Eleven Hands
Following Constant Diligence Bodhisattva and Sorrowless King Bodhisattva, the bodhisattva gives away his own hands and feet across every destiny and every place he is born, "taking faith as his hand." The dedication that follows moves through eleven distinct hands — jeweled, flowered, fragrant, robed, canopied, garlanded, boundless, immeasurable, universal — before resolving into a single image: the Tathāgata's own hand, its fingers webbed, its nails the color of copper.
Taking Faith as His Hand
"Taking faith as his hand" opens the passage's real argument: what the hand does physically — reach, hold, extend — is here already true of faith before any object is ever given. The eleven named hands that follow the dedication are not decorations added onto an ordinary hand but names for what a hand becomes once faith has already made it into an instrument of giving.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩以其手、足施諸眾生，如常精進菩薩、無憂王菩薩，及餘無量諸菩薩等。於諸趣中種種生處布施手、足，以信為手，起饒益行；往返周旋，勤修正法，願得寶手以手為施；所行不空，具菩薩道，常舒其手擬將廣惠；安步遊行，勇猛無怯，以淨信力具精進行，除滅惡道，成就菩提。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩如是施時，以無量無邊廣大之心，開淨法門，入諸佛海；成就施手，周給十方；願力任持一切智道，住於究竟離垢之心；法身、智身無斷無壞，一切魔業不能傾動；依善知識堅固其心，同諸菩薩修行施度。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩為諸眾生求一切智，施手、足時，以諸善根如是迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生具神通力，皆得寶手；得寶手已，各相尊敬，生福田想，以種種寶更相供養；又以眾寶供養諸佛，興妙寶雲遍諸佛土，令諸眾生互起慈心，不相惱害；遊諸佛剎，安住無畏，自然具足究竟神通。又令皆得寶手、華手、香手、衣手、蓋手、華鬘手、末香手、莊嚴具手、無邊手、無量手、普手；得是手已，以神通力常勤往詣一切佛土，能以一手遍摩一切諸佛世界，以自在手持諸眾生，得妙相手放無量光，能以一手普覆眾生，成於如來手指網縵赤銅爪相。』菩薩爾時，以大願手普覆眾生：『願一切眾生志常樂求無上菩提，出生一切功德大海，見來乞者歡喜無厭，入佛法海同佛善根。』是為菩薩摩訶薩施手、足時善根迴向。
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva gives his own hands and feet to sentient beings, just as Constant Diligence Bodhisattva, Sorrowless King Bodhisattva, and countless other bodhisattvas have done. Throughout the various destinies and every kind of place of birth, he gives away his hands and feet, taking faith as his hand, giving rise to beneficial practice; going back and forth, turning about, diligently cultivating the true Dharma, he wishes to obtain the jeweled hand and to give with that very hand; what he does is never empty of result, fully endowed with the bodhisattva path, forever extending his hand as though about to bestow vast generosity; walking steadily forth, courageous and unafraid, with the power of pure faith he is fully endowed with diligent practice, eliminating the evil destinies and accomplishing bodhi. Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva gives in this way, with an immeasurable, boundless, vast, and expansive mind, he opens the pure gateway of the Dharma, entering the ocean of every buddha; he accomplishes the giving hand, providing for the ten directions entirely; sustained by the power of his vow, he abides on the path of omniscience, dwelling in a mind ultimately free of defilement; his Dharma-body and wisdom-body are never severed and never destroyed, and no activity of Māra can shake or overturn them; relying on a good spiritual friend, he makes his mind firm, cultivating the perfection of giving together with every bodhisattva. Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva, seeking omniscience for the sake of every sentient being, gives away his hands and feet, with every wholesome root, he dedicates it in this way, namely: 'May all sentient beings be endowed with the power of spiritual penetration, and all obtain the jeweled hand; having obtained the jeweled hand, they honor and respect one another, giving rise to the thought of a field of merit, and offer to one another with every kind of jewel; and further, with every kind of jewel, they make offerings to every buddha, raising clouds of wondrous jewels that pervade every buddha-land, causing sentient beings to give rise to loving-kindness toward one another, never troubling or harming each other; they roam through every buddha-land, abiding securely and fearlessly, naturally endowed with ultimate spiritual powers. And further, may they all obtain the jeweled hand, the flower hand, the fragrant hand, the robe hand, the canopy hand, the garland hand, the powdered-incense hand, the ornament hand, the boundless hand, the immeasurable hand, the universal hand; having obtained these hands, with the power of spiritual penetration, they forever diligently travel to every buddha-land, able with a single hand to touch every world of every buddha entirely, holding every sentient being with a hand of mastery, obtaining a hand of wondrous marks that emits immeasurable light, able with a single hand to cover sentient beings universally, accomplishing the Tathāgata's own hand with webbed fingers and coppery-red nails.' The bodhisattva then, with the hand of great vow, universally covers sentient beings: 'May all sentient beings forever set their intent joyfully on seeking unsurpassed bodhi, giving birth to the great ocean of every merit, delighting without ever wearying at the sight of a beggar who comes, and entering the ocean of the Buddha-dharma, sharing in the buddhas' own wholesome roots.' This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of wholesome roots when giving away his hands and feet.
"Delighting without ever wearying at the sight of a beggar who comes" closes the whole dedication on an unexpectedly simple note, after a passage crowded with jeweled hands, wondrous marks, and immeasurable light: after everything else asked for, what remains is a mind that is glad, every single time, to see someone approach and ask.
Part 295 Complete
This closes the section on giving the hands and feet (施手、足) within the sixth dedication. Chapter 25 continues in Part 296 as the bodhisattva mahāsattva, following Dharma-Deed Bodhisattva and Wholesome-Intent King Bodhisattva, breaks open his own body to give his blood to sentient beings.