釋氏要覽 3.345

3.345

The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya states: There was a monk who had been sick for a long time. The Buddha, on an inspection tour, saw him and personally, together with Ānanda, washed his body and clothes and dried his bedding; having finished, he also expounded the Dharma to him. The Buddha asked: "Have you ever cared for the sick?" He replied: "Never." The Buddha said: "Since you do not care for [others], who should care for you?" Thereupon he established the precept: "From this time forward, monks should care for the sick. If one wishes to make offerings to me, one should make offerings to the sick." (The Records of the Western Regions says: The Tang Tripiṭaka Master personally went to the northeast of Rājagṛha to pay homage to the stupa where the Buddha washed the sick monk.)