A Mind Like a Mother's, A Mind That Forgives
Having given away servants and attendants, the bodhisattva now gives his own body into that same servitude. Six minds are named as arising together in the act — humility, a mind like the earth, endurance without wavering, tireless service, and toward every being, a mind that gives over every wholesome thing "just as a compassionate mother would," forgiving even the foolish and cruel whatever mistreatment they inflict. The dedication that follows names sentient beings themselves as the foremost stūpa, the supreme field of merit, the foremost guide of the world.
Forgiveness Before Any Wrong Is Named
The mind that "forgives every kind of mistreatment and encroachment" from "foolish, perilous, and utterly evil sentient beings" is offered here in advance, cultivated as part of entering servitude rather than summoned only after harm actually occurs. Forgiveness, in this framing, is not a response to be found later but a condition established from the outset, already present before there is anything specific yet to forgive.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩以身布施諸來乞者，布施之時，生謙下心，生如地心，生忍受眾苦無變動心，生給侍眾生不疲厭心，生於諸眾生猶如慈母所有眾善悉迴與心，生於諸愚險極惡眾生種種侵陵皆寬宥心，安住善根，精勤給事。菩薩爾時，悉以善根如是迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生隨其所須常無闕乏，修菩薩行恒不間斷，不捨一切菩薩義利，善住菩薩所行之道，了達菩薩平等法性，得在如來種族之數，住真實語，持菩薩行，令諸世間得淨佛法，深心信解，證法究竟；令諸眾生出生清淨增上善根，住大功德，具一切智。又以此善根，令一切眾生常得供養一切諸佛，解一切法，受持讀誦不忘、不失、不壞、不散，心善調伏，不調令調，以寂靜法而調習之。令彼眾生於諸佛所住如是事。又以此善根，令一切眾生作第一塔，應受世間種種供養；令一切眾生成最上福田，得佛智慧，開悟一切；令一切眾生作最上受者，普能饒益一切眾生；令一切眾生成最上福利，能使具足一切善根；令一切眾生成第一好施處，能使獲得無量福報；令一切眾生於三界中皆得出離；令一切眾生作第一導師，能為世間示如實道；令一切眾生得妙總持，具持一切諸佛正法；令一切眾生證得無量第一法界，具足虛空無礙正道。』是為菩薩摩訶薩施自己身善根迴向，為令眾生皆得應供無量智身故。
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva gives his own body to whoever comes begging for it. While giving, he gives rise to a mind of humility, gives rise to a mind like the earth, gives rise to a mind that endures every suffering without wavering, gives rise to a mind that serves and attends sentient beings without ever growing weary, gives rise, toward every sentient being, to a mind that turns over to them every wholesome thing he has just as a compassionate mother would, gives rise, toward every foolish, perilous, and utterly evil sentient being, to a mind that forgives every kind of mistreatment and encroachment; abiding securely in wholesome roots, he diligently and attentively serves. The bodhisattva then dedicates every wholesome root entirely in this way, namely: 'May all sentient beings, according to whatever they need, forever lack for nothing, cultivating the bodhisattva's own practice forever without interruption, never relinquishing the meaning and benefit of every bodhisattva, well abiding upon the path a bodhisattva practices, thoroughly understanding the equal Dharma-nature of a bodhisattva, and coming to be counted among the lineage of the Tathāgata; abiding in truthful speech, upholding the bodhisattva's own practice, causing the world to obtain the pure buddha-dharma, with profound faith and understanding, realizing the Dharma to its very end; causing sentient beings to give birth to pure and ever-increasing wholesome roots, abiding in great merit, fully endowed with omniscience. And further, with this wholesome root, causing all sentient beings to forever make offerings to every buddha, to understand every dharma, to uphold, read, and recite it without ever forgetting it, losing it, corrupting it, or scattering it, their minds well subdued, and whatever is unsubdued brought to subdual, tamed and cultivated through the dharma of tranquility. Causing those sentient beings to abide in such matters in the presence of every buddha. And further, with this wholesome root, causing all sentient beings to become the foremost stūpa, worthy to receive every kind of worldly offering; causing all sentient beings to become the supreme field of merit, obtaining buddha-wisdom, awakening everyone; causing all sentient beings to become the supreme recipient, universally able to benefit every sentient being; causing all sentient beings to accomplish the supreme benefit of merit, able to be fully endowed with every wholesome root; causing all sentient beings to become the foremost, excellent place of giving, able to obtain immeasurable karmic reward; causing all sentient beings to be entirely liberated from the three realms; causing all sentient beings to become the foremost guide, able to show the world the path exactly as it truly is; causing all sentient beings to obtain the wondrous dhāraṇī, fully upholding the true Dharma of every buddha; causing all sentient beings to realize the immeasurable, foremost Dharma-realm, fully endowed with the unobstructed true path of empty space.' This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of wholesome roots when giving his own body; it is so that sentient beings may all obtain the immeasurable, wisdom-body worthy of offerings.
The dedication's final movement makes every sentient being, not the bodhisattva, into the foremost stūpa, the supreme field of merit, the foremost guide. A bodhisattva who has entered servitude, giving his own body to whoever asks, dedicates that very servitude toward the beings he serves themselves becoming worthy of the honor he no longer claims for himself.
Part 312 Complete
This closes the section on giving one's own body into servitude (以身布施) within the sixth dedication. Chapter 25 continues in Part 313 as the bodhisattva mahāsattva, having heard the Dharma with great joy, offers his own body in reverence and gives rise to boundless faith, understanding, and undying gratitude toward every buddha.