 On the surface, then, the argument is a tussle over how to read a passage from scripture and its apparent, maximal dedication of merit. Since the scripture contains the words to recite that enact the bodhisattva vow, it is important from a ritual perspective that one understand the intention behind it. After all, as he argues, the mental intention is the true agent for the engagement of a vow. This in itself would be enough to make the issue soteriologically significant. But what merits extensive treatment is that the idea of “existent virtue” violates a consistent norm in Sapaṇ’s writings, which is the strict separation between conventional and ultimate reality. We have seen this emphasis in his approaches to epistemology and will see it in the doctrine of emptiness as well, but here we see the practical, ritual-cum-ethical application of this stance.