A Kingdom for a Single Word
The litany of the body's own parts gives way here to something even larger: a king, seeking the Dharma, treats a single letter, word, phrase, or meaning as rare enough to be worth every land he rules, every city, every treasury, garden, palace, and family member, and his very kingship itself. Following Great Power and Virtue Bodhisattva and Supreme Virtue King Bodhisattva, he prostrates his whole body for a single word, dedicated through ten vows on giving that never regrets and the arrow of doubt drawn out at last.
Seeking a Firm Dharma Within What Is Impermanent
"Seeking a firm dharma within what is impermanent" names, in a single phrase, why an entire kingdom could ever be worth trading for a single word: everything the king possesses — land, treasury, family, throne — belongs to the impermanent category no matter how vast it grows, while even one true word of Dharma belongs to the other category entirely. Scale, on this logic, was never the relevant measure.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩處於王位求正法時，乃至但為一文、一字、一句、一義生難得想，能悉罄捨海內所有若近若遠國土、城邑、人民、庫藏、園池、屋宅、樹林、華果，乃至一切珍奇妙物、宮殿樓閣、妻子眷屬，及以王位，悉能捨之。於不堅中求堅固法，為欲利益一切眾生，勤求諸佛無礙解脫究竟清淨一切智道，如大勢德菩薩、勝德王菩薩，及餘無量諸大菩薩。勤求正法，乃至極少，為於一字，五體投地；正念三世一切佛法，愛樂修習；永不貪著名聞利養，捨諸世間自在王位，求佛自在法王之位；於世間樂心無所著，以出世法長養其心；永離世間一切戲論，住於諸佛無戲論法。菩薩爾時，以諸善根如是迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生常樂惠施，一切悉捨；願一切眾生能捨所有，心無中悔；願一切眾生常求正法，不惜身命、資生之具；願一切眾生悉得法利，能斷一切眾生疑惑；願一切眾生得善法欲，心常喜樂諸佛正法；願一切眾生為求佛法，能捨身命及以王位，大心修習無上菩提；願一切眾生尊重正法，常深愛樂，不惜身命；願一切眾生護持諸佛甚難得法，常勤修習；願一切眾生皆得諸佛菩提光明，成菩提行，不由他悟；願一切眾生常能觀察一切佛法，拔除疑箭，心得安隱。』是為菩薩摩訶薩為求正法捨國城時善根迴向；為令眾生知見圓滿，常得住於安隱道故。
"Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva, dwelling in the position of a king, seeks the true Dharma, even for merely a single letter, a single word, a single phrase, or a single meaning, giving rise to the thought that it is rare to obtain, he is able to relinquish everything within the sea — every land, whether near or far, every city and town, every subject, every treasury, every garden and pool, every house and dwelling, every grove and forest, every flower and fruit, even every rare and wondrous treasure, every palace and tower, his own wife and children and kin, and his very kingship itself — all of it he is able to relinquish. Seeking a firm dharma within what is impermanent, wishing to benefit every sentient being, he diligently seeks the unobstructed liberation of every buddha, the ultimate, pure path of omniscience, just as Great Power and Virtue Bodhisattva, Supreme Virtue King Bodhisattva, and countless other great bodhisattvas have done. Diligently seeking the true Dharma, even for the very smallest amount, for the sake of a single word he prostrates his entire body, all five limbs touching the ground; mindful of the buddha-dharma across the three periods of time, he loves and delights in cultivating it; forever without craving for fame or material gain, he relinquishes every sovereign kingship of the world, seeking instead the position of the Dharma-king, sovereign in the Buddha's own way; his mind unattached to any worldly happiness, he nourishes his own mind with the dharma that transcends the world; forever leaving behind every worldly, frivolous discourse, he abides in the dharma of every buddha that is free of frivolous discourse. The bodhisattva then, with every wholesome root, dedicates it in this way, namely: 'May all sentient beings forever delight in giving, relinquishing everything entirely; may all sentient beings be able to relinquish everything they possess, their minds never regretting midway; may all sentient beings forever seek the true Dharma, never begrudging their own body, life, or means of livelihood; may all sentient beings all obtain the benefit of the Dharma, able to cut through the doubt and confusion of every sentient being; may all sentient beings obtain the desire for wholesome dharmas, their minds forever delighting in the true Dharma of every buddha; may all sentient beings, for the sake of seeking the buddha-dharma, be able to relinquish their own body, life, and even their kingship, cultivating unsurpassed bodhi with a great mind; may all sentient beings revere the true Dharma, forever loving it profoundly, never begrudging their own body or life; may all sentient beings uphold and protect the exceedingly rare dharma of every buddha, forever diligently cultivating it; may all sentient beings all obtain the light of every buddha's own bodhi, accomplishing the practice of bodhi, awakened not through another's teaching; may all sentient beings forever be able to contemplate every buddha-dharma, drawing out the arrow of doubt, their minds attaining peace and security.' This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of wholesome roots when relinquishing his kingdom and cities for the sake of seeking the true Dharma; it is so that sentient beings' knowledge and vision may become perfect and complete, and they may forever abide securely upon the path of peace and safety.
"Drawing out the arrow of doubt" is a vivid image to close on: doubt is treated not as an absence of certainty to be filled in but as a foreign object lodged in the body, something that must be physically removed before the mind can be at peace. The whole passage, from the throne given away down to this closing wound, keeps returning to the same shape — something extracted, so that something else can finally rest.
Part 306 Complete
This closes the section on relinquishing a kingdom for the sake of the true Dharma (為求正法捨國城) within the sixth dedication. Chapter 25 continues in Part 307 as the bodhisattva mahāsattva, now a great king ruling in accordance with the Dharma, bans all killing throughout his realm and establishes every creature, footed or footless, in the security of the five precepts.