My Own Body as a Pledge
Beholding living beings whose evil karma bars them from ever seeing the Buddha, hearing the Dharma, or recognizing the Saṅgha, the bodhisattva vows to undergo suffering in their place within the evil destinies themselves, growing only more diligent — never abandoning, never afraid, never weary — as the suffering intensifies. The vow reaches its most extreme statement here: rather than allow living beings to fall into hell, the bodhisattva will offer their own body as a pledge, undergoing every suffering throughout every future kalpa on their behalf.
Rather Alone Than Let Them Fall
The vow moves from beholding suffering to entering it directly: the bodhisattva resolves to undergo every kind of suffering within the evil destinies themselves, in place of the living beings trapped there, and the suffering itself becomes fuel for diligence rather than a reason to retreat. The passage builds toward its most extreme statement — the bodhisattva would rather alone undergo every suffering than allow a single living being to fall into hell, offering their own body as a pledge to redeem beings from the most perilous destinies.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩見諸眾生，造作惡業，受諸重苦；以是障故，不見佛，不聞法，不識僧。便作是念：『我當於彼諸惡道中，代諸眾生受種種苦，令其解脫。』菩薩如是受苦毒時，轉更精勤，不捨、不避、不驚、不怖、不退、不怯，無有疲厭。何以故？如其所願，決欲荷負一切眾生，令解脫故。菩薩爾時作是念言：『一切眾生在生老病死諸苦難處，隨業流轉，邪見無智，喪諸善法，我應救之，令得出離。』
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva beholds living beings who commit evil karma and undergo every kind of grave suffering; because of this very obstruction, they cannot see the Buddha, cannot hear the Dharma, and cannot recognize the Saṅgha. They thereupon give rise to this thought: 'I shall, within those very evil destinies, undergo every kind of suffering in place of living beings, so that they may be liberated.' When the bodhisattva undergoes this suffering and torment in just this way, they become all the more diligent — never abandoning, never avoiding, never startled, never afraid, never regressing, never timid, and never weary. For what reason? Because, just as they have vowed, they are resolved to carry the burden of every living being, so that they may be liberated. At that time, the bodhisattva gives rise to this thought, saying: 'Every living being, in the painful and difficult places of birth, old age, sickness, and death, flows and turns according to their karma, holding wrong views and lacking wisdom, having lost every wholesome dharma — I should rescue them, causing them to attain liberation.'
又諸眾生愛網所纏，癡蓋所覆，染著諸有，隨逐不捨，入苦籠檻，作魔業行，福智都盡，常懷疑惑，不見安隱處，不知出離道，在於生死輪轉不息，諸苦淤泥恒所沒溺。菩薩見已，起大悲心、大饒益心，欲令眾生悉得解脫，以一切善根迴向，以廣大心迴向，如三世菩薩所修迴向，如大迴向經所說迴向，願諸眾生普得清淨，究竟成就一切種智。復作是念：『我所修行，欲令眾生皆悉得成無上智王，不為自身而求解脫，但為救濟一切眾生，令其咸得一切智心，度生死流，解脫眾苦。』
Furthermore, living beings are entangled by the net of craving, covered by the veil of delusion, defiled and attached to every kind of existence, pursuing it without ever letting go, entering the cage and trap of suffering, carrying out the deeds of Māra, their merit and wisdom entirely exhausted, forever harboring doubt and confusion, unable to see any place of peace and security, not knowing the path of liberation, turning without cease in the wheel of birth and death, forever sinking and drowning in the mire of every suffering. Having beheld this, the bodhisattva gives rise to a mind of great compassion and a mind of great benefit, wishing to cause every living being to attain liberation entirely, dedicating every wholesome root, dedicating it with a vast and expansive mind, dedicating it just as the bodhisattvas of the three periods of time have cultivated dedication, dedicating it just as the Great Dedication Sūtra expounds dedication, wishing that every living being universally attain purity, and ultimately accomplish the wisdom of all modes. Again they give rise to this thought: 'What I cultivate and practice, I wish would cause living beings to all attain and become an unsurpassed king of wisdom; I do not seek liberation for my own self, but only to rescue and aid every living being, causing them all to attain the mind of all-knowing wisdom, cross over the stream of birth and death, and be liberated from every suffering.'
復作是念：『我當普為一切眾生備受眾苦，令其得出無量生死眾苦大壑。我當普為一切眾生，於一切世界一切惡趣中，盡未來劫，受一切苦，然常為眾生勤修善根。何以故？我寧獨受如是眾苦，不令眾生墮於地獄。我當於彼地獄、畜生、閻羅王等險難之處，以身為質，救贖一切惡道眾生，令得解脫。』
Again they give rise to this thought: 'I shall universally undergo every kind of suffering on behalf of every living being, so that they may come to escape the immeasurable great chasm of the suffering of birth and death. I shall universally, on behalf of every living being, throughout every world and within every evil destiny, to the very end of future kalpas, undergo every suffering, and yet forever diligently cultivate wholesome roots for the sake of living beings. For what reason? I would rather alone undergo suffering such as this than allow living beings to fall into hell. I shall, at those very perilous and difficult places of hell, of animals, of King Yama's realm, and the like, offer my own body as a pledge, to rescue and redeem every living being of the evil destinies, causing them to attain liberation.'
"I would rather alone undergo suffering such as this than allow living beings to fall into hell" is among the most direct statements of vicarious suffering anywhere in the sūtra — not a metaphor for compassion but a literal willingness to substitute one's own body as a pledge for beings in the most perilous destinies. The passage's earlier catalogue of what traps living beings — the net of craving, the veil of delusion, the cage of suffering — makes clear why an ordinary rescue will not do: only a vow willing to enter those very destinies can reach beings sunk that deep.
Part 215 Complete
This closes Part 215. Chapter 25 continues in Part 216 as the bodhisattva vows never to abandon living beings, declares this pledge free of any falsehood, and explains why the pleasures of the five desires are never the goal of this practice.