律戒本疏 1.64

1.64

十一殺眾草木　阿臘國比丘除經行處草木。外道謂為草木有命。言沙門釋子無大悲心。又木互比丘手伐大樹。樹有一鬼。鬼携將二子來至佛所。苦自哀訴。樹則我舍。我之所依。冬末春初各有八夜寒風猛烈。我將何託。此二因緣嫌怨同責。又多事務妨亂道業。以是義故不宜剪伐。生草木等不得斷。斷者犯墮。枯作生想斷者犯突。復次三戒守護佛法。若王太子出行國界。見剪伐人。取令刈獲。見掘地人。取令墾殖。見揭擔人。取令舉輿。若比丘為此不勉三後。三後所逼則行道事喪守戒。無為高尚。其事則永絕世燭。三業彌就所制。如淺為防至深。五聲五菓等未好熟刀淨抓淨。已熟火淨。肉生麵欲生為藥火淨。胡桃火淨。蜜水淨。鳥食殘菓即名為鳥淨。淨菓得食皮而不得食子。凡食不淨菓得二罪。食皮肉犯突。食子犯墮。若教他作亦如是。若語淨人言。為我淨是取是。或言汝知是。或言不須此樹。或言樹此妨淨人解意。若為淨為取。若為除去無犯也。

Eleventh: Destroying various grasses and trees—Monks in the country of Alavī cleared the grasses and trees of their walking-meditation paths. Non-Buddhists claimed that grasses and trees have life, saying that the sons of the Śākya śramaṇa have no great compassion. Furthermore, the monk Mukhara felled a large tree with his own hands. The tree had a spirit; the spirit brought its two children and came to where the Buddha was, lamenting and pleading piteously: 'The tree is my home, my refuge. At the end of winter and the beginning of spring, there are eight nights of fierce cold winds; what shall I rely upon?' Because of these two incidents, encountering reproach and shared blame, and because many worldly tasks hinder and disrupt spiritual practice, for this reason it is not proper to cut and fell them. Living grasses, trees, and the like must not be cut; cutting them is a pāyattika. If they are withered and, taking them to be alive, one cuts them, it is a duṣkṛta. Furthermore, the three precepts protect the Buddha's Dharma. If a royal prince travels through the realm and sees someone cutting and felling, he seizes them and forces them to reap; if he sees someone digging the earth, he seizes them and forces them to cultivate; if he sees someone carrying a load on their shoulders, he seizes them and forces them to carry a palanquin. If a monk does these things, he cannot escape the three subsequent [consequences]. Pressed by the three subsequent [consequences], the practice of the Path is ruined and the keeping of the precepts is lost, while unconditioned loftiness is forever severed as a lamp to the world; the three actions become ever more [corrupted]. What was instituted, though seemingly shallow, serves as a safeguard that runs extremely deep. The five sounds, the five fruits, and so forth: when not yet fully ripe, they are purified by knife or purified by fingernail; when already ripe, they are purified by fire. When raw dough is desired raw as medicine, it is purified by fire. Walnuts are purified by fire. Honey is purified by water. Fruit left over from a bird's eating is called 'purified by bird'. With purified fruit, one may eat the skin/pulp, but must not eat the seed. Whenever one eats unpurified fruit, one incurs two offenses: eating the skin and flesh is a duṣkṛta; eating the seed is a pāyattika. If one instructs another to do so, it is also like this. If one says to a kappiyakāra: 'Purify this for me and take this,' or says: 'You know about this,' or says: 'This tree is not needed,' or says: 'This tree here is an obstruction,' and the kappiyakāra understands the intention, if he purifies it, takes it, or removes it, there is no offense.