The Crown Given Away
After the throne, the canopy, the banner, the jewel, and the ornament, the litany reaches the crown itself — the maṇi crown of sovereign kingship received at royal consecration, together with the pearl bound within the king's own topknot, given away with a mind that never begrudges. Ten dedication-vows follow, each recasting the crown as wisdom: a crown worn atop the head yet seen by no one in any world, a crown that makes its wearer king only of mastery over the Dharma.
A Crown No World Can See
Of all the royal regalia given away across this litany, the crown carries the most direct symbolic weight — it is the single object that most visibly marks a king as king. The dedication answers that weight by turning the crown invisible: "the bright pearl of wisdom bound atop the crown, seen by no one in any world" describes a sovereignty that no longer depends on being recognized at all.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩以受灌頂自在王位摩尼寶冠及髻中珠，普施眾生，心無吝惜，常勤修習，為大施主，修學施慧，增長捨根，智慧善巧，其心廣大，給施一切，以彼善根如是迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生得諸佛法之所灌頂，成一切智；願一切眾生具足頂髻，得第一智，到於彼岸；願一切眾生以妙智寶普攝眾生，皆令究竟功德之頂；願一切眾生皆得成就智慧寶頂，堪受世間之所禮敬；願一切眾生以智慧冠莊嚴其首，為一切法自在之王；願一切眾生智慧明珠繫其頂上，一切世間無能見者；願一切眾生皆悉堪受世間頂禮，成就慧頂，照明佛法；願一切眾生首冠十力莊嚴之冠，智慧寶海清淨具足；願一切眾生至大地頂，得一切智，究竟十力，破欲界頂諸魔眷屬；願諸眾生得成第一無上頂王，獲一切智光明之頂，無能映奪。』是為菩薩摩訶薩施寶冠時善根迴向，為令眾生得第一智最清淨處智慧摩尼妙寶冠故。
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva, with the maṇi-jeweled crown of sovereign kingship received at consecration, and the pearl bound within their own topknot, universally gives them to sentient beings, their mind never begrudging; forever diligently cultivating this practice, becoming a great giver, studying and learning the wisdom of giving, increasing the root of relinquishment, skillful in wisdom, their mind vast and great, they give to everyone entirely. With that wholesome root, they dedicate it in this way, namely: 'May all sentient beings receive the consecration of every buddha-dharma, and accomplish omniscience; may all sentient beings be fully endowed with the crown-topknot, obtain the foremost wisdom, and reach the further shore; may all sentient beings, with the jewel of wondrous wisdom, universally embrace sentient beings, causing all to reach the very crown of ultimate merit; may all sentient beings all accomplish the jeweled crown of wisdom, worthy to receive the veneration of the world; may all sentient beings adorn their own heads with the crown of wisdom, becoming the king of mastery over every dharma; may all sentient beings bind the bright pearl of wisdom atop their own crown, seen by no one in any world; may all sentient beings all be worthy to receive the world's veneration, accomplishing the crown of wisdom, illuminating the Buddha-dharma; may all sentient beings crown their own heads with the crown adorned by the ten powers, the ocean of wisdom-jewels pure and complete; may all sentient beings reach the very crown of the great earth, obtain omniscience, and ultimately accomplish the ten powers, destroying every retinue of Māra at the crown of the desire realm; may all sentient beings accomplish the foremost, unsurpassed crown-king, obtaining the crown of the light of omniscience, which nothing can eclipse or seize.' This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of wholesome roots when giving the jeweled crown, so that sentient beings may obtain the wondrous maṇi-jeweled crown of wisdom in the purest place of foremost wisdom.
"The root of relinquishment" (捨根), named in the opening line as something the bodhisattva actively increases through this practice, gives the whole litany of royal gifts its underlying logic: giving is not treated here as an occasional act but as a faculty to be cultivated and grown, the same way faith or wisdom is cultivated elsewhere in the path. A king who gives away his own crown is, in this framing, simply exercising a capacity he has spent effort strengthening.
Part 285 Complete
This closes the section on giving the crown (施寶冠) within the sixth dedication. Chapter 25 continues in Part 286 with a very different kind of giving, as the bodhisattva mahāsattva encounters sentient beings imprisoned in dark cells, bound in shackles and chains, and gives away everything he owns — even his own body — to rescue them.