What Seeing and Hearing Are Worth, and a Final Entrustment
Part 6 closes this sūtra with its twelfth and thirteenth chapters. Avalokiteśvara — a bodhisattva whose own vow, on this collection's telling, runs parallel to Kṣitigarbha's — asks the Buddha's own question one more time, on behalf of dying gods, orphaned children, forgetful students, and travelers on dangerous roads: what is actually gained by seeing this bodhisattva, hearing his name, or keeping this teaching close? The Buddha answers at length, in prose and then in verse, before turning to Kṣitigarbha directly for the sūtra's final act — entrusting to him, by name, called twice in the same breath, every being not yet free.
The Buddha's Light, and Avalokiteśvara's Request
爾時，世尊從頂門上，放百千萬億大毫相光——所謂白毫相光、大白毫相光、瑞毫相光、大瑞毫相光、玉毫相光、大玉毫相光、紫毫相光、大紫毫相光、青毫相光、大青毫相光、碧毫相光、大碧毫相光、紅毫相光、大紅毫相光、綠毫相光、大綠毫相光、金毫相光、大金毫相光、慶雲毫相光、大慶雲毫相光、千輪毫光、大千輪毫光、寶輪毫光、大寶輪毫光、日輪毫光、大日輪毫光、月輪毫光、大月輪毫光、宮殿毫光、大宮殿毫光、海雲毫光、大海雲毫光。於頂門上，放如是等毫相光已，出微妙音，告諸大眾、天龍八部、人、非人等：「聽吾今日於忉利天宮稱揚讚歎地藏菩薩於人天中利益等事、不思議事、超聖因事、證十地事、畢竟不退阿耨多羅三藐三菩提事。」
說是語時，會中有一菩薩摩訶薩，名觀世音，從座而起，胡跪合掌，白佛言：「世尊！是地藏菩薩摩訶薩，具大慈悲，憐愍罪苦眾生，於千萬億世界，化千萬億身。所有功德，及不思議威神之力，我聞世尊與十方無量諸佛，異口同音，讚歎地藏菩薩云：正使過去現在未來諸佛，說其功德，猶不能盡。向者，又蒙世尊普告大眾，欲稱揚地藏利益等事。唯願世尊，為現在未來一切眾生，稱揚地藏不思議事，令天龍八部，瞻禮獲福。」
佛告觀世音菩薩：「汝於娑婆世界，有大因緣。若天若龍、若男若女、若神若鬼，乃至六道罪苦眾生，聞汝名者、見汝形者、戀慕汝者、讚歎汝者，是諸眾生，於無上道，必不退轉，常生人天，具受妙樂，因果將熟，遇佛授記。汝今具大慈悲，憐愍眾生，及天龍八部，聽吾宣說地藏菩薩不思議利益之事。汝當諦聽，吾今說之。」
觀世音言：「唯然，世尊！願樂欲聞。」
At that time the World-Honored One, from the crown of his head, emitted hundreds of thousands of myriads of great rays of hair-mark light — namely: white hair-mark light, and great white hair-mark light; auspicious hair-mark light, and great auspicious hair-mark light; jade hair-mark light, and great jade hair-mark light; violet hair-mark light, and great violet hair-mark light; blue hair-mark light, and great blue hair-mark light; jasper hair-mark light, and great jasper hair-mark light; crimson hair-mark light, and great crimson hair-mark light; emerald hair-mark light, and great emerald hair-mark light; gold hair-mark light, and great gold hair-mark light; auspicious-cloud hair-mark light, and great auspicious-cloud hair-mark light; thousand-spoke-wheel hair-mark light, and great thousand-spoke-wheel hair-mark light; jeweled-wheel hair-mark light, and great jeweled-wheel hair-mark light; sun-disc hair-mark light, and great sun-disc hair-mark light; moon-disc hair-mark light, and great moon-disc hair-mark light; palace hair-mark light, and great palace hair-mark light; sea-cloud hair-mark light, and great sea-cloud hair-mark light. Having emitted, from the crown of his head, hair-mark lights such as these, he gave forth a subtle and wondrous sound, and proclaimed to the whole great assembly, to the eightfold division of gods and nāgas, to humans and non-humans: "Hear me, on this day, in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, extol and praise the benefit Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva brings to gods and humans, his inconceivable deeds, his acts that surpass the causes of sagehood, his realization of the ten grounds, and his final, irreversible progress toward Anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi."
Having said this, there was in the assembly a bodhisattva-mahāsattva named Avalokiteśvara, who rose from his seat, knelt with one knee to the ground, joined his palms, and said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, this Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, filled with great compassion, has pity for suffering, guilty beings, and transforms into hundreds of thousands of myriads of bodies throughout hundreds of thousands of myriads of world-systems. I have heard the World-Honored One, together with measureless buddhas of the ten directions, praise Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva with one voice, saying that even were the buddhas of the past, present, and future to describe his merit, they could not exhaust it. And just now I have again heard the World-Honored One proclaim to the whole assembly his wish to extol Kṣitigarbha's work of benefit. I beg only that the World-Honored One, for the sake of all beings present and future, extol Kṣitigarbha's inconceivable deeds, so that the eightfold division of gods and nāgas may gaze on him and bow, and thereby gain blessing."
The Buddha said to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva: "You have a great karmic affinity with the Sahā world. Whether gods or nāgas, men or women, spirits or ghosts, or even guilty beings of the six destinies — those who hear your name, see your form, long for you, or praise you, such beings will never turn back from the unsurpassed path; they will forever be born among gods and humans, fully enjoying wondrous bliss, and when the causes and effects of their liberation are ripe, they will meet a buddha and receive a prediction of buddhahood. You are now filled with great compassion, with pity for beings and for the eightfold division of gods and nāgas — hear me now proclaim Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's inconceivable work of benefit. Listen carefully — I will now speak of it." Avalokiteśvara said: "So be it, World-Honored One — I wish gladly to hear it."
Lingcheng asks why it falls to Avalokiteśvara, of all the bodhisattvas present since Part 1, to ask this final and most sweeping question. His answer reaches back to the Sūtra of Compassionate Flowers, where Avalokiteśvara's own origin story is told: as a prince named Aprakampya, urged on by the brahmin Samudrareṇu, he vowed before the buddha Ratnagarbha to look upon every being in heaven, on earth, and in the three evil destinies with great compassion, ending their afflictions and bringing them ease — a vow the buddha answered by naming him, on the spot, "Avalokiteśvara," and noting that hundreds of thousands of myriads of nayutas of beings had already been freed from suffering through him, even before he had finished speaking. Lingcheng's point is that the Buddha's answer to Avalokiteśvara's question — "you have a great karmic affinity with the Sahā world" — is not flattery but a statement of fact: two bodhisattvas with parallel, world-spanning vows are speaking to each other as equals, which is exactly why this chapter can close the sūtra's teaching before Kṣitigarbha's own final entrustment in the chapter after it.
Devas on the Brink, and the Dying
佛告觀世音菩薩：「未來現在諸世界中，有天人受天福盡，有五衰相現，或有墮於惡道之者。如是天人，若男若女，當現相時，或見地藏菩薩形像，或聞地藏菩薩名，一瞻一禮，是諸天人，轉增天福，受大快樂，永不墮三惡道報。何況見聞菩薩，以諸香、華、衣服、飲食、寶貝、瓔珞，布施供養，所獲功德福利，無量無邊。
「復次，觀世音！若未來現在諸世界中，六道眾生，臨命終時，得聞地藏菩薩名，一聲歷耳根者，是諸眾生，永不歷三惡道苦。何況臨命終時，父母眷屬，將是命終人舍宅、財物、寶貝、衣服，塑畫地藏形像。或使病人未終之時，眼耳見聞，知道眷屬將舍宅寶貝等，為其自身，塑畫地藏菩薩形像。是人若是業報合受重病者，承斯功德，尋即除愈，壽命增益。是人若是業報命盡，應有一切罪障業障，合墮惡趣者，承斯功德，命終之後，即生人天，受勝妙樂，一切罪障，悉皆銷滅。」
The Buddha said to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva: "In worlds present and future, there are gods whose heavenly merit is coming to an end, showing the five signs of decline, some of them about to fall into an evil destiny. If such gods, whether male or female, at the very moment these signs appear, come to see an image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, or hear Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's name, and gaze on it and bow even once, such gods will have their heavenly merit renewed instead, enjoying great bliss, and will never again undergo the retribution of the three evil destinies. How much more so, then, one who both sees and hears, and further makes offerings of incense, flowers, clothing, food, treasures, and jeweled ornaments — the merit and blessing such a being gains is measureless, boundless.
"Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara, if in worlds present and future, beings of the six destinies, at the moment of death, come to hear Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's name, even once, passing through their ear, such beings will never again undergo the suffering of the three evil destinies. How much more so, then, if, at the moment of death, their parents or family take that dying person's house, wealth, treasures, or clothing, and use it to paint or sculpt an image of Kṣitigarbha — or if the sick person themselves, before dying, with their own eyes and ears, comes to see and hear that their family is doing this on their behalf — that person, if their karma had destined them for a grave illness, will, through this merit, soon recover, their life extended; and if their karma had destined their life to end, and they bore every kind of guilt and karmic obstruction that would otherwise send them to an evil destiny, then through this merit, after death, they will at once be born among gods and humans, enjoying supreme and wondrous bliss, and every karmic obstruction will be entirely dissolved."
Lingcheng specifies the "five signs of decline" from the New Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā, and is careful to note there are two tiers rather than one: a lesser five — an unpleasant sound in the voice, dimming body-light, water clinging unnaturally to the skin, an inability to look away from whatever one is fixed on, and eyes that blink when they never used to — which, if noticed and answered with refuge-taking in time, can still be reversed; and a greater five — soiled clothing, a wilting flower-crown, sweat under both arms, a foul bodily odor, and a sudden distaste for one's own throne — which, once they appear, mean death is no longer avoidable. His point in drawing the line so precisely is practical: this chapter's promise is not that devotion cancels death, but that it works fastest, and most certainly, if it arrives before the greater signs do — which is also why the sūtra keeps returning, chapter after chapter, to the same refrain about acting "while still in health" rather than waiting for a crisis to force the issue.
Children Who Lost Their Parents Young
「復次，觀世音菩薩！若未來世，有男子女人，或乳哺時，或三歲、五歲、十歲已下，亡失父母，乃及亡失兄弟姊妹。是人年既長大，思憶父母，及諸眷屬，不知落在何趣？生何世界？生何天中？是人若能塑畫地藏菩薩形像，乃至聞名，一瞻一禮，一日至七日，莫退初心，聞名見形，瞻禮供養。是人眷屬，假因業故，墮惡趣者，計當劫數，承斯男女兄弟姊妹塑畫地藏形像、瞻禮功德，尋即解脫，生人天中；受勝妙樂者，即承斯功德，轉增聖因，受無量樂。是人更能三七日中，一心瞻禮地藏形像，念其名字，滿於萬遍。當得菩薩現無邊身，具告是人眷屬生界；或於夢中，菩薩現大神力，親領是人於諸世界，見諸眷屬。更能每日，念菩薩名千遍，至于千日。是人當得菩薩遣所在土地鬼神，終身衛護，現世衣食豐溢，無諸疾苦，乃至橫事不入其門，何況及身？是人畢竟得菩薩摩頂授記。」
"Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, if in future ages there are men or women who, whether still nursing, or at three, five, or under ten years old, lose their father or mother, or even lose a brother or sister — when such a person grows to adulthood, and thinks of their parents and family, not knowing into which destiny they have fallen, into which world they were born, or into which heaven — if that person can paint or sculpt an image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, or even simply hear his name, gazing on it and bowing, for one day up to seven days, without letting their first resolve slacken, hearing the name, seeing the form, gazing on it and making offerings — then, should their family, through karma, have fallen into an evil destiny, reckoned to last for some span of kalpas, through the merit of that son, daughter, brother, or sister painting or sculpting Kṣitigarbha's image and gazing on it in worship, they will at once win release; and should they instead already be reborn among gods and humans, enjoying supreme and wondrous bliss, then through this same merit they will have their holy causes further increased, and enjoy measureless bliss.
"Should that person further be able, for three periods of seven days, to gaze single-mindedly on Kṣitigarbha's image, and hold his name in mind until it has been recited ten thousand times, they will obtain a vision of the bodhisattva manifesting a boundless body, and telling them directly into which world their family has been reborn — or, in a dream, the bodhisattva will manifest great spiritual power, personally leading that person through various worlds to see their family in person. And should they further hold the bodhisattva's name in mind a thousand times each day, for a thousand days, that person will have the bodhisattva send the earth-spirits of wherever they dwell to guard them for the rest of their life, so that in this present life their food and clothing will be abundant, they will be free of every illness, and no misfortune, great or small, will so much as enter their door — how much less befall them in person. Such a person will, in the end, receive the bodhisattva's hand upon their crown, and a prediction of buddhahood."
Lingcheng reads this passage as the sūtra's mirror image of its own opening story. In Part 1, a daughter's devotion reaches back through death to rescue a mother she has lost; here, a child too young to have known their parents at all — "never known since they were grown," the closing verse will put it — reaches back the same way, not to rescue anyone from a named hell, but simply to learn where they went. He does not gloss this as a lesser version of the Brahmin woman's or Bright Eyes' stories; if anything he treats the not-knowing itself as the harder grief to carry, since there is no vision of a hell-realm to resolve, no ghost-king to answer a direct question — only "thinking of them, not knowing," repeated, with a chance to make merit offered as the only answer to it. The chapter that opened this whole sūtra with a mother saved closes its long middle stretch with children still only asking after theirs.
Vows, Wishes, and a Cure for Forgetting
「復次，觀世音菩薩！若未來世，有善男子、善女人，欲發廣大慈心，救度一切眾生者，欲修無上菩提者，欲出離三界者。是諸人等，見地藏形像及聞名者，至心歸依，或以香華衣服、寶貝飲食，供養瞻禮。是善男女等，所願速成，永無障礙。
「復次，觀世音！若未來世，有善男子、善女人，欲求現在未來百千萬億等願、百千萬億等事，但當歸依、瞻禮、供養、讚歎地藏菩薩形像，如是所願所求，悉皆成就。復願地藏菩薩，具大慈悲，永擁護我，是人於睡夢中，即得菩薩摩頂授記。
「復次，觀世音菩薩！若未來世，善男子、善女人，於大乘經典，深生珍重，發不思議心，欲讀欲誦。縱遇明師，教視令熟，旋得旋忘，動經年月，不能讀誦。是善男子等，有宿業障，未得銷除，故於大乘經典，無讀誦性。如是之人，聞地藏菩薩名，見地藏菩薩像，具以本心恭敬陳白，更以香、華、衣服、飲食、一切玩具，供養菩薩。以淨水一盞，經一日一夜，安菩薩前，然後合掌請服，迴首向南，臨入口時，至心鄭重。服水既畢，慎五辛、酒肉、邪婬、妄語，及諸殺害，一七日，或三七日。是善男子、善女人，於睡夢中，具見地藏菩薩現無邊身，於是人處授灌頂水。其人夢覺，即獲聰明，應是經典，一歷耳根，即當永記，更不忘失一句一偈。」
"Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, if in future ages there are good sons or good daughters who wish to give rise to vast, great compassion, to save and liberate every being; who wish to cultivate unsurpassed bodhi; who wish to leave the three realms behind — such people, seeing Kṣitigarbha's image and hearing his name, take refuge in him with a sincere heart, and make offerings of incense, flowers, clothing, treasures, and food, gazing on him and bowing — such good men and women will have their wishes swiftly fulfilled, and will forever meet with no obstruction.
"Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara, if in future ages there are good sons or good daughters who wish for hundreds of thousands of myriads of different things, present or future, hundreds of thousands of myriads of different matters, they need only take refuge in, gaze on, make offerings to, and praise an image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and every wish and every request such as these will be entirely fulfilled. And should they further wish for Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, filled with great compassion, to forever guard and protect them, that person will, while sleeping and dreaming, receive the bodhisattva's hand upon their crown, and a prediction of buddhahood.
"Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, if in future ages there are good sons or good daughters who hold a Mahāyāna sūtra in deep and genuine esteem, giving rise to an inconceivable resolve, wishing to read and recite it — and though they meet a wise teacher who instructs them until they have it by heart, they no sooner learn it than they forget it again, and though months and years pass, they still cannot recite it — such good sons, burdened by a karmic obstruction from the past not yet dissolved, are simply without the capacity to read or recite Mahāyāna sūtras. Should such a person hear Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's name, or see Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's image, and, with their whole original heart, declare their reverence before him, and further make offerings to the bodhisattva of incense, flowers, clothing, food, and every kind of plaything, and set out a cup of clean water before the bodhisattva for a full day and night, and then, joining their palms, ask to drink it, turning their head to face south, and, as it touches their lips, hold their heart sincere and solemn — and, having drunk the water, be careful to avoid the five pungent roots, wine, meat, sexual misconduct, false speech, and all killing, for one period of seven days, or for three — such a good son or good daughter will, while sleeping and dreaming, see Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva manifest a boundless body, and, in that very place, bestow upon them the water of consecration. When that person wakes from the dream, they will at once gain sharp intelligence, and any scripture that so much as passes once through their ear will thereafter be permanently retained, never again forgetting a single verse or phrase."
Lingcheng treats the water-drinking rite for a forgetful student as the sūtra's single most concrete instruction — closer to something a reader could actually carry out than any promise offered elsewhere in the text — and is precise about why each element belongs. Facing south while drinking repeats the same directional symbolism Dṛḍha's shrine used in Part 5: south corresponds to fire and clarity, the direction a practitioner turns toward, not away from, obscured understanding. The five pungent roots are forbidden not because they harm any living thing, as meat does, but because — citing the Śūraṅgama directly — cooked, they provoke desire, and eaten raw, they provoke anger, and their smell alone repels the "ten kinds of heavenly immortals" while drawing hungry ghosts closer; a mind trying to clear a specific obstruction to memory, on this reading, cannot afford either provocation while it works. He does not treat the vision of Kṣitigarbha bestowing consecration-water in a dream as the cause of the cure so much as its confirmation — the actual work, in his account, is done by the seven-to-twenty-one days of sustained, deliberately narrowed conduct that the dream simply marks the completion of.
Poverty, Misfortune, and Dangerous Roads
「復次，觀世音菩薩！若未來世，有諸人等：衣食不足，求者乖願；或多病疾，或多凶衰；家宅不安，眷屬分散；或諸橫事，多來忤身；睡夢之間，多有驚怖。如是人等，聞地藏名，見地藏形，至心恭敬，念滿萬遍。是諸不如意事，漸漸消滅，即得安樂，衣食豐溢，乃至於睡夢中，悉皆安樂。
「復次，觀世音菩薩！若未來世，有善男子、善女人，或因治生，或因公私，或因生死，或因急事，入山林中，過渡河海，乃及大水，或經險道。是人先當念地藏菩薩名萬遍，所過土地，鬼神衛護，行住坐臥，永保安樂。乃至逢於虎狼師子、一切毒害，不能損之。」
佛告觀世音菩薩：「是地藏菩薩，於閻浮提，有大因緣。若說於諸眾生見聞利益等事，百千劫中，說不能盡。是故，觀世音！汝以神力，流布是經，令娑婆世界眾生，百千萬劫，永受安樂。」
"Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, if in future ages there are people whose food and clothing are insufficient, whose every request goes unanswered; who suffer much illness, or much misfortune; whose household is troubled, whose family is scattered; who are beset again and again by unexpected calamity; who are much plagued by terror in their sleep — such people, hearing Kṣitigarbha's name, seeing Kṣitigarbha's form, and holding him in sincere reverence, reciting his name ten thousand times, will find all these unwanted things gradually dissolve, and will find ease; their food and clothing will become abundant, and even in their sleep they will find peace entirely.
"Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, if in future ages there are good sons or good daughters who, whether for their livelihood, for public or private business, for matters of birth or death, or for some urgent affair, must enter mountain forests, cross rivers and seas or great waters, or travel a dangerous road — such a person should first hold Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's name in mind ten thousand times; and wherever they pass, the earth-spirits of that place will guard and protect them, so that in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, they will forever be at peace — and should they even encounter tigers, wolves, lions, or any venomous harm, none of it will be able to injure them."
The Buddha said to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva: "Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva has a great karmic affinity with Jambudvīpa. Were I to describe everything beings gain by seeing and hearing him, I could not exhaust it in hundreds of thousands of kalpas. For this reason, Avalokiteśvara, use your own spiritual power to spread this sūtra abroad, so that the beings of the Sahā world may forever enjoy peace for hundreds of thousands of myriads of kalpas."
In Verse
爾時，世尊而說偈言：
「吾觀地藏威神力， 恒河沙劫說難盡，
見聞瞻禮一念間， 利益人天無量事。
若男若女若龍神， 報盡應當墮惡道，
至心歸依大士身， 壽命轉增除罪障。
少失父母恩愛者， 未知魂神在何趣？
兄弟姊妹及諸親， 生長以來皆不識。
或塑或畫大士身， 悲戀瞻禮不暫捨，
三七日中念其名。 菩薩當現無邊體，
示其眷屬所生界， 縱墮惡趣尋出離。
若能不退是初心， 即獲摩頂受聖記。
欲修無上菩提者， 乃至出離三界苦，
是人既發大悲心， 先當瞻禮大士像，
一切諸願速成就， 永無業障能遮止。
有人發心念經典， 欲度群迷超彼岸，
雖立是願不思議， 旋讀旋忘多廢失。
斯人有業障惑故， 於大乘經不能記。
供養地藏以香華， 衣服飲食諸玩具，
以淨水安大士前， 一日一夜求服之，
發殷重心慎五辛， 酒肉邪淫及妄語，
三七日內勿殺害， 至心思念大士名。
即於夢中見無邊， 覺來便得利根耳，
應是經教歷耳聞， 千萬生中永不忘。
以是大士不思議， 能使斯人獲此慧。
貧窮眾生及疾病， 家宅凶衰眷屬離，
睡夢之中悉不安， 求者乖違無稱遂。
至心瞻禮地藏像， 一切惡事皆消滅，
至於夢中盡得安， 衣食豐饒神鬼護。
欲入山林及渡海， 毒惡禽獸及惡人，
惡神惡鬼并惡風， 一切諸難諸苦惱。
但當瞻禮及供養， 地藏菩薩大士像，
如是山林大海中， 應是諸惡皆消滅。
觀音至心聽吾說， 地藏無盡不思議，
百千萬劫說不周， 廣宣大士如是力。
地藏名字人若聞， 乃至見像瞻禮者，
香華衣服飲食奉， 供養百千受妙樂，
若能以此迴法界， 畢竟成佛超生死。
是故觀音汝當知， 普告恒沙諸國土。」
At that time the World-Honored One spoke in verse, saying:
"I observe Kṣitigarbha's majestic power —
kalpas as many as the Ganges' sands could not exhaust the telling;
seeing, hearing, gazing, bowing, in a single thought,
brings measureless benefit to gods and humans.
Whether man or woman, whether nāga or spirit,
when merit is spent and an evil destiny should follow,
taking refuge with a sincere heart in this great one's body
extends their life and dissolves every guilt.
Those who lost father or mother young, in love's first years,
not knowing where that spirit now has gone;
brothers, sisters, and every kin
never known since they were grown —
sculpting or painting this great one's form,
gazing in longing, never once setting it down,
for three weeks holding his name in mind —
the bodhisattva then reveals a boundless body,
showing them the world where their kin were born;
even fallen into an evil destiny, they are soon set free.
If this first resolve is never allowed to fail,
a hand upon the crown, a prediction, is theirs to receive.
Those who would cultivate the unsurpassed path,
even to leave behind the suffering of the three realms —
having given rise to this great heart of compassion,
should first gaze upon this great one's image;
every vow they hold will swiftly be fulfilled,
no karmic hindrance able to stand in the way.
There are those who resolve to hold a sūtra in mind,
wishing to ferry the confused across to the further shore;
though this vow they raise is itself inconceivable,
they no sooner read it than forget it, losing it again and again.
Such people, burdened by karmic hindrance and delusion,
cannot hold a Mahāyāna sūtra in mind.
Making offering to Kṣitigarbha of incense and flowers,
of clothing, food, and every kind of plaything,
setting clean water before this great one,
for a day and a night, then asking to drink it,
raising a heart of earnest weight, avoiding the five pungent roots,
wine, meat, sexual misconduct, and false speech,
for three full weeks committing no killing at all,
holding this great one's name in mind with a sincere heart —
then, in a dream, they see the boundless body,
and waking, at once gain a sharpened ear;
any teaching of the sūtras that passes through it once
will, for a thousand myriad lives, never be forgotten.
It is by this great one's own inconceivable power
that such a person is able to gain this wisdom.
The poor and suffering, and those who fall ill,
whose households decline, whose kin are scattered,
who find no peace even in their sleep,
whose every request meets only disappointment —
gazing with a sincere heart on Kṣitigarbha's image,
every evil thing will be entirely dissolved;
even in their dreams they will find complete peace,
their food and clothing abundant, spirits and ghosts their guard.
Those who would enter mountain forests or cross the sea,
where venomous beasts and evil people wait,
where evil spirits, evil ghosts, and evil winds gather,
and every difficulty, every suffering, is found —
need only gaze upon, and make offering to,
this great one Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's image;
then, in such mountain forests or upon such seas,
every one of these evils will be entirely dissolved.
Avalokiteśvara, listen to what I say with a sincere heart:
Kṣitigarbha is inexhaustible, inconceivable —
a hundred thousand myriad kalpas could not tell it in full;
proclaim widely this great one's power, just as it is.
If a person hears Kṣitigarbha's very name,
or even sees his image and gazes on it in worship,
offering incense, flowers, clothing, and food,
they will, for a hundred thousand lifetimes, receive wondrous bliss;
and if they can dedicate this to the whole Dharma-realm,
they will, in the end, attain buddhahood and pass beyond birth and death.
For this reason, Avalokiteśvara, you should know this,
and proclaim it to every land, as many as the Ganges' sands."
Lingcheng notes that this verse follows the same pattern he has flagged since Part 1's assembly scene — a geya-type verse that compresses, rather than extends, the prose it follows — and traces which clauses each stanza keeps and which it drops. The orphaned-children passage, longest of the eight sections in prose, is compressed here into a handful of lines that keep the emotional core — "never known since they were grown" — while cutting every procedural detail about the thousand-day recitation schedule; the water-drinking rite for forgetful students, by contrast, survives almost intact, dietary restrictions and all, which Lingcheng reads as the poet's own judgment about which instructions a reader most needs to carry away intact and which can be trusted to memory of the prose already given.
The Buddha's Final Entrustment
爾時，世尊舉金色臂，又摩地藏菩薩摩訶薩頂，而作是言：「地藏！地藏！汝之神力，不可思議；汝之慈悲，不可思議；汝之智慧，不可思議；汝之辯才，不可思議。正使十方諸佛，讚歎宣說汝之不思議事，千萬劫中，不能得盡。地藏！地藏！記吾今日在忉利天中，於百千萬億不可說不可說一切諸佛菩薩、天龍八部大會之中，再以人天諸眾生等，未出三界，在火宅中者，付囑於汝。無令是諸眾生，墮惡趣中一日一夜，何況更落五無間及阿鼻地獄，動經千萬億劫，無有出期？
「地藏！是南閻浮提眾生，志性無定，習惡者多，縱發善心，須臾即退，若遇惡緣，念念增長。以是之故，吾分是形，百千億化度，隨其根性而度脫之。地藏！吾今殷勤以天人眾，付囑於汝。未來之世，若有天人，及善男子、善女人，於佛法中，種少善根，一毛一塵，一沙一渧。汝以道力，擁護是人，漸修無上，勿令退失。復次，地藏！未來世中，若天若人，隨業報應，落在惡趣。臨墮趣中，或至門首，是諸眾生，若能念得一佛名、一菩薩名、一句一偈大乘經典。是諸眾生，汝以神力，方便救拔。於是人所，現無邊身，為碎地獄，遣令生天，受勝妙樂。」
爾時，世尊而說偈言：
「現在未來天人眾， 吾今殷勤付囑汝，
以大神通方便度， 勿令墮在諸惡趣。」
爾時，地藏菩薩摩訶薩胡跪合掌，白佛言：「世尊！唯願世尊，不以為慮。未來世中，若有善男子、善女人，於佛法中，一念恭敬，我亦百千方便，度脫是人，於生死中，速得解脫。何況聞諸善事，念念修行？自然於無上道，永不退轉。」
At that time the World-Honored One raised his golden-hued arm, and again stroked the crown of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva's head, and spoke these words: "Kṣitigarbha! Kṣitigarbha! Your spiritual power is inconceivable; your compassion is inconceivable; your wisdom is inconceivable; your eloquence is inconceivable. Even were the buddhas of the ten directions to praise and proclaim your inconceivable deeds for a thousand myriad kalpas, they could not exhaust them. Kṣitigarbha! Kṣitigarbha! Remember that today, in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, before this great assembly of hundreds of thousands of myriads of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the eightfold division of gods and nāgas, beyond all telling, I entrust to you once more every being of gods and humans not yet free of the three realms, still within the burning house. Do not let these beings fall into an evil destiny for even a single day and night — how much less into the fivefold hell without interval, or the Avīci hell, there to pass kalpa upon kalpa with no hope of release.
"Kṣitigarbha, the beings of southern Jambudvīpa are unsteady in disposition, and most are habituated to evil; even should they give rise to a wholesome mind, it lasts only a moment before slipping away, while, should they meet an evil circumstance, that mind grows only more entrenched, thought after thought. For this reason I divide my own form into hundreds of thousands of myriads of bodies, to teach and liberate them according to their own capacity. Kṣitigarbha, I now, with the utmost earnestness, entrust to you the multitude of gods and humans. In the ages to come, should there be any god or human, or good son or good daughter, who plants even the smallest wholesome root within the Buddha-dharma — no bigger than a strand of hair, a mote of dust, a grain of sand, or a single drop — you should, by the power of your own path, guard and protect that person, so that they may gradually cultivate the unsurpassed path, and never let that root be lost.
"Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha, in ages to come, should any god or human, in accordance with their karmic retribution, fall toward an evil destiny — and, as they are on the very verge of falling, even standing at its threshold, such beings come to hold in mind a single buddha's name, a single bodhisattva's name, or a single verse or phrase of a Mahāyāna sūtra — you should, by your own spiritual power and skillful means, rescue and save them: appearing before that person in a boundless body, shattering the very hell that awaited them, and sending them instead to be born among the gods, to enjoy supreme and wondrous bliss."
At that time the World-Honored One spoke in verse, saying:
"To the multitude of gods and humans, present and future,
I now, with the utmost earnestness, entrust you;
by your own great spiritual power and skillful means, liberate them,
and let none of them fall into any evil destiny."
At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva knelt with one knee to the ground, joined his palms, and said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, be at ease. In ages to come, should there be good sons or good daughters who, within the Buddha-dharma, feel even a single thought's reverence, I too will, by hundreds of thousands of skillful means, liberate that person, bringing them swiftly to release in the midst of birth and death — how much more so, then, one who hears of every wholesome deed and practices it thought after thought? They will naturally, on the unsurpassed path, never turn back again."
Lingcheng draws attention to a detail easy to read past: this is the second time in the sūtra the Buddha has stretched out an arm to touch Kṣitigarbha's crown — the first was in Part 1's assembly of countless emanated bodies, where his hand rested on the heads of numberless Kṣitigarbhas at once, "showing that the one and the many are equally sovereign." Here, at the very end, the same gesture touches a single crown, and the name is called twice in the same breath — "Kṣitigarbha! Kṣitigarbha!" — a repetition Lingcheng reads not as rhetorical emphasis but as the plain register of urgency: "like a great king near death, entrusting a young and untested heir to his most senior minister, gripping his hand and calling his name again and again — the child is young, the kingdom is vast, and there is a whole heart's worth of things left unsaid that a single sentence cannot hold." The first touch, on Lingcheng's reading, showed what Kṣitigarbha already was; the second shows what the Buddha, at the actual moment of parting, could not stop himself from saying twice.
Ākāśagarbha's Question, and Twenty-Eight Benefits
說是語時，會中有一菩薩，名虛空藏，白佛言：「世尊！我自至忉利，聞於如來讚歎地藏菩薩威神勢力，不可思議。未來世中，若有善男子、善女人，乃及一切天龍，聞此經典，及地藏名字，或瞻禮形像，得幾種福利？唯願世尊，為未來現在一切眾等，略而說之。」
佛告虛空藏菩薩：「諦聽！諦聽！吾當為汝分別說之。若未來世，有善男子、善女人，見地藏形像，及聞此經，乃至讀誦，香華飲食、衣服珍寶，布施供養，讚歎瞻禮，得二十八種利益：一者天龍護念，二者善果日增，三者集聖上因，四者菩提不退，五者衣食豐足，六者疾疫不臨，七者離水火災，八者無盜賊厄，九者人見欽敬，十者神鬼助持，十一者女轉男身，十二者為王臣女，十三者端正相好，十四者多生天上，十五者或為帝王，十六者宿智命通，十七者有求皆從，十八者眷屬歡樂，十九者諸橫銷滅，二十者業道永除，二十一者去處盡通，二十二者夜夢安樂，二十三者先亡離苦，二十四者宿福受生，二十五者諸聖讚歎，二十六者聰明利根，二十七者饒慈愍心，二十八者畢竟成佛。
「復次，虛空藏菩薩！若現在未來，天龍鬼神，聞地藏名，禮地藏形，或聞地藏本願事行，讚歎瞻禮，得七種利益：一者速超聖地，二者惡業銷滅，三者諸佛護臨，四者菩提不退，五者增長本力，六者宿命皆通，七者畢竟成佛。」
爾時，十方一切諸來不可說不可說諸佛如來，及大菩薩、天龍八部，聞釋迦牟尼佛，稱揚讚歎地藏菩薩，大威神力，不可思議，歎未曾有。是時忉利天，雨無量香華，天衣珠瓔，供養釋迦牟尼佛，及地藏菩薩已。一切眾會，俱復瞻禮，合掌而退。
While this was being said, there was in the assembly a bodhisattva named Ākāśagarbha, who said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, since I first arrived at Trāyastriṃśa, I have heard the Tathāgata praise Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's majestic, inconceivable power. In ages to come, should there be good sons or good daughters, or any of the gods and nāgas, who hear this sūtra and Kṣitigarbha's name, or gaze on his image in worship, how many kinds of blessing and benefit will they gain? I beg only that the World-Honored One, for the sake of all beings present and future, briefly explain this."
The Buddha said to Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva: "Listen carefully! Listen carefully! I will now explain it for you in detail. If in ages to come there are good sons or good daughters who see Kṣitigarbha's image, and hear this sūtra, or even read and recite it, giving offerings of incense, flowers, food, clothing, and treasures, praising him and gazing on him in worship, they will gain twenty-eight kinds of benefit: first, the protection and mindfulness of gods and nāgas; second, wholesome results increasing daily; third, the gathering of the highest holy causes; fourth, never turning back from bodhi; fifth, abundant food and clothing; sixth, freedom from epidemic disease; seventh, freedom from disaster by water or fire; eighth, freedom from the danger of thieves; ninth, being regarded by others with respect; tenth, the support of spirits and ghosts; eleventh, a woman transformed into a man's body; twelfth, becoming the daughter of a king or minister; thirteenth, a beautiful and well-formed body; fourteenth, frequent rebirth among the gods; fifteenth, sometimes becoming a great ruler; sixteenth, knowledge of past lives; seventeenth, every request granted; eighteenth, a joyful family; nineteenth, every mishap dissolved; twentieth, the paths of karma forever removed; twenty-first, unobstructed passage wherever one goes; twenty-second, peaceful dreams at night; twenty-third, the departed freed from suffering; twenty-fourth, rebirth through the merit of a past life; twenty-fifth, praise from every holy being; twenty-sixth, sharp and penetrating intelligence; twenty-seventh, a heart rich in compassion; and twenty-eighth, the attainment of buddhahood in the end.
"Furthermore, Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva, if gods, nāgas, spirits, or ghosts, present or future, hear Kṣitigarbha's name, bow before Kṣitigarbha's image, or hear of Kṣitigarbha's fundamental vow and its deeds, and praise him and gaze on him in worship, they will gain seven kinds of benefit: first, swiftly surpassing into the holy grounds; second, the dissolving of evil karma; third, the protection of every buddha; fourth, never turning back from bodhi; fifth, the growth of their own root power; sixth, complete knowledge of past lives; and seventh, the attainment of buddhahood in the end."
At that time, every buddha-tathāgata who had come from the ten directions, beyond all telling, together with the great bodhisattvas and the eightfold division of gods and nāgas, having heard Śākyamuni Buddha extol and praise Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's great, majestic, inconceivable power, marveled at what they had never known before. At that time the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven rained down measureless incense and flowers, heavenly garments and jeweled ornaments, in offering to Śākyamuni Buddha and to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva; and the whole assembly, together, gazed on them and bowed, joined their palms, and withdrew.
Lingcheng closes his commentary the way this sūtra closes itself — with an inventory rather than a summary — but flags one thing worth carrying forward from it: the twenty-eighth and final benefit, "the attainment of buddhahood in the end," is also the last item in the shorter seven-item list given to gods, nāgas, spirits, and ghosts. Twenty-seven other benefits scattered across this sūtra — long life, an honored family, freedom from illness, a woman's body exchanged for a man's, protection on dangerous roads — are, on his reading, none of them the actual point; every one of the concrete rewards this collection has translated across six parts, from a coin given to a beggar to a name called out at a deathbed, converges on the same single line every list in this sūtra eventually reaches. He notes, closing his own commentary here, that the sūtra does not end with the twenty-eight benefits but with the assembly's silent bow and withdrawal — no exclamation of joy, unlike almost every other Mahāyāna sūtra's closing formula, which he reads as deliberate: a text this concerned with unfinished grief does not perform closure it has not actually reached. Every hell Kṣitigarbha vowed to empty in Part 1 is, on the sūtra's own terms, still occupied when the assembly rises and departs.
The Sūtra Complete
This closes the Sūtra of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's Fundamental Vows in full: from the Brahmin woman who followed her mother into hell and found, at the end of that search, a name that turned out to mean nothing more than a child's devotion to a parent, through thirteen chapters of named hells, weighed generosity, and ordinary griefs answered by name-recitation and a bowl of clean water, to a king entrusting his kingdom to an heir he calls twice because once was not enough. Kṣitigarbha's own vow — to empty every hell before accepting buddhahood himself — remains, by the sūtra's own account, unfinished at the final page. That its author gave it no other ending is, on Lingcheng's reading, the most honest thing the whole text does.