40. Conclusion

Overview

In a boundless display of cosmic quakes and celestial offerings, the Buddha extols the profound “Vaipulya” Dharma—leading innumerable beings to various levels of awakening—and, after naming it “The Entry into Great Compassion” and “The Samādhi of the Equality of the Essential Nature of All Dharmas,” he instructs Ānanda to preserve and disseminate it, inspiring universal joy.

Summary

• The Buddha begins by reciting a verse extolling the infinite scope of the Dharma. He underscores that the Dharma (1) is vast like space, (2) is the ultimate treasure, and (3) is therefore called Vaipulya—meaning profound and far-reaching. 

• Upon hearing this teaching, innumerable sentient beings generated the aspiration for buddhahood, attained irreversibility on the path to buddhahood,  gave rise to the aspiration for solitary awakening, or realised the fruits of the śrāvaka path: stream-enterer, once-returner, and non-returner.

• To mark the power of this Dharma, the entire cosmos shook in six ways, and the skies shower divine fragrances, celestial flowers, and heavenly garments. Divine voices proclaim that all who truly receive and uphold this teaching will become a field of merit, benefit all beings, and progress towards awakening.

• Buddha’s Final Instruction to Ānanda
  The Buddha instructs Ānanda to accept, uphold, study, recite, and teach this sūtra. When Ānanda asks about its name, the Buddha gives two titles:

  1. “The Entry into Great Compassion.”

  2. “The Samādhi of the Equality of the Essential Nature of All Dharmas without Disputation.”

• Ānanda pledges to maintain and disseminate this sūtra, while Candraprabha, Ajita with eighty koṭi Bodhisattvas, Ānanda, the fourfold assembly, and all heavenly beings rejoice in the sūtra and sincerely uphold and practice it.

Commentary

Mañjuśrīkīrti's commentary explains the six kinds of quaking that occurs when the Dharma is taught, noting they symbolize the profound impact of realising the nature of reality. The commentary concludes with verses praising the Buddha’s teaching, asserting that through mastery of these body, speech, and mind—and by seeing all as empty and illusory—one achieves the dharmakāya, the fully awakened mind, and helps lead all beings to liberation.