Page:A Record of the Buddhist Religion as practised in India and the Malay Archipelago.djvu/126

 and the character Shih (什), meaning ‘ten,' was interpreted by 'miscellaneous' by these commentators, but this cannot be the meaning attributed by the ancient authority in this case.

The cloth for defraying the cost of medicaments allowed to the priest by the Buddha should consist of silk about 20 feet long, or a full piece of it. (One p'i in the text = about 21 1/2 yards in Japan.) A sickness may befall one on a sudden, and a means of procuring medicine hastily sought is difficult to obtain.

For this reason an extra cloth was ordained to be kept prepared beforehand, and as this is necessary at the time of illness, one should never use it otherwise. In the way leading to religious practice and charity, the chief object is universal salvation. There are three classes of men as regards their ability, and they cannot all be led in one and the same way. The four Refuges, the four Actions , and the thirteen Dhûtâṅgas were ordained for men of superior faculties.