[Chapter 24] and the preceding, “Bhaiṣajyarāja” [The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva] chapter feature bodhisattvas who manifest themselves in a variety of forms in order to meet the needs of sentient beings. Chapter 24 enumerates thirty-four appearances assumed by the bodhisattva Gadgadasvara [Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva] through his mastery of the samādhi of manifesting all physical forms, the same samādhi attributed to the bodhisattva Sarvarūpasaṃdarśana [Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva] in Chapter 23. Chapter 25 similarly lists thirty-three forms assumed by the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara [World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva]. The phrase “gateway to everywhere” (J. fumon), sometimes translated as “universal gate,” in the title of Chapter 25 refers to precisely this activity by which buddhas and bodhisattvas assume various forms to aid suffering beings. An eleventh-century poem based on this chapter celebrates the universal compassion of Avalokiteśvara:

the world is saved
because no one can shut
the gate to everywhere:
O who will not enter?