釋氏要覽 1.237

1.237

智度論云。梵語鳩摩羅伽。秦言童子○寄歸傳云。白衣詣苾芻所。專誦佛典。求落髮。號童子。西天出家國無制止但投師允可即和僧剃髮即無童子行者之屬今經中呼文殊善財寶積月光等諸大菩薩為童子者。即非稚齒。如智論云。如文殊師利十力四無所畏等。悉具佛事故住鳩摩羅伽地。又云若菩薩從初發心斷婬欲。乃至菩提是名童子。今就此方釋之釋名曰兒。年十五曰童。童獨也。自七歲止十五皆稱童子。謂太和未散故。

The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: 'The Sanskrit word is kumāra; in the language of Qin it is called tongzi (boy).' / The Account of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas states: 'A white-robed layman who approaches a bhikṣu, devotes himself to chanting Buddhist scriptures, and seeks tonsure is called a boy (tongzi). When one leaves home in the Western Heavens (India), there is no state prohibition; one simply applies to a master, and with his assent the Saṃgha assembles to shave the head; hence there is no such class as boys or postulants (xingzhe). Now in the sūtras, when various great bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī, Sudhana, Ratnacūḍa, and Candraprabha are called boys (tongzi), it is not because of tender age. As the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: 'Since Mañjuśrī fully possesses the Buddha's affairs such as the ten powers and four fearlessnesses, he abides in the kumāra stage.' It also says: 'If a bodhisattva from his initial aspiration cuts off sexual desire all the way to bodhi, he is called a boy (tongzi).' Now explaining this according to our land: the Shiming says that one under age is an er (child); at age fifteen he is a tong (boy). Tong means alone (du). From age seven up to fifteen, all are called boys (tongzi), meaning the primordial harmony has not yet dispersed.