[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) › [釋氏要覽](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2127) › 1.372 # 釋氏要覽 1.372 釋氏要覽 1.372 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.372](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2127.1.372) 西天祇園。比丘樓至請佛立壇。為比丘受戒如來於園外院東南。置一壇。此為始也。此土當宋元嘉七年庚午。天竺僧求那跋摩（梁云功德鎧）至揚都南林寺前竹園立壇。為比丘受戒為始也。今稱方等壇者。僧史略云。蓋以戒壇本出小乘教。小乘教中。應人僧界法一一如律。若片乖違。則受者不得戒臨壇人犯罪。今方等法。是大乘教。即不枸根缺緣差。但發大心。領納即得戒。可謂廣大平等周遍矣。故稱方等。或名甘露壇者。甘露即喻涅槃也。戒為入涅槃初門故。從果彰名也。今言壇場非一也。壇則出地立基。場則除地令平。今有混稱。蓋誤（要知壇式請看圖經）。 > At the Jetavana in India, the monk Ruci requested the Buddha to establish an altar to confer the precepts upon bhikṣus. The Tathāgata set up an altar to the southeast of the outer courtyard of the park; this was the beginning. In this land, it began in the seventh year of the Yuanjia reign of the Song (gengwu), when the Indian monk Guṇavarman (rendered in Liang as 'Gongdekai') arrived at the capital of Yang\[zhou\] and erected an altar in front of the bamboo grove at Nanlin Monastery to confer the precepts upon bhikṣus. What is now called the 'Vaipulya Altar' is explained in the Sengshi lüe: Because the ordination altar originally came from the Hīnayāna teaching, in the Hīnayāna teaching, the candidate, the saṃgha, the boundary, and the procedure must all strictly accord with the Vinaya; if there is the slightest infraction, the recipient does not obtain the precepts, and those at the altar commit an offense. Now, the Vaipulya method belongs to the Mahāyāna teaching: it does not restrict defective sense faculties or imperfect conditions; if one only produces the great mind and receives it, one attains the precepts. It can be described as vast, equal, and all-pervading; therefore it is called 'Vaipulya'. It is also called the 'Amṛta Altar', for amṛta is a metaphor for nirvāṇa; because the precepts are the initial gateway to enter nirvāṇa, it is named after its fruit. Now, the terms 'altar' (tan) and 'arena' (chang) are not the same: an altar is raised from the earth with a foundation; an arena is cleared ground made level. They are now used interchangeably, which is an error (if you wish to know the altar specifications, please consult the Illustrated Scripture \[on the Ordination Altar\]). > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.371](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2127.1.371) - [Next: 1.373](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2127.1.373) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2127.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2127~en-mt.1.372) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2127.1.372](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2127.1.372) · Pramāṇa