demands food at an improper time, and the food distributor carelessly gives it regardless of whether it is the proper time or not, that food distributor is called one who has fallen away from the Path, called an evil māra, called the three evil destinies, called a broken vessel, and called a leper; because he destroys good fruits, he lives by theft and begging. Therefore, the brahmins do not eat at improper times, and heterodox brahmacārins do not eat by wrong livelihood. How much less should my disciples, who know the Dharma and practice the Dharma, act thus! All who are like this are not my disciples; they steal the benefits of my Dharma and are people clinging to lawlessness. They are called persons who steal food contrary to Dharma. The thief who gives and the thief who receives—even a single lump, a pinch, a speck of salt, or a drop of vinegar—shall all, upon death, fall into the Intestine-Scorching Hell to swallow red-hot iron balls. Emerging from hell, they will be born among pigs and dogs, eating all sorts of impurities; or born as evil birds whose cries people dread; and later born as hungry ghosts, returning to the saṅghārāma to dwell in the latrines and consume excrement and filth for hundreds of thousands of myriad years. When born again among humans, they will be impoverished, lowly, and despised and loathed by others beyond description, trusted by no one. This is not like stealing the property of a single person, the sin of which is still lighter; because here one plunders many people, plunders an excellent puṇyakṣetra, and severs the supramundane Path.' Furthermore, the Gandha-rāja-sūtra states: When the Buddha was in the world, there was a king named Gandha who served a brahmin. The brahmin lived in the mountains and planted many fruit trees. At that time, a woodcutter damaged his fruit trees. Seeing this, the brahmin brought him before the king and said, 'This man has wrongfully ruined my fruit trees. The king should punish and execute him.' The king, reverently serving the brahmin, dared not disobey him and immediately executed him. Not long thereafter, an ox ate someone's rice. The owner chased and beat it, breaking one of its horns. Blood flowed over its face, and the pain was unbearable. The ox went straight to the king's presence and said, 'I indeed wrongfully ate a little of this man's rice, and now he has broken my horn.' The owner of the rice also pursued it to the king's presence. The king understood the language of birds and beasts. The king said to the ox, 'I will kill him for you.' The ox replied, 'Although you kill this man now, it cannot make my pain cease. You need only command that hereafter people should not treat others as I was treated.' The king was moved to reflect, saying, 'I served a brahmin, and merely on account of fruit trees he made me kill a man; he is not as good as this ox. Now serving this path, I still cannot escape saṃsāra—what use is this path?' Thereupon he went to the Buddha's place, threw his five limbs to the ground in homage to the Buddha, and wished to receive the five precepts and ten virtuous deeds. The Buddha said, 'Giving and keeping the precepts bring blessings in the present life; forbearance, vigor, single-mindedness, and wisdom possess immeasurable virtue, and later one will be born in heaven.' The king was overjoyed and attained the fruit of srotāpanna. Ānanda addressed the Buddha, saying, 'What was the past cause and condition between this king and the ox?' The Buddha said, 'Long ago, in the time of Kanakamuni Buddha, the king and the ox were brothers; as upāsakas, they upheld the fast precepts together for one day and one night. The king observed the Dharma vigorously, daring not to be negligent; when his life ended, he ascended to heaven. When his heavenly lifespan was exhausted, he came down to be a king. The ox at that time violated the fast by eating at night, and in the end suffered retribution for that sin. When his punishment was finished, he was reborn as an ox for five hundred lifetimes. Still possessing past knowledge, he came to awaken the king's mind. Seven days later, the ox's lifespan ended, and he was reborn above in heaven.' The Buddha said, 'The fourfold disciples who undertake and uphold the fast precepts must not violate them.'