"This Beggar Is Exceedingly Rare to Encounter"
A man arrives with a sharp knife in hand, asking for the bodhisattva's own skin — and the bodhisattva welcomes him as though receiving a great kindness, spreading a seat for him, bowing with reverence, thinking: this beggar is exceedingly rare to encounter, come to help me fulfill my own vow of omniscience. Following Pure-Treasury Bodhisattva and Golden-Flank Deer King Bodhisattva, he gives his skin away, then dedicates it through ten vows on skin the color of gold, unbreakable as vajra, radiant as a lofty banner.
A Knife Received as a Kindness
Of every scene in this litany, the arrival of "someone with a sharp knife in hand" is the most visibly threatening — and the response to it is the most deliberately hospitable: a seat spread, a bow offered, gratitude expressed before a single word is exchanged about what is actually being asked. The passage does not ask the bodhisattva to overcome fear so much as it removes the category of threat altogether, replacing it with the category of guest.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩見有人來，手執利刀，乞其身皮；心生歡喜，諸根悅豫，譬如有人惠以重恩，逢迎引納，敷座令坐，曲躬恭敬而作是念：『此來乞者甚為難遇，斯欲滿我一切智願，故來求索饒益於我。』歡喜和顏而語之言：『我今此身一切皆捨，所須皮者，隨意取用。』猶如往昔清淨藏菩薩、金脇鹿王菩薩，及餘無量諸大菩薩，等無有異。菩薩爾時，以諸善根如是迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生得微細皮，猶如如來色相清淨，見者無厭；願一切眾生得不壞皮，猶如金剛，無能壞者；願一切眾生得金色皮，如閻浮檀上妙真金，清淨明潔；願一切眾生得無量色皮，隨其心樂，現清淨色；願一切眾生得淨妙色皮，具足沙門善軟清淨如來色相；願一切眾生得第一色皮，自性清淨，色相無比；願一切眾生成就如來清淨色皮，以諸相好而自莊嚴；願一切眾生得妙色皮，放大光明普照一切；願一切眾生得明網皮，如世高幢，放不可說圓滿光明；願一切眾生得潤澤色皮，一切色相悉皆清淨。』是為菩薩摩訶薩施身皮時善根迴向；為令眾生皆得一切嚴淨佛剎，具足如來大功德故。
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva sees someone come, a sharp knife in hand, begging for the skin of his body; his mind gives rise to joy, every faculty of his rejoicing, just as someone who has been shown a great kindness — he welcomes and receives the visitor, spreads a seat for them and has them sit, and bows with reverence, thinking: 'This beggar who has come is exceedingly rare to encounter; wishing to fulfill my vow of omniscience, they have come seeking to benefit me.' With a joyful and gentle expression he says to them: 'My whole body now belongs entirely to you to relinquish; whatever skin you need, take and use it however you wish.' This is no different from Pure-Treasury Bodhisattva, Golden-Flank Deer King Bodhisattva, and countless other great bodhisattvas in ages past. The bodhisattva then, with every wholesome root, dedicates it in this way, namely: 'May all sentient beings obtain fine and delicate skin, pure as the Tathāgata's own bodily hue, wearying no one who beholds it; may all sentient beings obtain unbreakable skin, like vajra, destroyed by nothing; may all sentient beings obtain skin the color of gold, like the supreme, true gold of the Jambū-river, pure, bright, and clean; may all sentient beings obtain skin of immeasurable colors, manifesting pure colors according to whatever the mind delights in; may all sentient beings obtain skin of pure and wondrous color, fully endowed with the śramaṇa's own gentle, soft, and pure bodily hue, like the Tathāgata's own; may all sentient beings obtain skin of the foremost color, its very nature pure, its hue beyond compare; may all sentient beings accomplish the Tathāgata's own pure-colored skin, adorning themselves with every excellent mark; may all sentient beings obtain skin of wondrous color, emitting great light that universally illumines all; may all sentient beings obtain skin like a net of brightness, like a lofty banner in the world, emitting an unspeakably perfect and complete light; may all sentient beings obtain skin of lustrous color, every hue entirely pure.' This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of wholesome roots when giving the skin of his body; it is so that sentient beings may all obtain every adorned and pure buddha-land, fully endowed with the Tathāgata's own great merit.
The closing purpose clause is unexpected: giving away skin is dedicated toward sentient beings obtaining "every adorned and pure buddha-land" — an outward, environmental result, not another skin or another body. What is given at the surface of a person, it seems, comes back not as more surface but as an entire world made beautiful.
Part 301 Complete
This closes the section on giving the skin (施身皮) within the sixth dedication. Chapter 25 continues in Part 302 as the bodhisattva mahāsattva, following Firm Diligence Bodhisattva and Jambudvīpa's Sovereign King Bodhisattva, gives away the very fingers and toes of his hands and feet.