A Ferryman on the Sea of Birth and Death
The bodhisattva's dedication takes shape in a vow for ten kinds of bliss — ultimate, beneficial, tranquil, unmoving, immeasurable, and others — before turning to a set of roles: tamer, chief minister of arms, bearer of the great torch of wisdom, and finally a skillful ferryman upon the sea of birth and death, carrying every living being across to the other shore. A closing summary gathers the entire dedication into a single sentence naming rescue, offering, unobstructed wisdom, and freedom from evil companions.
Ten Kinds of Bliss, Then a Crossing
The ten kinds of bliss the bodhisattva vows for every living being move from the immediate to the absolute — ultimate bliss, beneficial bliss, tranquil bliss, unmoving bliss — before naming the bliss of all-knowing wisdom itself as the tenth and final term. The roles that follow shift the register from wish to action: a tamer, a general who leads in battle against affliction, a torchbearer through danger, and finally a ferryman who does not merely point toward the far shore of birth and death but actually carries beings there.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩復作是念：『我當以善根如是迴向，令一切眾生得究竟樂、利益樂、不受樂、寂靜樂、無依樂、無動樂、無量樂、不捨不退樂、不滅樂、一切智樂。』復作是念：『我當與一切眾生作調御師，作主兵臣，執大智炬，示安隱道，令離險難，以善方便令知實義；又於生死海，作一切智善巧船師，度諸眾生，使到彼岸。』
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva again gives rise to this thought: 'I shall dedicate this very wholesome root in just this way, causing every living being to attain ultimate bliss, beneficial bliss, unreceived bliss, tranquil bliss, unrelying bliss, unmoving bliss, immeasurable bliss, bliss that is neither abandoned nor regressed from, unceasing bliss, and the bliss of all-knowing wisdom.' Again they give rise to this thought: 'I shall become a tamer for every living being, become a chief minister of arms for them, hold aloft the great torch of wisdom, show them the path of peace and security, causing them to leave behind every peril and difficulty, and through skillful means cause them to understand the true and real meaning; and, upon the sea of birth and death, become an all-knowing and skillful ferryman, ferrying every living being across, so that they reach the other shore.'
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩以諸善根如是迴向，所謂：『隨宜救護一切眾生，令出生死，承事供養一切諸佛，得無障礙一切智智，捨離眾魔，遠惡知識，親近一切菩薩善友，滅諸過罪，成就淨業，具足菩薩廣大行願、無量善根。』
Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva dedicates every wholesome root in just this way, namely: 'According to what is fitting, rescuing and protecting every living being, causing them to escape birth and death, to serve and make offerings to every buddha, to attain unobstructed all-knowing wisdom, to cast aside every demon, to distance themselves from evil companions, to draw near to every bodhisattva's own good spiritual friends, to extinguish every fault and transgression, to accomplish pure karma, and to be fully endowed with the bodhisattva's own vast conduct and vow, and immeasurable wholesome roots.'
The ferryman image completes something the earlier "guiding teacher" and "great guiding teacher" of the very first vow in this dedication left open — a teacher points the way, but a ferryman does the crossing with the passenger. Placed here, after vows to endure hell itself on behalf of others, the image suggests the bodhisattva's role is never merely instructive: wherever living beings cannot cross alone, they are carried.
Part 217 Complete
This closes Part 217. Chapter 25 continues in Part 218 as the bodhisattva compares this solitary effort to the single sun that illuminates every being in the four continents without needing a second sun to help it.