翻譯名義集 7.69

7.69

The Buddhabhūmi-śāstra says: "Sustenance is called food (āhāra); that is, it can sustain the physical body so that it does not deteriorate or break down, and it nourishes good dharmas. The body relies on food to abide, and life depends on food to endure. Flowing into the five viscera, it permeates the four limbs, replenishing qi and benefiting the flesh, making the body and mind comfortable and joyous. (Food has three virtues: first, lightness and softness; second, cleanliness and purity; third, compliance with the Dharma. It has six flavours: namely, bitter, sour, sweet, pungent, salty, and bland.)" The Śūraṅgama sūtra says: "Thus the twelve classes of living beings in this world cannot maintain themselves on their own, but abide by relying on the four foods: namely, portioned food, contact food, thought food, and consciousness food." Therefore the Buddha said: "All sentient beings abide by relying on food." Zuili explains: "Regarding 'portioned food' (kavaḍīkārāhāra), 'portion' refers to bodily portions and chunks. Taking the three dusts of fragrance, taste, and tangibility as its substance, entering the belly, deteriorating, and benefiting the sense faculties, it is therefore called portioned food. (The Lokasthiti sūtra says: 'Coarse portioned food and minute, subtle food. For the people of Jambudvīpa, cooked rice, parched grain, beans, meat, and so forth are called coarse portioned food; massage, bathing, wiping with ointments, and so forth are called minute, subtle food.' Ancient translations of sūtras and vinayas all called it 'balled food' [piṇḍāhāra]. The Shuowen jiezi says: piṇ refers to round. The Book of Rites says: 'Do not ball up food.' The Tongsu wen says: 'Balling with the hand is called piṇ.' The Xunwen says: 'Its meaning was too narrow. Since broths, beverages, and the like cannot be balled up, subsequent translators all rendered it "portioned food".') Regarding 'contact food' (sparśāhāra), 'contact' refers to encountering and confronting. Taking the contact that corresponds with the six consciousnesses facing their external objects to produce joy and pleasure, it is therefore named contact food. (Tonghui says: 'Just as a man and a woman confronting one another constitutes contact, and contact can sustain the body, it thus obtains the name of food. In accordance with the Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya, seeing visible forms and generating attachment is called food; is this not the meaning of contact food? If it were not contact food, why would those watching plays and theatricals feel naturally satiated despite not eating all day?' The Lokasthiti sūtra says: 'All egg-born beings obtain their bodies, hence they take contact as food.' The Jin’gang shu says: 'Cold and warm sensations and the like are also called contact food.') Regarding 'thought food' (manosañcetanāhāra), 'thought' refers to mental intention. Taking the volition (cetanā) that corresponds with the sixth consciousness, because it generates hope toward desirable objects, [it is called thought food]. (The Lokasthiti sūtra says: 'Regarding thought food, if there are sentient beings whose mental intention moistens and enriches them so that their faculties flourish—just as fish, turtles, snakes, toads, gavials, and other sentient beings use mental intention to moisten and benefit their faculties and lifespan—these use thought as food.' The Xunwen says: 'Corresponding contact and corresponding thought are both among the universally operating mental factors.' The Jin’gang shu says: 'Thinking of food and drink so that one does not die is also called thought food.') Regarding 'consciousness food' (vijñānāhāra), 'consciousness' refers to the characteristic of holding and sustaining by the eighth consciousness. Sustained by the momentum of the preceding three foods, this consciousness is made superior and strong, able to hold and sustain the sense faculties and the great elements. (The Lokasthiti sūtra says: 'As for consciousness food, hell beings and the devas of the Sphere of Boundless Consciousness and so forth all use the sustenance of consciousness as their food.') If differentiated according to the three realms: portioned food exists only in the desire realm, because the form and formless realms lack the two dusts of fragrance and taste; the remaining three foods pervade all three realms. (The intermediate existence [antarābhava] has only three foods, though it also has portioned food. As the Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya-śāstra says: 'Just as in a human's intermediate existence, they also feed upon the aromas of what is eaten among humans. It is only that the present skandhas are coarse, hence they rely heavily on portioned food; the intermediate skandhas are subtle, hence they mostly rely on the [other] three foods.') This is a general overview of the four foods."