四分戒本疏卷第一．第二．第三 3.22

3.22

"If a bhikṣu digs the earth with his own hand, or instructs a person to dig the earth, it is a prāyaścittika."
This complete text of the precept has three sections: 1. the initial summary prohibition against digging oneself; 2. because instructions to dig were given without using permissible speech, the earlier prohibition was incomplete, so the formulation was expanded; 3. the complete text of the precept has five clauses: 1. the offender; 2. the action done oneself; 3. the damaged earth; 4. the action of instructing another; 5. the assignation of the offense. The first clause is understood. Second, "digs with his own hand": the Vinaya says, whether using a hoe or spade, or pushing, striking, stabbing with a knife, pinching with fingers, scratching, and injuring. Third, "earth": the Vinaya says, if it is earth that has already been turned, having been dug, after four months soaked by rain it returns to its original state and is regarded as living earth. Earth that contains no sand, stones, tiles, or gravel, and is capable of bearing crops, is called living earth. If it is four parts sand and one part earth, it is not living earth, and digging it oneself is not an offense. The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya says: "There are two kinds of earth: 1. living; 2. constructed. 'Living' is the great earth. 'Constructed' has two kinds: 1. base-constructed, which is open-air walls; 2. upper-constructed, which is exposed soil upon upper stories. These are all called damaged earth." Fourth, "if instructs to dig": the Vinaya says, if one does not instruct by saying 'look at this,' this is also a condition for the offense. Fifth, "prāyaścittika" is the offense of transgression. The Vinaya says: "If a bhikṣu, regarding the earth damaged as above, uses a hoe or spade, or even damages it with fingers and claws, or burns fire upon the earth, provided he perceives earth as earth, all are prāyaścittika offenses."
If, when instructing someone to dig, one does not instruct them to 'look at this' or 'know this,' one also incurs a duṣkṛta. The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya says: "If one rolls stones, sweeps the ground, or drives oxen wishing to level the ground, with intention to damage it even the size of a mosquito leg, all are prāyaścittika offenses. Breaking a clod of earth that one person cannot carry is a prāyaścittika. Drawing characters on the ground is also a prāyaścittika. If when urinating or defecating one rubs the ground with water and hand, one incurs a prāyaścittika. If bottles, utensils, wood, bricks, tiles, etc., are in the open air, after it rains, one may not retrieve them oneself; [doing so] incurs a prāyaścittika. If pure sand, there is no offense; half sand incurs a duṣkṛta." The Sarvāstivāda-vinaya-vibhāṣā says: "Instructing bhikṣus or bhikṣuṇīs to dig the earth without using permissible speech is a prāyaścittika; instructing the lower three assemblies or kappiya persons to dig without using permissible speech is a duṣkṛta. If the three assemblies, not for the sake of the Three Jewels, damage earth and wood themselves, it is a duṣkṛta." The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya says: "In an araṇya without a kappiya person, a bhikṣu is permitted to pour water on the ground, lay grass on it, and trample it to make mud for use." The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya says: "Earth in a covered place may be dug oneself." As for non-offenses, the Vinaya says: if one says 'know this' or 'look at this'; dragging timber; propping up or straightening a fence; turning over bricks or stones to take cow dung; taking earth from a collapsed embankment; molehill soil; excluding soil from a walking path or inside a house; or sweeping the ground when arriving to dwell, without intentional thought of digging—none of these is an offense.