藥師經疏 1.50

1.50

經。復次至五百戒　七毀禁還淨文分為四。一持戒。二毀禁。三供養。四蒙救。此則初也。問眾生何故受三歸依。答涅槃第五云。一切眾生怖畏生死諸煩惱故。故受三歸。譬如群鹿怖畏獵師既得免離。若得一跳則喻一歸。如是三跳則喻三歸。以三跳故得受安樂眾生亦爾。怖四魔惡獵師故受三歸依。三歸依故則得安樂。云何不事餘天者。智論第二云。如摩醯首羅天。此云大自在。八臂三眼。騎白牛如韋紐天。此云遍悶四臂捉具持輪騎金翅鳥。鳩摩羅天此云童子。擎鷄持鈴捉赤幡騎孔雀。皆諸天大將。是三天愛之令人得如願。是三天惡之令人七世滅。既有如此力。云何不事天。答是天一切常怖畏不能除却諸衰苦。有人奉事恭敬者。現世不免沒憂海。有人不敬不供養。現世不妨受富樂。當知虛誑無實事。是故智人不屬天。又隨願往生經說。自作自得非天與人。問如受八戒八種緣具始成於戒未知五戒為總受始成亦通別受。答智論十三云。五戒有五種受名五種憂婆塞。一者一分行憂婆塞。二者少分行優婆塞。三者多分行憂婆塞。四者滿分行優婆塞。五者斷婬優婆塞。一分行者。唯受一戒。少分行者。若受二戒。若受三戒。多分行者。謂受四戒。滿分行者。盡持五戒。斷婬者受五戒。已師前更作誓言。我於自婦不復行婬。云何受持十戒。謂男女等發心出家。創初與受受此戒唯通沙彌沙彌尼。受菩薩一百四戒者。菩薩戒多少諸經論說咸悉不問。如宋本云二十四戒。唐本云四百戒金。此經本一百四戒。犯網經有十重四十八輕。瑜伽地持有四重二十五輕。此由菩薩戒多疑心。即是如來隨病說藥多少不同。如聲聞戒中。或五戒八戒二百五十戒五百戒等。以在家出家及男女不同差別非一。如來量根優劣故制有異數。此亦應爾。梵本不同。有此三別。是故譯經三藏稱本而翻故有此不同。二百五十戒者。此亦不定。若依瑜伽。苾芻有一百五十一戒合一百。眾學但為一戒。以眾學隨舉三業。皆是不可限以百數。苾芻尼五百戒者。此亦不定。如四分尼律及尼戒不滿四百戒。蓋由開合故爾。

Sūtra: “Furthermore [...] five hundred precepts.”
Part seven: Restoration of purity after breaking the prohibitions. The text is divided into four: first, upholding the precepts; second, breaking the prohibitions; third, making offerings; fourth, receiving rescue. This is the first.
Question: Why do sentient beings receive the three refuges?
Answer: The fifth fascicle of the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] states that all sentient beings, fearing the afflictions of birth and death, receive the three refuges. It is like a herd of deer fearing a hunter: once they escape, if they manage one leap, it illustrates one refuge; thus three leaps illustrate the three refuges. Because of the three leaps they obtain peace and joy; sentient beings are also like this. Fearing the evil hunter of the four Māras, they receive the three refuges; because of the three refuges, they obtain peace and joy.
Why does one not serve other deities? The second fascicle of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: “Take, for example, Maheśvara deva, translated here as Great Sovereign, with eight arms, three eyes, and riding a white bull. Take Viṣṇu deva, translated here as All-Pervading [Stupefaction], with four arms holding implements and a discus, riding a garuḍa. Take Kumāra deva, translated here as Youth, holding a rooster and a bell, clutching a red banner, and riding a peacock. All are great generals among the devas. If these three devas love someone, they make them obtain whatever they wish; if these three devas hate someone, they destroy their family for seven generations. Since they have such power, why not serve the devas?”
The answer is: “These devas are all constantly frightened and cannot eliminate various decline and suffering. If someone serves and reveres them, in the present life they cannot avoid sinking into an ocean of sorrow. If someone does not respect them and does not make offerings, in the present life they are not prevented from enjoying wealth and joy. One should know that these are hollow, deceitful, and lack reality; therefore, wise people do not attach themselves to devas.”
Furthermore, the Suiyuan wangsheng jing says: “What one creates, one obtains oneself; it is not bestowed upon humans by devas.”
Question: As with receiving the eight precepts, where the eight conditions must be complete before the precepts are constituted, does the reception of the five precepts take effect only when received in full, or does it also permit partial reception?
Answer: Fascicle thirteen of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: “There are five kinds of receiving the five precepts, termed five kinds of upāsakas: first, the upāsaka of one portion of practice; second, the upāsaka of a small portion of practice; third, the upāsaka of a major portion of practice; fourth, the upāsaka of the full portion of practice; fifth, the upāsaka of severing sexual desire. An upāsaka of one portion of practice receives only one precept. An upāsaka of a small portion of practice receives either two or three precepts. An upāsaka of a major portion of practice receives four precepts. An upāsaka of the full portion of practice upholds all five precepts. One who severs sexual desire, having received the five precepts, makes a further vow before the preceptor: ‘I will never again engage in sexual activity with my own wife.’”
How does one receive and uphold the ten precepts? When men or women generate the mind to leave household life, these precepts are initially conferred upon them; receiving these precepts pertains solely to śrāmaṇeras and śrāmaṇerikās.
Regarding receiving the one hundred and four bodhisattva precepts: the various sūtras and treatises are by no means uniform on the number of bodhisattva precepts. For example, the Song version mentions twenty-four precepts; the Tang version mentions four hundred precepts; this sūtra text has one hundred and four precepts; the Brahmājāla Sūtra has ten major and forty-eight minor precepts; and the Bodhisattvabhūmi has four major and twenty-five minor precepts. This is because doubts regarding bodhisattva precepts are numerous, and the Tathāgata prescribes medicine according to the sickness, so the quantities differ. Just as in the śrāvaka precepts, where there are five precepts, eight precepts, two hundred and fifty precepts, five hundred precepts, and so forth—because differences between household and monastic, and between male and female, are not one—the Tathāgata measured the sharpness and dullness of faculties and established different numbers. This case should also be like that. The Sanskrit texts were not identical, having these three variations; therefore, the Tripiṭaka translators translated according to their texts, resulting in these discrepancies.
Regarding the two hundred and fifty precepts, this is also not fixed. If one follows the Yogācāra[bhūmi], a bhikṣu has one hundred and fifty-one precepts; the one hundred rules of training (śaikṣa-dharma) are counted as just one precept, because the rules of training follow any action of the three karmas, which cannot be restricted to the number of one hundred. Regarding the five hundred precepts of a bhikṣuṇī, this is also not fixed: for instance, in the Dharmaguptaka Bhikṣuṇī-vinaya and the Bhikṣuṇī Prātimokṣa, there are fewer than four hundred precepts. This is simply due to different ways of combining and dividing them.