"My Body Now Belongs Entirely to You"
Across countless lifetimes, immeasurable sentient beings come begging the bodhisattva for his tongue — and each time, following Handsome-Face King Bodhisattva and Never Regressing Bodhisattva, he seats the beggar upon a lion-throne before kneeling to offer it. Ten distinct minds are named as present in the act at once — free of anger, free of harm, unattached to body or speech — before the tongue itself is dedicated through ten vows moving from ordinary speech to light, eloquence, and words that reach the very shore of language.
The Beggar Seated on the Throne
It is the beggar, not the bodhisattva, who is placed upon the lion-throne here — a small but pointed reversal of the imagery that opened this entire dedication, where a king sat enthroned to give away his throne. The one who has come to take something is seated as though he were the one being honored, before the bodhisattva kneels before him to give.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩若有人來從乞舌時，於乞者所，以慈悲心軟語、愛語，猶如往昔端正面王菩薩、不退轉菩薩，及餘無量諸菩薩等。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩於諸趣中而受生時，有無量百千億那由他眾生而來乞舌。菩薩爾時，安置其人在師子座，以無恚心、無害心、無恨心、大威德心、從佛種性所生心、住於菩薩所住心、常不濁亂心、住大勢力心、於身無著心、於語無著心，兩膝著地，開口出舌，以示乞者；慈心軟語而告之言：『我今此身，普皆屬汝。可取我舌，隨意所用；令汝所願，皆得滿足。』菩薩爾時，以諸善根如是迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生得周普舌，悉能宣示諸語言法；願一切眾生得覆面舌，所言無二，皆悉真實；願一切眾生得普覆一切佛國土舌，示現諸佛自在神通；願一切眾生得軟薄舌，恒受美妙清淨上味；願一切眾生得辯才舌，能斷一切世間疑網；願一切眾生得光明舌，能放無數萬億光明；願一切眾生得決定舌，辯說諸法無有窮盡；願一切眾生得普調伏舌，善能開示一切祕要，所有言說皆令信受；願一切眾生得普通達舌，善入一切語言大海；願一切眾生得善說一切諸法門舌，於言語智悉到彼岸。』是為菩薩摩訶薩布施舌時善根迴向，為令眾生皆得圓滿無礙智故。
"Child of the Buddha! When there is one who comes begging for his tongue, the bodhisattva mahāsattva, toward that beggar, speaks with a mind of loving-kindness and compassion, in gentle words and loving speech, just as Handsome-Face King Bodhisattva, Never Regressing Bodhisattva, and countless other bodhisattvas have done in ages past. Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva takes birth among the various destinies, there are immeasurable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of sentient beings who come begging for his tongue. The bodhisattva then seats that person upon a lion-throne, and with a mind free of anger, a mind free of harm, a mind free of resentment, a mind of great awesome virtue, a mind born from the buddha-nature, a mind abiding where a bodhisattva abides, a mind forever unclouded and undisturbed, a mind abiding in great strength, a mind unattached to the body, and a mind unattached to speech, kneels with both knees upon the ground, opens his mouth, and puts forth his tongue to show the beggar; with a mind of loving-kindness and gentle words he says to him: 'My body now belongs entirely to you. You may take my tongue and use it however you wish; let whatever you wish be entirely fulfilled.' The bodhisattva then, with every wholesome root, dedicates it in this way, namely: 'May all sentient beings obtain the all-pervading tongue, able to proclaim entirely every teaching of language; may all sentient beings obtain the tongue that covers the face, whose every word is never twofold, entirely true; may all sentient beings obtain the tongue that universally covers every buddha-land, manifesting the mastery and spiritual powers of every buddha; may all sentient beings obtain the soft and delicate tongue, forever tasting the wondrous, pure, and supreme flavor; may all sentient beings obtain the tongue of eloquence, able to cut through the net of doubt of every world; may all sentient beings obtain the luminous tongue, able to emit countless tens of thousands of koṭis of rays of light; may all sentient beings obtain the tongue of certainty, expounding every dharma without ever being exhausted; may all sentient beings obtain the tongue that universally subdues, well able to reveal every secret essential, causing whatever is spoken to be entirely believed and accepted; may all sentient beings obtain the tongue that penetrates universally, well entering the great ocean of every language; may all sentient beings obtain the tongue that skillfully expounds every Dharma-gate, its wisdom of language reaching entirely to the further shore.' This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of wholesome roots when giving away his tongue; it is so that sentient beings may all obtain perfect and complete, unobstructed wisdom.
"Whose every word is never twofold, entirely true" identifies the classical mark of the Buddha's own long, broad tongue — capable, tradition holds, of covering the face — not with its physical extent but with its moral property: speech that has stopped being capable of duplicity at all. A tongue this vast is, in the end, simply a tongue that has become incapable of lying.
Part 293 Complete
This closes the section on giving the tongue (施舌) within the sixth dedication. Chapter 25 continues in Part 294 as the bodhisattva mahāsattva, following Supreme Wisdom Bodhisattva and the great hero, the King of Kāśī, gives away his own head to whoever comes begging for it.