The Duration of a Single Finger-Snap
The bodhisattva's dedication extends to every living being, wishing that even the briefest wholesome root — lasting only the duration of a single finger-snap — bring them to behold the Buddha, hear the Dharma, and revere the noble Saṅgha, free of every obstruction. The same dedication extends equally to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and to a further wish that every living being forever leave behind hell, hungry ghosts, animals, and King Yama's realm, increasing the mind of unsurpassed bodhi instead.
Even the Briefest Root
The phrase "even the very slightest — the duration of a single finger-snap" sets the bar for this dedication deliberately low, insisting that no wholesome root is too small to be dedicated toward the highest ends: beholding the Buddha, hearing the Dharma, revering the Saṅgha. From there the passage widens outward — the same dedication extended equally to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and finally to a wish that every living being leave behind the lower destinies entirely, replacing them with the mind of unsurpassed bodhi.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩以諸善根如是迴向菩薩已，復以迴向一切眾生：『願一切眾生所有善根，乃至極少一彈指頃，見佛聞法，恭敬聖僧。彼諸善根皆離障礙，念佛圓滿，念法方便，念僧尊重，不離見佛，心得清淨，獲諸佛法，集無量德，淨諸神通，捨法疑念，依教而住。』如為眾生如是迴向，為聲聞、辟支佛迴向亦復如是。
"Child of the Buddha! Once the bodhisattva mahāsattva has dedicated every wholesome root toward the bodhisattvas in just this way, they then dedicate it toward every living being as well: 'May every living being's own wholesome root, even the very slightest — the duration of a single finger-snap — behold the Buddha, hear the Dharma, and revere the noble Saṅgha. May those very wholesome roots be entirely free of obstruction; may their recollection of the Buddha be perfectly complete; may their recollection of the Dharma be skillful; may their recollection of the Saṅgha be full of reverence; never departing from beholding the Buddha, may their mind attain purity, may they obtain the Dharma of every buddha, gather immeasurable virtue, purify every spiritual power, abandon every doubtful thought regarding the Dharma, and abide in accordance with the teaching.' Just as they dedicate in this way for the sake of living beings, they likewise dedicate in the very same way for the sake of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.
『又願一切眾生永離地獄、餓鬼、畜生、閻羅王等一切惡處，增長無上菩提之心，專意勤求一切種智，永不毀謗諸佛正法，得佛安樂，身心清淨，證一切智。』佛子！菩薩摩訶薩所有善根，皆以大願，發起、正發起，積集、正積集，增長、正增長，悉令廣大具足充滿。
'They further wish that every living being forever leave behind hell, hungry ghosts, animals, King Yama's realm, and every evil place; that they increase the mind of unsurpassed bodhi, single-mindedly and diligently seeking the wisdom of all modes; that they never slander the true Dharma of any buddha, attain the Buddha's own peace and happiness, their body and mind pure, and realize all-knowing wisdom.' Child of the Buddha! Every wholesome root that the bodhisattva mahāsattva possesses, they cause, through their own great vow, to arise and rightly arise, to accumulate and rightly accumulate, to increase and rightly increase, causing all of it to become vast, fully complete, and entirely full.
"The duration of a single finger-snap" recurs across Buddhist literature as a unit for the shortest meaningful span of practice — brief enough that anyone, however occupied, could manage it, and yet the sūtra insists that even this fragment of wholesome root deserves the full weight of dedication. The great vow that follows, causing every wholesome root to "arise and rightly arise," suggests that scale is not what makes a root worth dedicating; the vow behind it is.
Part 237 Complete
This closes Part 237. Chapter 25 continues in Part 238 with one of this sūtra's most well-known passages — a bodhisattva who lives at home with spouse and children, never once abandoning the mind of bodhi even while attending to household duties.