Whatever Must Scatter Anyway
The wheel-turning king's giving keeps escalating: first the throne itself, given up to a stranger who simply asks for it; then the throne together with his own person, taken on as another's servant; and finally, when countless impoverished people come asking all at once for his land, his wife and children, and his own flesh and blood, everything given away together, on the reasoning that it must all scatter eventually regardless.
The Throne, the Self, and Everything at Once
These three kinds of giving keep returning to the same wheel-turning king and the same reasoning — that glory declines regardless, that the body and its possessions are impermanent regardless, that whatever is loved will eventually be separated from regardless — and treat that inevitability not as cause for despair but as the very thing that makes giving it away now, freely, no real loss at all.
云何為菩薩外施？佛子！此菩薩年盛色美，眾相具足，名華、上服而以嚴身；始受灌頂，轉輪王位，七寶具足，王四天下。時，或有人來白王言：『我今貧窶，眾苦逼迫。唯願仁慈，特垂矜念，捨此王位以贍於我；我當統領，受王福樂！』爾時，菩薩作是念言：『一切榮盛必當衰歇，於衰歇時，不能復更饒益眾生。我今宜應隨彼所求，充滿其意。』作是念已，即便施之而無所悔。是名：外施。
What is the bodhisattva's outer giving? Son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, in the full bloom of youth and handsome in form, fully endowed with every excellent mark, adorns their own body with famous flowers and the finest garments; having just received the consecration and ascended to the throne of a wheel-turning king, fully endowed with the seven treasures, ruling as sovereign over the four continents. At that time, someone might come before the king and say: "I am now impoverished and destitute, pressed upon by every kind of suffering. I beg only that you, out of your own humane compassion, look upon me with special pity, and give up this very throne to provide for me; I myself shall then govern in your place, and enjoy the king's own blessed happiness!" At that time, the bodhisattva reflects, saying: "Every flourishing glory must in the end decline and pass away, and once it has declined and passed away, it can no longer be used to benefit living beings. I should now accord with what this person seeks, and fulfill their wish entirely." Having so reflected, they give it at once, their mind free of any regret at all. This is called outer giving.
云何為菩薩內外施？佛子！此菩薩如上所說，處輪王位，七寶具足，王四天下。時，或有人而來白言：『此轉輪位，王處已久，我未曾得。唯願大王捨之與我，并及王身，為我臣僕！』爾時，菩薩作是念言：『我身財寶及以王位，悉是無常、敗壞之法。我今盛壯，富有天下；乞者現前，當以不堅而求堅法。』作是念已，即便施之，乃至以身恭勤作役，心無所悔。是名：內外施。
What is the bodhisattva's both inner and outer giving? Son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, just as described above, occupies the throne of a wheel-turning king, fully endowed with the seven treasures, ruling as sovereign over the four continents. At that time, someone might come and say: "You, the king, have occupied this throne of a wheel-turning monarch for a long time now, and I myself have never once obtained it. I beg only that the great king give it up to me, together with the king's own person as well, to become my own servant and subject!" At that time, the bodhisattva reflects, saying: "My own body, wealth, and treasures, and this royal throne as well, are all dharmas of impermanence and decay. I am now in the full strength of my prime, possessed of the whole world in abundance; and now that someone has come before me seeking it, I should use what is unstable to seek what is stable." Having so reflected, they give it at once, going so far as to serve with their own body in diligent labor, their mind free of any regret at all. This is called both inner and outer giving.
云何為菩薩一切施？佛子！此菩薩亦如上說，處輪王位，七寶具足，王四天下。時，有無量貧窮之人來詣其前，而作是言：『大王名稱周聞十方，我等欽風故來至此。吾曹今者各有所求，願普垂慈，令得滿足！』時，諸貧人從彼大王，或乞國土，或乞妻子，或乞手足、血肉、心肺、頭目、髓腦。菩薩是時，心作是念：『一切恩愛會當別離，而於眾生無所饒益。我今為欲永捨貪愛，以此一切必離散物滿眾生願。』作是念已，悉皆施與，心無悔恨，亦不於眾生而生厭賤。是名：一切施。
What is the bodhisattva's giving of everything? Son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, likewise just as described above, occupies the throne of a wheel-turning king, fully endowed with the seven treasures, ruling as sovereign over the four continents. At that time, countless impoverished people come before him, saying: "Great King, your renown is heard throughout the ten directions, and it is out of admiration for your virtue that we have come here. Each of us now has something we seek, and we hope you will extend your compassion universally, and cause it to be fulfilled!" At that time, these many impoverished people, before that great king, some beg for his land, some beg for his wife and children, and some beg for his hands and feet, his flesh and blood, his heart and lungs, his head, eyes, marrow, and brain. At that time, the bodhisattva reflects in their own mind, saying: "Every bond of affection must in the end come to separation, and holding onto it brings no true benefit to living beings at all. I now wish to forever give up craving and attachment, and so, with all of these things that must inevitably scatter and disperse in any case, I shall fulfill the wishes of living beings." Having so reflected, they give everything away entirely, their mind free of any regret or resentment at all, and never once feeling disgust or contempt toward those living beings. This is called giving of everything.
The reasoning behind each of these three gifts is worth noticing as reasoning, not just as generosity: not "I ought to give," but "this will decline anyway," "this is already unstable," "this bond will already end in separation" — impermanence functioning here as the very argument for giving rather than a reason for despair or clinging tighter. The crowd's request at the close, for land, family, and body all together, is the sūtra's way of making the same three kinds of giving from the previous Part — outer possessions, inner and outer together, and the self — arrive all at once, from many petitioners rather than one.
Part 168 Complete
This closes Part 168. Chapter 22 continues in Part 169 with the treasury of giving's final four kinds and its conclusion.