釋氏要覽 1.391

1.391

四分律云。梵語。蒲闍尼。此云正食○寄歸傳云。半者蒲善尼。唐言五噉食。謂飯餅[麩-夫+少]等○南山鈔云。時藥。謂報命支持勿過於藥。但飢渴名主病。亦名故病。每日常有故。以食為藥醫之○順正理論云。身依食住。命托食存。食已能令身心適悅安泰故○僧祇律云。時食。謂時得食。非時不得食。今言中食以天中日午時得食當日中故言中食。

The Sifen lü says: In Sanskrit, bhojanīya; here translated as 'primary food'. / The Jigui zhuan says: Pañca-bhojanīya; in the Tang language, 'five foods to be eaten', meaning cooked rice, cakes, roasted flour, and so on. / The Nanshan chao says: Timely medicine. This means that to support life, nothing surpasses medicine; however, hunger and thirst are called 'primary illnesses' and are also called 'old illnesses', because they occur constantly every day. Food is used as medicine to treat them. / The Abhidharmanyāyānusāra states: The body depends on food to abide; life relies on food to endure. Because having eaten, it makes body and mind delighted and comfortable. / The Sengqi lü says: Timely food. This means food obtained at the proper time; at improper times, it may not be eaten. What is now called 'midday meal' is because it may be eaten when the sun is at the zenith in the sky at noon; matching midday, it is therefore called the 'midday meal'.