Ten Shores Reached, the Sixth Dedication Complete
The sixth dedication closes by asking its own defining question — "for what reason is this called a dedication?" — and answering it ten times over, each answer naming a different way the bodhisattva reaches "the farther shore": beyond the world, beyond the aggregates, beyond language, beyond every ground of reliance. What follows is the sūtra's own formal seal on everything since Part 279: this is the sixth of the ten dedications, "the dedication of accordance with all wholesome roots, firm and indestructible."
Why It Is Called a Dedication
Ten definitions of "the farther shore," ten kinds of accordance, and then the sūtra's own closing formula together bring the sixth dedication to its end — the same dedication that opened all the way back in Part 279, through gifts of a wife, children, a house, gardens, giving-assemblies, and every article of daily life, before dissolving into the non-attachment reflection of Part 326.
「佛子！此菩薩摩訶薩住一切智，若處、非處，普皆迴向一切智性；於一切處皆悉迴向，無有退轉。以何義故說名迴向？永度世間至於彼岸，故名迴向；永出諸蘊至於彼岸，故名迴向；度言語道至於彼岸，故名迴向；離種種想至於彼岸，故名迴向；永斷身見至於彼岸，故名迴向；永離依處至於彼岸，故名迴向；永絕所作至於彼岸，故名迴向；永出諸有至於彼岸，故名迴向；永捨諸取至於彼岸，故名迴向；永出世法至於彼岸，故名迴向。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩如是迴向時，則為隨順佛住，隨順法住，隨順智住，隨順菩提住，隨順義住，隨順迴向住，隨順境界住，隨順行住，隨順真實住，隨順清淨住。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩如是迴向，則為了達一切諸法，則為承事一切諸佛；無有一佛而不承事，無有一法而不供養；無有一法而可滅壞，無有一法而可乖違；無有一物而可貪著，無有一法而可厭離；不見內外一切諸法，有少滅壞，違因緣道；法力具足，無有休息。」「佛子！是為菩薩摩訶薩第六隨順堅固一切善根迴向。菩薩摩訶薩住此迴向時，常為諸佛之所護念，堅固不退，入深法性，修一切智；隨順法義，隨順法性，隨順一切堅固善根，隨順一切圓滿大願；具足隨順堅固之法，一切金剛所不能壞，於諸法中而得自在。」
"Child of the Buddha! This bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in all-wisdom, and whether in a proper place or an improper one, universally dedicates it toward the very nature of all-wisdom; in every place he dedicates it entirely, never once regressing. For what reason is this called a dedication? It is called a dedication because he forever crosses beyond the world, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he forever goes beyond the aggregates, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he crosses beyond the path of language, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he leaves behind every kind of perception, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he forever severs the view of a self, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he forever leaves behind every ground of reliance, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he forever puts an end to every act performed, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he forever goes beyond every state of existence, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he forever relinquishes every form of grasping, reaching the farther shore; it is called a dedication because he forever goes beyond every worldly dharma, reaching the farther shore. Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva dedicates in this way, he abides in accordance with the Buddha, abides in accordance with the Dharma, abides in accordance with wisdom, abides in accordance with enlightenment, abides in accordance with meaning, abides in accordance with dedication, abides in accordance with the objective realm, abides in accordance with practice, abides in accordance with reality, and abides in accordance with purity. Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva dedicates in this way, he thereby fully comprehends every dharma, and thereby serves every buddha; there is not a single buddha he does not serve, and not a single dharma he does not make offerings to; there is not a single dharma that could be destroyed, and not a single dharma that could be violated; there is not a single thing that could be coveted, and not a single dharma that could be shunned with aversion; he sees not the slightest destruction, within or without, in any dharma at all, nor any violation of the path of cause and condition; the power of the Dharma is entirely complete within him, without any rest." "Child of the Buddha! This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's sixth dedication, the dedication of accordance with all wholesome roots, firm and indestructible. When the bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in this dedication, he is forever held in the mindful protection of every buddha, firm and never regressing, entering the profound nature of the Dharma, and cultivating all-wisdom; he accords with the meaning of the Dharma, accords with the nature of the Dharma, accords with every firm and indestructible wholesome root, and accords with every perfected great vow; he fully possesses the firm and indestructible Dharma, which nothing, not even vajra, can destroy, and attains mastery over every dharma."
The chapter's own etymology for 迴向 (pariṇāmanā, "dedication" or "turning toward") turns out to be an image of crossing: ten times over, dedication is defined as reaching "the farther shore" — of the world, of the aggregates, of language, of the self, of grasping. The word for redirecting merit toward others is, at its root, a word for having already arrived somewhere else entirely.
Part 327 Complete — The Sixth Dedication Concludes
This completes the sixth of the sūtra's ten dedications, "the dedication of accordance with all wholesome roots, firm and indestructible" (隨順堅固一切善根迴向), begun in Part 279. Chapter 25 continues in Part 328 as Vajradhvaja Bodhisattva — who has spoken this entire chapter — surveys the ten directions and the assembly, and by the Buddha's own spiritual power speaks a verse recapitulating the sixth dedication, opening with the bodhisattva who appears as a king, unequaled in worldly rank, and gives away everything for the benefit of all beings.