Every Jeweled Canopy
The litany of gifts turns from seats to canopies — jeweled parasols strung with maṇi necklaces and golden bells, perfumed with sandalwood and aloeswood, given to buddhas, to stūpas after a buddha's parinirvāṇa, to teachers and parents, to the treasure of the saṃgha, and to the poor and destitute. Ten dedication-vows follow, each recasting the canopy as something inward: merit and wisdom themselves become the shelter under which every being comes to rest.
A Canopy That Shelters
Every physical detail of the jeweled canopy — its pole, its net, its hanging bells and maṇi strands — returns transposed in the dedication that follows: a canopy woven from merit, from wisdom, from wholesome dharmas, from the ten powers themselves. What began as an object held above the head becomes, vow by vow, whatever shelters a being from affliction and dust.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩施諸寶蓋。此蓋殊特，尊貴所用，種種大寶而為莊嚴，百千億那由他上妙蓋中最為第一；眾寶為竿，妙網覆上，寶繩金鈴周匝垂下，摩尼瓔珞次第懸布，微風吹動，妙音克諧；珠玉寶藏種種充滿，無量奇珍悉以嚴飾，栴檀、沈水妙香普熏，閻浮檀金光明清淨。如是無量百千億那由他阿僧祇眾妙寶物具足莊嚴，以清淨心奉施於佛，及佛滅後所有塔廟，或為法故施諸菩薩及善知識、名聞法師，或施父母，或施僧寶，或復奉施一切佛法，或施種種眾生福田，或施師僧及諸尊宿，或施初發菩提之心乃至一切貧窮、孤露；隨有求者，悉皆施與。以此善根如是迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生勤修善根以覆其身，常為諸佛之所庇廕；願一切眾生功德智慧以為其蓋，永離世間一切煩惱；願一切眾生覆以善法，除滅世間塵垢熱惱；願一切眾生得智慧藏，令眾樂見，心無厭足；願一切眾生以寂靜白法而自覆蔭，皆得究竟不壞佛法；願一切眾生善覆其身，究竟如來清淨法身；願一切眾生作周遍蓋，十力智慧遍覆世間；願一切眾生得妙智慧，出過三世無所染著；願一切眾生得應供蓋，成勝福田，受一切供；願一切眾生得最上蓋，獲無上智，自然覺悟。』是為菩薩摩訶薩布施蓋時善根迴向；
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva gives every kind of jeweled canopy. This canopy is unique and excellent, used by the honored and noble, adorned with every kind of great jewel — foremost among hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of wondrous canopies; its pole made of every jewel, a wondrous net covering it above, jeweled cords and golden bells hanging down all around, maṇi necklaces strung in ordered rows, and when the gentle breeze stirs them, their wondrous sounds harmonize together; pearls, jade, and every kind of treasury-jewel fill it completely, immeasurable rare treasures adorn it in every way, sandalwood and aloeswood, their wondrous fragrance perfuming all around, and Jambū-river gold, bright and pure in its light. With immeasurable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of asaṃkhyeya such wondrous jeweled things, fully adorned, they reverently give them to the Buddha with a pure mind, and to every stūpa and shrine remaining after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa; or, for the sake of the Dharma, they give them to bodhisattvas and good spiritual friends, to teachers renowned for expounding the Dharma; or they give them to their parents; or they give them to the treasure of the saṃgha; or they further offer them to the entire Buddha-dharma; or they give them to every kind of field of merit for sentient beings; or they give them to their own teachers and elders; or they give them to those who have newly set forth the bodhi-mind, down to every poor, destitute, and solitary person; according to whoever seeks it, they give it to them entirely. With this wholesome root, they dedicate it in this way, namely: 'May all sentient beings diligently cultivate wholesome roots to cover their own bodies, and be forever sheltered beneath every buddha; may all sentient beings take merit and wisdom as their own canopy, and forever leave behind every worldly affliction; may all sentient beings be covered by wholesome dharmas, and eliminate the dust, defilement, and burning affliction of the world; may all sentient beings obtain the treasury of wisdom, be joyfully beheld by every multitude, their minds never wearied or sated; may all sentient beings shelter themselves beneath tranquil, pure dharmas, and all attain the ultimate, indestructible Buddha-dharma; may all sentient beings well cover their own bodies, and ultimately attain the Tathāgata's own pure Dharma-body; may all sentient beings become an all-pervading canopy, their wisdom of the ten powers covering the entire world; may all sentient beings obtain wondrous wisdom, transcending the three periods of time, unstained by anything; may all sentient beings obtain the canopy worthy of offerings, becoming a supreme field of merit, receiving every kind of offering; may all sentient beings obtain the supreme canopy, attain unsurpassed wisdom, and naturally awaken.' This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of wholesome roots when giving canopies;
The list of recipients quietly widens beyond the pattern of earlier gifts: alongside buddhas, teachers, and parents, the passage names giving to "the entire Buddha-dharma" itself and to "every field of merit for sentient beings" as such — not a person to receive the canopy, but the Dharma and the very possibility of merit. The gift has already begun to outgrow any single recipient before the dedication ever restates it as inward shelter.
Part 280 Complete
This dedication continues in Part 281 with a further, extended series of "may all sentient beings" vows on giving canopies, before Chapter 25 moves on to the giving of banners and pennants (幢幡).