As the Dharma-Realm Is, So Too Is This Dedication
A hymn-like passage compares this dedication directly to ten qualities of the dharma-realm itself — immeasurable, boundless, unceasing, of a single nature, pure — each quality mirrored in what the dedication accomplishes for sentient beings. It closes with fourteen vows, each opening "may, through these wholesome roots," building toward a single wish: that every sentient being forever beholds every buddha, present before them, never once abandoned for even a moment.
Ten Qualities Mirrored
Each line follows the same pattern — as the dharma-realm is some quality, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots — pairing an abstract quality of ultimate reality with a concrete effect: because the dharma-realm is of a single nature, this dedication shares that single nature of wisdom with every sentient being; because the dharma-realm cannot be destroyed, this dedication causes every bodhisattva to never destroy any pure practice.
』「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩復以善根如是迴向，所謂：『如法界無量，善根迴向亦復如是，所得智慧終無有量；如法界無邊，善根迴向亦復如是，見一切佛，無有其邊；如法界無限，善根迴向亦復如是，詣諸佛剎無有齊限；如法界無際，善根迴向亦復如是，於一切世界修菩薩行無有涯際；如法界無斷，善根迴向亦復如是，住一切智永不斷絕；如法界一性，善根迴向亦復如是，與一切眾生同一智性；如法界自性清淨，善根迴向亦復如是，令一切眾生究竟清淨；如法界隨順，善根迴向亦復如是，令一切眾生悉皆隨順普賢行願；如法界莊嚴，善根迴向亦復如是，令一切眾生以普賢行而為莊嚴；如法界不可失壞，善根迴向亦復如是，令諸菩薩永不失壞諸清淨行。
"Child of the Buddha! This bodhisattva mahāsattva further dedicates his wholesome roots in this way, namely: 'As the dharma-realm is immeasurable, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; the wisdom attained through it is, in the end, never measurable. As the dharma-realm is boundless, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; beholding every buddha, there is no boundary to it. As the dharma-realm is without limit, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; going forth to every buddha-land, there is no limit set upon it. As the dharma-realm is without border, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; cultivating a bodhisattva's own practice throughout every world, there is no border to it. As the dharma-realm is unceasing, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; abiding in omniscience, it is forever without cessation. As the dharma-realm is of a single nature, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; it shares that same single nature of wisdom with every sentient being. As the dharma-realm's own nature is pure, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; it causes every sentient being to attain ultimate purity. As the dharma-realm accords with all things, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; it causes every sentient being to entirely accord with Samantabhadra's own practice and vow. As the dharma-realm is adorned, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; it causes every sentient being to be adorned by Samantabhadra's own practice. As the dharma-realm cannot be destroyed, so too is this dedication of wholesome roots; it causes every bodhisattva to never destroy any pure practice.
This dedication takes its very name from the dharma-realm — "equal to the boundless dharma-realm" — and this passage makes that equality explicit, quality by quality, rather than leaving it as a title alone. Ten times over, a metaphysical fact about ultimate reality is made to justify a concrete promise about what the dedication does for sentient beings, as though the dharma-realm's own nature were itself the argument.
Fourteen Vows to Behold Every Buddha
The passage turns to a rapid sequence of vows, each opening "may, through these wholesome roots" — moving from the bodhisattva's own swift entry into omniscience to a repeated wish for every sentient being: that they forever behold every buddha, their minds joyful, pure, unattached, and never once regressing.
』「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩復以此善根如是迴向，所謂：『願以此善根，承事一切諸佛菩薩皆令歡喜；願以此善根，速得趣入一切智性；願以此善根，遍一切處，修一切智；願以此善根，令一切眾生常得往覲一切諸佛；願以此善根，令一切眾生常見諸佛，能作佛事；願以此善根，令一切眾生恒得見佛，不於佛事生怠慢心；願以此善根，令一切眾生常得見佛，心喜清淨，無有退轉；願以此善根，令一切眾生常得見佛，心善解了；願以此善根，令一切眾生常得見佛，不生執著；願以此善根，令一切眾生常得見佛，了達無礙；願以此善根，令一切眾生常得見佛，成普賢行；願以此善根，令一切眾生常見諸佛，現在其前，無時暫捨；願以此善根，令一切眾生常見諸佛，出生菩薩無量諸力；願以此善根，令一切眾生常見諸佛，於一切法永不忘失。
"Child of the Buddha! This bodhisattva mahāsattva further dedicates these wholesome roots in this way, namely: 'May, through these wholesome roots, I serve every buddha and bodhisattva, causing them all to rejoice; may, through these wholesome roots, I swiftly attain entry into the nature of omniscience; may, through these wholesome roots, I cultivate omniscience everywhere, throughout every place; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever be able to go before and behold every buddha; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever behold every buddha, able to perform a buddha's own work; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever attain the beholding of a buddha, never giving rise to a mind of laziness or negligence regarding a buddha's own work; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever attain the beholding of a buddha, their minds joyful and pure, never regressing; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever attain the beholding of a buddha, their minds well able to comprehend; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever attain the beholding of a buddha, never giving rise to attachment; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever attain the beholding of a buddha, fully comprehending without obstruction; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever attain the beholding of a buddha, accomplishing Samantabhadra's own practice; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever behold every buddha, present before them, never once abandoned for even a moment; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever behold every buddha, giving rise to a bodhisattva's own immeasurable powers; may, through these wholesome roots, I cause every sentient being to forever behold every buddha, forever never forgetting any dharma.
Beholding a buddha is treated here as a wish with an unusually long tail of consequences — not one vow but nine consecutive variations on it, each specifying a different quality that beholding should produce: joy, comprehension, non-attachment, unbroken presence, memory. Seeing a buddha, the repetition suggests, is not a single event but something that must be secured against every way it could go wrong.
Part 377 Complete
This continues the tenth dedication's prose section. Chapter 25 continues in Part 378 as the bodhisattva mahāsattva dedicates his wholesome roots through ten further qualities mirrored from the dharma-realm — dedication as its non-arising nature, its fundamental nature, its own intrinsic nature, its nature free of any fixed place, and its nature without any distinction at all.