Attached to Nothing, Abandoning No One
Vajra Banner Bodhisattva's closing verse brings the fourth dedication — the dedication that reaches every place — to its end, and with it, fascicle twenty-four of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Eleven couplets move between unattachment and unfailing engagement: clinging to no world yet never abandoning the deed of benefiting living beings, reaching the far shore of dedication yet never leaving behind the path of living beings, and discriminating no karma while still seeing every dharma clearly through cause and condition.
Unattached, Yet Never Absent
The verse's governing tension appears in its opening couplet and never lets go: clinging to no world at all, inner or outer, yet never abandoning the deed of benefiting living beings. Every subsequent couplet restates this same shape in a new register — dedicating without relying on any land, gathering in every living being while seeing that their nature possesses nothing at all, reaching the far shore while never leaving the path of living beings behind — until the final couplet names the one who holds both halves together at once: the Tamer of every living being, who understands this and dedicates skillfully.
「內外一切諸世間，菩薩悉皆無所著，
不捨饒益眾生業，大士修行如是智。
十方所有諸國土，一切無依無所住，
不取活命等眾法，亦不妄起諸分別。
普攝十方世界中，一切眾生無有餘，
觀其體性無所有，至一切處善迴向。
普攝有為無為法，不於其中起妄念，
如於世間法亦然，照世燈明如是覺。
菩薩所修諸業行，上中下品各差別，
悉以善根迴向彼，十方一切諸如來。
菩薩迴向到彼岸，隨如來學悉成就，
恒以妙智善思惟，具足人中最勝法。
"Every world, inner and outer, throughout all of them — the bodhisattva clings to none of them at all, yet does not abandon the deed of benefiting living beings — the great being cultivates and practices wisdom in just this way. Every land there is throughout the ten directions — relying on none of them, abiding in none of them at all, not grasping at livelihood or any dharma of that kind, nor giving rise to any false discrimination at all. Universally gathering in, throughout the worlds of the ten directions, every living being without exception, contemplating that their very own nature possesses nothing at all — this is the skillful dedication that reaches every place. Universally gathering in every conditioned and unconditioned dharma, without giving rise to any false thought within them, and just the same regarding every worldly dharma — the lamp that illuminates the world awakens in just this way. Every karmic deed and practice the bodhisattva cultivates, each distinct in its superior, middling, or lesser grade, they dedicate entirely through wholesome roots toward them — every Tathāgata throughout the ten directions. The bodhisattva's dedication reaches the very far shore, following and studying the Tathāgata, accomplishing it entirely, forever contemplating skillfully with wondrous wisdom, fully endowed with the most supreme dharma among humankind.
清淨善根普迴向，利益群迷恒不捨，
悉令一切諸眾生，得成無上照世燈。
未曾分別取眾生，亦不妄想念諸法，
雖於世間無染著，亦復不捨諸含識。
菩薩常樂寂滅法，隨順得至涅槃境，
亦不捨離眾生道，獲如是等微妙智。
菩薩未曾分別業，亦不取著諸果報，
一切世間從緣生，不離因緣見諸法。
深入如是諸境界，不於其中起分別，
一切眾生調御師，於此明了善迴向。
Every pure wholesome root is universally dedicated, forever not abandoning the benefit of the deluded multitude, causing every living being entirely to accomplish the unsurpassed lamp that illuminates the world. Never once discriminating or grasping at living beings, nor giving rise to false thoughts about any dharma, though unattached to the world, without any defilement, they likewise never abandon any sentient being. The bodhisattva forever delights in the quiescent dharma, according with it to reach the very state of nirvāṇa, yet never abandons or leaves behind the path of living beings — attaining wondrous wisdom such as this. The bodhisattva never once discriminates karma, nor grasps at or clings to any of its resultant fruits, every world arises from conditions — without departing from causes and conditions, they see every dharma. Deeply entering every state such as this, without giving rise to any discrimination within them, the Tamer of every living being clearly understands this and skillfully dedicates in just this way.
The verse never resolves its central tension by choosing a side — it does not soften into pure detachment, nor does it collapse into mere activity. Each couplet holds unattachment and engagement together as a single, undivided practice: dedicating to the far shore while never leaving the path of living beings, seeing that no karma or its fruit can be grasped while still seeing every dharma clearly through cause and condition. This is what "the dedication that reaches every place" turns out to mean in practice — a reach that excludes nothing precisely because it clings to nothing.
Fourth Dedication Complete — 第四至一切處迴向
With this verse's close, the fourth of the ten dedications — the dedication that reaches every place — is now complete, and with it, fascicle twenty-four of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Its exposition opened with the simile of the very limit of reality reaching everywhere, moved through an extended litany of offerings escalating from countless to indescribably indescribable, explained dedication through non-attainment as skillful means, and closed with ten named attainments of body, speech, mind, and spiritual power before this closing verse.
Part 252 Complete
This closes Part 252, the fourth dedication, and fascicle twenty-four of eighty. Chapter 25 continues in Part 253, opening fascicle twenty-five with the fifth of the ten dedications.