(1) The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, Toh 543), 2.129; (2) ral pa gyen brdzes kyi rtog pa chen po byang chub sems dpa’ chen po’i rnam par ’phrul pa le’u rab ’byams las bcom ldan ’das ma ’phags ma sgrol ma’i rtsa ba’i rtog pa (Ūrdhvajaṭā-mahākalpamahābodhisattvavikurvaṇapaṭalavisarā bhagavatī āryatārāmūlakalpa), Toh 724, folio 238.a; (3) dkyil ’khor thams cad kyi spyi’i cho ga gsang ba’i rgyud (Sarvamaṇḍalasāmānyavidhiguhyatantra), Toh 806, folio 152.b.
(1) Vinayadatta, sgyu ’phrul chen mo’i dkyil ’khor gyi cho ga bla ma’i zhal snga’i man ngag (Gurūpadeśanāmamahāmāyāmaṇḍalopāyikā), Toh 1645, folio 209.a; (2) Bhavyakīrti, sgron ma gsal bar byed pa dgongs pa rab gsal zhes bya ba bshad pa’i ti ka (Pradīpoddyotanābhisaṃdhiprakāśikānāmavyākhyāṭīkā), Toh 1793, folio 201.a; (3) Pramuditākaravarman, gsang ba ’dus pa rgyud kyi rgyal po’i bshad pa zla ba’i ’od zer (Guhyasamājatantrarājaṭīkācandraprabhā), Toh 1852, folio 169.b; (4) Vitapāda, gsang ba ’dus pa’i dkyil ’khor gyi sgrub pa’i thabs rnam par bshad pa (Guhyasamājamaṇḍalopāyikāṭīkā), Toh 1873, folio 209.a; (5) Ānandagarbha, rdo rje dbyings kyi dkyil ’khor chen po’i cho ga rdo rje thams cad ’byung ba (Vajradhātumahāmaṇḍalopāyikāsarvavajrodaya), Toh 2516, folio 50.a; (6) Anonymous,’jam pa’i rdo rje ’byung ba’i dkyil ’khor gyi cho ga sems can thams cad kyi bde ba bskyed pa (Mañjuvajrodayamaṇḍalopāyikāsarvasattvahitāvahā). Toh 2590; (7) Kāmadhenu, ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba gzi brjid kyi rgyal po zhes bya ba cho ga zhib mo’i rgyal po chen po’i rgya cher ’grel pa (Sarvadurgatipariśodhanatejorājanāmamahākalparājaṭīkā), Toh 2625; (8) Ānandagarbha, de bzhin gshegs pa dgra bcom pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba gzi brjid kyi rgyal po zhes bya ba’i bshad pa (Sarvadurgatipariśodhanatejorājatathāgatārhatsamyaksaṃbuddhanāmakalpaṭīkā), Toh 2628, folio 73.a; (9) Sthiramati, rgyan dam pa sna tshogs rim par phye ba bkod pa (Paramālaṃkāraviśvapaṭalavyūha), Toh 2661, folio 322.b; (10) Sahajalalita, kun nas sgor ’jug pa’i ’od zer gtsug tor dri ma med par snang ba de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi snying po dang dam tshig la rnam par blta ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs kyi rnam par bshad pa (Samantamukhapraveśaraśmivimaloṣṇīṣaprabhāsasarvatathāgatahṛdayasamayavilokitanāmadhāraṇīvṛtti), Toh 2688, folio 292.b.
(1) Bodhisattva, kun nas sgor ’jug pa’i ’od zer gtsug tor dri ma med par snang ba’i gzungs bklag cing chod rten brgya rtsa brgyad dam mchod rten lnga gdab pa’i cho ga mdo sde las btus pa (Samantamukhapraveśaraśmivimaloṣṇīṣaprabhāsadhāraṇīvacanasūtrāntoddhṛtāṣṭottaraśatacaityāntarapañcacaityanirvapaṇavidhi), Toh 3068, folios 145.a, 151.b, 153.b; (2) Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna, dbu ma’i man ngag rin po che’i za ma tog kha phye ba zhes bya ba (Ratnakaraṇḍodghāṭanāmamadhyamakopadeśa), Toh 3930, folios 99.a, 115.a; (3) Śāntideva, bslab pa kun las btus pa (Śikṣāsamuccaya), Toh 3940, folios 3.a–194.b, 90.a–91.b, 122.a–123.b; (4) Vairocanarakṣita, bslab pa me tog snye ma (Śikṣākusumamañjarī), Toh 3943, folio 200.a; (5) Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna, byang chub lam gyi sgron ma’i dka’ ’grel (Bodhimārgapradīpapañjikā), Toh 3948, folio 20.b.
(1) Anonymous, gser ’od dam pa mdo sde dbang po’i smon lam (Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtrendrapraṇidhāna), Toh 4379; (2) Anonymous, rgyal po gser gyi lag pa’i smon lam (Rājasuvarṇabhujapraṇidhāna), Toh 4380.
(1) Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna, mngon par rtogs pa rnam par ’byed pa (Abhisamayavibhaṅganāma), Toh 1490, folio 201.a; (2) Āryadeva, spyod pa bsdud pa’i sgron ma (Caryāmelāpakapradīpa), Toh 1803, folio 106.a; (3) Mañjuśrīkīrti,’jam dpal gyi mtshan yang dag par brjod pa’i rgya cher bshad pa (Mañjuśrināmasaṃgītiṭīkā), Toh 2534, folio 217.b; (4) Haribhadra, shes rab kyi pha tol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa’i bshad pa mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan gyi snang ba (Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitāvyākhyānābhisamayālaṃkārāloka), Toh 3791, folio 84.b; (5) Dharmakīrtiśrī, shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan zhes bya ba’i ’grel pa rtogs par dka’ ba’i snang ba zhes bya ba’i ’grel bshad (Abhisamayālaṃkāranāmaprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstravṛttidurbodhālokanāmaṭīkā), Toh 3794, folio 152.b; (6) Dharmamitra, shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan gyi tshig le’ur byas pa’i ’grel bshad tshig rab tu gsal ba (Abhisamayālaṃkārakārikāprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstraṭīkāprasphuṭapadā), Toh 3796, folio 104.a.
(1) Ekādaśanirghoṣa, rdo rje ’chang chen po’i lam gyir rim pa’i man ngag bdud rtsi gsang ba (Mahāvajradharapathakramopadeśāmṛtaguhya), Toh 1823, folio 274.a; (2) Yeshé Dé, lang kar gshegs pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo’i ’grel pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po’i rgyan (Laṅkāvatāranāmamahāyānasūtravṛttitathāgatahṛdayālaṃkāra), Toh 4019, folios 29.a, 29.b, 152.b, 279.b, 302.a.
Termed the Navadharma (“Nine Dharmas”) or Navagrantha (“Nine Texts”), these works are (1) Prajñāpāramitā, (2) Gaṇḍavyūha, (3) Daśabhūmi, (4) Samādhirāja, (5) Laṅkāvatāra, (6) Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, (7) Lalitavistara, (8) Suvarṇaprabhāsa, and (9) Tathāgatagūhya. See Lewis 1993, p. 327, n. 15.
Paltsek, gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang śākya’i rabs rgyud, Toh 4357, folios 273.a and 331.b.
Yeshe Dé, lang kar gshegs pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo’i ’grel pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po’i rgyan (Laṅkāvatāranāmamahāyānasūtravṛttitathāgatahṛdayālaṃkāra), Toh 4019, folios 29.a, 29.b, 152.b, 279.b, 302.a.
This is his name as given in The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (p. 996). His name is variously given elsewhere as Wonchuk, Wen Tsheg, Yuance, Yuan Tso, and in Tibetan translation as Dzoksal (rdzogs gsal).
No Sanskrit title is given since this version was translated from the Chinese. The rendering of the Chinese title varies in different editions of the Kangyur. The Degé has tā shin kyin kwang myutsa’i shin wang kyin. The Yongle has ta’i ching gim gom mang dza’i shing wang gyi. The Kangxi has ta’i ching gin grom ming dza’i shing wang gying. The Narthang reads de’i shing ki ma kwang med dzwa’i shing wang kyang. The Lhasa version has tā shin kyin kwang mya ru tsa’i shin wa da kyin. These appear to be variants as a result of differing regional pronunciations and scribal corruptions of what would now be written as Da cheng jin guang ming zui sheng wang jing 大乘金光明最勝王經. Zhiyi 智顗 (538–97), a.k.a. Tiantai zhizhe dashi 天台智者大師, writing in his commentary on this sūtra titled Jin guang ming jing xuan yi 金光明經玄義, cited Paramārtha (a.k.a. Zhendi 真諦) in giving the Sanskrit pronunciation of the title of the sūtra as Xiu ba na po po po yu do mo yin tuo luo zhe yue na xiu duo luo 修跋拏婆頗婆欝多摩因陀羅遮閱那修多羅, presumably transcribing Suvarṇaprabhāsottamarājasūtraṃ. The CBETA collection appears to concur.
There have been two ways to interpret this traditional beginning of a sūtra, with such Indian masters as Kamalaśīla claiming that both are equally correct. The alternative interpretation is “Thus did I hear: at one time the Bhagavān …” and so on. The various arguments, both traditional and modern, for either side are given by Brian Galloway in “Thus Have I Heard: At one time…” Indo-Iranian Journal 34, Issue 2 (April 1991): 87–104.
The Sanskrit has four lines of verse: “I will teach that which is blessed, / Which is the supreme domain of good fortune, / Which has the purpose of annihilating all evil / And which brings to an end all evil.” Because of Tibetan syntax, the first line of this verse in English occurs at the end of the following verse in Tibetan.
The Sanskrit has tridaśendra (“Lords of the Thirty”), referring to the Trāyastriṃśa paradise on the summit of Meru. It is ruled by Indra, who is often referred to as “Devendra, lord of devas.” The Sanskrit is in the plural, which is not evident in the Tibetan. This line refers to Brahmā and Indra, but in the plural it apparently refers to a number of such principal deities from other worlds.
In the Sanskrit, the last three lines of this verse read: “With the greatly powerful lords of the kinnaras, / And similarly with the lords of the garuḍas / And the hosts of yakṣas, gandharvas, and pannas (serpents, i.e., nāgas).” According to the Tibetan gnod byin. The Sanskrit has guhya (“secret ones”).
According to the Sanskrit svāgatam (literally, “well come”), which was translated into Tibetan as legs par ’ongs. This could be interpreted as “come well among humans.” Toh 555 interprets this as meaning a good rebirth among humans.
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “will easily attain a human result,” which presumably means the result of becoming human.
This obscure compound, in Sanskrit tathāgatavigrahaṃ (“tathāgata form” or “tathāgata beauty”), with no indication as to whether tathāgata is singular or plural, was translated into Tibetan here with interpolation as de bzhin gshegs pas kha dog bsgyur ba (“color transformed by the Tathāgata”). In Sanskrit, it is evident that this is an adjective for the house. The Tibetan does at times use kha dog to translate varṇa when it does not mean color specifically but form and shape. In Toh 555, it has been interpreted to mean that the house has the appearance of a buddha realm through the blessing of the Buddha.
From the Sanskrit divyaratnapuṣpapatraiḥ. The Tibetan has the less specific bcos bu’i rin po che’i phrugs.
This obscure compound—in Sanskrit tathāgatavigraha (“tathāgata form” or “tathāgata beauty”)—was translated into Tibetan with interpolation as de bzhin gshegs pas kha dog [bsgyur ba] (“colors [transformed by] the Tathāgata”). Toh 555 interprets this to mean “their sizes were in proportion to those of the tathāgatas.”
skom pa rnams ni skom dang phrad par gyur. Toh 557 has skom pa dag ni skom ngoms par gyur (“the thirsty had their thirst quenched”).
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has saṃkhya (“numbers”) instead of asaṃkhya (“countless”).
This line shows significant variation across sources and is difficult to interpret precisely. Toh 556 and 557 render this figure’s name as slob dpon lung ston pa bram ze kauN+Di n+ya, which can be interpreted to mean “the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa.” The extant Sanskrit reads ācāryavyākaraṇaprāptaḥ kauṇḍinyo nāma brāhmaṇaḥ, which could be taken to mean “the brahmin named Kauṇḍinya who had obtained a prophecy from a/the Dharma master.” The Sanskrit line includes the term “obtained” (prāpta), which is not attested in the Chinese or Tibetan sources. The translation here follows the Chinese text that is the basis of Toh 555 in regarding kauṇḍinya as the brahmin’s family name (姓). This brahmin is then “named (名曰) the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa (法師授記).” The Tibetan sources for Toh 555 appear to take kauṇḍinya as the brahmin’s proper name and treat the rest of the phrase as descriptive, reading “The brahmin named Kauṇḍinya who was prophesied by a/the Dharma master (bram ze kauN+Di n+ya chos kyi slob dpon gyis lung bstan pa). To further complicate matters, the Degé version of Toh 555 also declines kauṇḍinya in the instrumental, which would result in the reading “the brahmin prophesied by the Dharma master Kauṇḍinya.” The Kangxi, Lhasa, Narthang, Stok Palace, and Yongle versions of Toh 555 lack this instrumental declension.
In this instance, the Sanskrit version of that paradise’s name is tridaśa (“thirty” instead of “thirty-three”).
This paragraph may be a remnant of the Licchavī youth’s response to the brahmin, which is here assigned to the brahmin instead. Although missing in both Toh 556 and Toh 557, the Licchavī’s response was evidently once present as can be seen from the brahmin’s response to it, where he refers to “such characteristics and qualities.” This paragraph is present in Toh 555: “The youth then said to the brahmin, ‘If you wish to be reborn in the Trāyastriṃśa paradise and enjoy the perfect ripening of karma, then you should listen, with single-pointed mind, to The Supremely Victorious King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light. This sūtra is supreme among all sūtras, and therefore it is difficult to know and to penetrate. Therefore, the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are unable to comprehend it. This sūtra gives rise to the limitless ripening of the results of merit and accomplishes that until the attainment of the highest enlightenment. Today I have taught you just a little portion of that subject.’ ”
The Sanskrit has nirmitakāya, which is synonymous with nirmāṇakāya. Both are translated in Tibetan as sprul pa’i sku.
According to the Tibetan bdag gis, presumably from the Sanskrit mayā. The available Sanskrit has mune (“from the Muni” or “of the Muni”).
From the meaning of the BHS vibhajati, translated into Tibetan literally as rnam par dbye ba (“divide,” “differentiate”).
According to tshol ba in the Yongle, Narthang, and Choné versions of Toh 556, and in Toh 555. The Degé version of Toh 556 has tshor ba (“sensation”).
According to Toh 555 and the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné versions. The Degé of Toh 556 has “nirvāṇa because of not dwelling.”
According to Toh 555 mdun rol (literally “in front of”), while Toh 556 has snga rol (“before” in the sense of time), which would not fit this context.
According to Toh 555 and the Chinese 二無所有 (“What is nonduality?”). Toh 556 has only “duality.”
From the Tibetan spros pa. Toh 555 has rtso pa (“dispute with,” “argue with,” or “debate with”).
According to the Sanskrit atandrena. The Tibetan translates this as g.yel ba med pa, which usually means “undistracted,” although that does not appear to be the meaning here.
According to the Sanskrit yāmaloka, which denotes the realm of the pretas. This is normally translated into Tibetan as gshin rje’i ’jig rten (“the world of the lord of death”). Apparently due to a lack of space in the verse, the Tibetan omitted ’jig rten (“world”).
This line is not in the Sanskrit or Toh 557, nor is it in the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, or Choné versions of Toh 556.
According to the Sanskrit tāruṇya, which matches the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné versions of Toh 556, which have gzhon pa. The Degé version has bzhon pa (“steed” or “vehicle”).
This verse is absent in the Sanskrit and Chinese, but it is present in the Tibetan and quoted as being from this sūtra by Śāntideva in his Śikṣāsamuccaya.
According to the Tibetan byang byed pa. Toh 557 has byang bgyid pa. The Sanskrit has kṣaya (“eliminate”).
“Clear Light.” The highest of the three paradises that correspond to the second dhyāna in the form realm.
A buddha.
(Toh 555: bsnyengs pa mi mnga’ ba’i grags pa)
Albizia lebbeck. A tall tree that can grow to 100 feet. Other common names include Indian walnut, lebbeck, lebbeck tree, flea tree, frywood, koko, and “woman’s tongue tree.” The bark is used medicinally.
A spiritual teacher, meaning one who knows the conduct or practice (ācāra) to be performed. It can also be a title for a scholar, though that is not the context in this sūtra.
These palaces served as both vehicles and residences for deities.
The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (avidyā). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote.
Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,“ “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.
Amyris agallocha. Also called agallochum and aloeswood. This is a resinous heartwood that has been infected by the fungus Phialophora parasitica. In India, agarwood is primarily derived from the fifteen Aquilaria (Aquilaria malaccensis) and nine Gyrinops species of lign-aloe trees.
A god who is the king of lightning in the eastern direction.
The eighth and highest level of the Realm of Form (rūpadhātu), the last of the five pure abodes (śuddhāvāsa); it is only accessible as the result of specific states of dhyāna. According to some texts this is where non-returners (anāgāmin) dwell in their last lives. In other texts it is the realm of the enjoyment body (saṃbhogakāya) and is a buddhafield associated with the Buddha Vairocana; it is accessible only to bodhisattvas on the tenth level.
A deva.
(Toh 555: nam mkha’i blo gros rnam par dag pa)
A bodhisattva.
A Licchavī youth.
A Licchavī youth.
(Toh 555: nam mkha’ skyabs)
A bodhisattva.
(Toh 555: bsam pa nam mkha’ ci bzhin)
A bodhisattva.
(Toh 555: seng ge’i mtshan thogs pa med pa’i ’od zer ’bar ba)
Lit. “Not Disturbed” or “Immovable One.” The buddha in the eastern realm of Abhirati. A well-known buddha in Mahāyāna, regarded in the higher tantras as the head of one of the five buddha families, the vajra family in the east.
The kingdom of yakṣas located on Mount Sumeru and ruled over by Kubera, also known as Vaiśravaṇa.
(Toh 555: nor ldan)
A nāga king.
(Toh 555: dba’ rlabs chung ngu)
A bodhisattva.
The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, where fortunate beings are reborn to make further progress toward spiritual maturity. Amitābha made his great vows to create such a realm when he was a bodhisattva called Dharmākara. In the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, popular in East Asia, aspiring to be reborn in his buddha realm is the main emphasis; in other Mahāyāna traditions, too, it is a widespread practice. For a detailed description of the realm, see The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī, Toh 115. In some tantras that make reference to the five families he is the tathāgata associated with the lotus family.
Amitābha, “Infinite Light,” is also known in many Indian Buddhist works as Amitāyus, “Infinite Life.” In both East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions he is often conflated with another buddha named “Infinite Life,” Aparimitāyus, or “Infinite Life and Wisdom,”Aparimitāyurjñāna, the shorter version of whose name has also been back-translated from Tibetan into Sanskrit as Amitāyus but who presides over a realm in the zenith. For details on the relation between these buddhas and their names, see The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) Toh 674, i.9.
A yakṣa.
A yakṣa.
(Toh 555: a mra thogs pa)
The nectar of immortality possessed by the devas, it is used as a metaphor for the teaching that brings liberation.
A buddha.
(Toh 555: snang ba’i rgyal po)
“Cloudless.” In the Sarvāstivāda tradition, the lowest of the three paradises that correspond to the fourth dhyāna in the form realm. Translated in other texts as sprin dang bral ba.
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).
Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
A bodhisattva.
A nāga king whose domain is Lake Anavatapta. According to Buddhist cosmology, this lake is located near Mount Sumeru and is the source of the four great rivers of Jambudvīpa. It is often identified with Lake Manasarovar at the foot of Mount Kailash in Tibet.
A bodhisattva.
(Toh 555: smon lam chen po yongs su mi gcod pa)
A bodhisattva.
A yakṣa.
(Toh 555: zas kyi ril ming)
“Immeasurable Light.” The second highest of the three paradises that correspond to the second dhyāna in the form realm. Translated in other texts as tshad med snang ba.
“Immeasurable Goodness.” The second highest of the three paradises that correspond to the third dhyāna in the form realm.
According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.
Careva arborea. Also known as mugwort and wormwood.
(Degé 557: sha myang. Toh 555: sha ma ka. Bagchi edition: śyābhyaka.)
The Sanskrit ārya has the general meaning of a noble person, one of a higher class or caste. In Buddhist literature, depending on the context, it often means specifically one who has gained the realization of the path and is superior for that reason. In particular, it applies to stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and worthy ones (arhats) and is also used as an epithet of bodhisattvas. In the five-path system, it refers to someone who has achieved at least the path of seeing (darśanamārga).
“Beings without Perception.” A heavenly realm listed in this text between the twelfth heaven of the form realm, Bṛhatphala, and the five Pure Abodes of the form realm, known collectively as Śuddhāvāsa.
The name of a certain kind of kalpa, literally meaning “incalculable.” The number of years in this kalpa differs in various sūtras that give a number. Also, twenty intermediate kalpas are said to be one asaṃkhyeya (incalculable) kalpa, and four incalculable kalpas are one great kalpa. In that case, those four incalculable kalpas represent the eons of the creation, presence, destruction, and absence of a world. Buddhas are often described as appearing in a second incalculable kalpa.
A set of qualities necessary as a method to attain the enlightenment of a śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, or buddha. There are thirty-seven of these: (1–4) the four kinds of mindfulness: mindfulness of body, sensations, mind, and phenomena; (5–8) the four correct exertions: not to do bad actions that have not been done, to give up bad actions that are being done, to do good actions that have not been done, and to increase the good actions that are being done; (9–12) the foundations for miraculous powers: intention, diligence, mind, and analysis; (13–17) the five powers: faith, diligence, mindfulness, samādhi, and wisdom; (18–22) the five strengths: even stronger forms of faith, diligence, mindfulness, samādhi, and wisdom; (23–29) the seven limbs of enlightenment: correct mindfulness, correct wisdom of the analysis of phenomena, correct diligence, correct joy, correct serenity, correct samādhi, and correct equanimity; (30–37) the eightfold noble path: right view, examination, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and samādhi.
A bodhisattva.
(Toh 555: Dharmacakrapravartacittotpada; chos kyi ’khor lo yongs su bskor bar sems bskyed)
A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).
One of the five companions with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and who later heard the Buddha first teach the four noble truths at the Deer Park in Sarnath. He was renowned for his pure conduct and holy demeanor, so the Buddha sent him to attract Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana to the order.
This is the fourth highest of the five Śuddhāvāsa paradises, the highest paradises in the form realm. In this sūtra it is the second highest. Here translated as meaning “Not Pained.” In other texts translated as ma dros pa (“Not Warm”).
A yakṣa king.
A lake in a wilderness.
(Toh 557: dgon pa na yod pa)
First appeared as a bodhisattva beside Amitābha in the Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra ( The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī , Toh 115). The name has been variously interpreted. In its meaning as “the lord of avalokita,” avalokita has been interpreted as “seeing,” although, as a past passive participle, it is literally “lord of what has been seen.” One of the principal sūtras in the Mahāsāṃghika tradition was the Avalokita Sūtra, which has not been translated into Tibetan, in which the word is a synonym for enlightenment, as it is “that which has been seen” by the buddhas. In the early tantras, he was one of the lords of the three families, as the embodiment of the compassion of the Buddhas. The Potalaka Mountain in South India became important in Southern Indian Buddhism as his residence in this world, but Potalaka does not feature in the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra ( The Basket’s Display , Toh 116), which is the most important sūtra dedicated to Avalokiteśvara.
(Toh 555: spyan ras gzigs)
A buddha.
(Toh 555: rtog pa ’jigs med dbang phyug)
In the Sarvāstivāda tradition, this is the lowest of the five Śuddhāvāsa paradises, the highest paradises in the form realm, and is said to be the most common rebirth for the “non-returners” of the Śrāvakayāna. In this sūtra it is the third highest.
These can be listed as twelve or as six sense sources (sometimes also called sense fields, bases of cognition, or simply āyatanas).
In the context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources, which can be divided into inner and outer sense sources, namely: (1–2) eye and form, (3–4) ear and sound, (5–6) nose and odor, (7–8) tongue and taste, (9–10) body and touch, (11–12) mind and mental phenomena.
In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned, and they are the inner sense sources (identical to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.
This term has various meanings according to context. Here in this sūtra it is used to refer to the four meditative states associated with the formless realm: (1) infinite space, (2) infinite consciousness, (3) nothingness, and (4) neither perception nor nonperception. In the context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources, which can be divided into inner and outer sense sources, namely: (1–2) eye and form, (3–4) ear and sound, (5–6) nose and odor, (7–8) tongue and taste, (9–10) body and touch, (11–12) mind and mental phenomena. In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned, and they are the inner sense sources (identical to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.
The classical system of Indian medicine.
(Toh 555: shes pa)
gser ’od dam pa’i mdo. Toh 555, Degé Kangyur vol. 89 (rgyud ’bum, pa), folios 19.a–151a. English translation The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light (1) 2023.
gser ’od dam pa mdo sde’i dbang po’i rgyal po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtrendrarājanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 556, Degé Kangyur vol. 89 (rgyud ’bum, pa), folios 151.b–273.a.
gser ’od dam pa mdo sde’i dbang po’i rgyal po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtrendrarājanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 557, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pha), folios 1.a–62.a. English translation The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light (3) 2024.
dkyil ’khor thams cad kyi spyi’i cho ga gsang ba’i rgyud (Sarvamaṇḍalasāmānyavidhiguhyatantra). Toh 806, Degé Kangyur vol. 96 (rgyud, wa), folios 141.a–167.b.
’jam dpal gyi rtsa ba’i rgyud (Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa). Toh 543, Degé Kangyur vol.88 (rgyud, na), folios 105.a–351.a. English translation The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī 2020.
’od srung kyi le’u zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Kāśyapaparivartanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 87, Degé Kangyur vol. 44 (dkon brtsegs, cha), folios 119.b–151.b.
ral pa gyen brdzes kyi rtog pa chen po byang chub sems dpa’ chen po’i rnam par ’phrul pa le’u rab ’byams las bcom ldan ’das ma ’phags ma sgrol ma’i rtsa ba’i rtog pa zhes bya ba (Ūrdhvajaṭāmahākalpamahābodhisattvavikurvaṇapaṭalavisarā bhagavatī āryatārāmūlakalpanāma). Toh 724, Degé Kangyur vol. 93 (rgyud, tsa), folios 205.b–311.a, and vol. 94 (rgyud, tsha), folios 1.a–200.a.
blo gros mi zad pas zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Akṣayamatiparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 89, Degé Kangyur vol. 44 (dkon brtsegs, cha), folios 175.b–182.b.
lang kar gshegs pa’i theg pa chen po’i mdo (Laṅkāvatāramahāyānasūtra). Toh 107, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 56.a–191.b.
las kyi sgrib pa gcod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Karmāvaraṇapratipraśrabdhināmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 219, Degé Kangyur vol. 62 (mdo sde, tsha), folios 297.b–307.a. English translation Putting an End to Karmic Obscurations 2024.
Ajitaśrībhadra. dga’ ba’i bshes gnyen gyi rtogs pa (Nandamitrāvadāna). Toh 4146, Degé Tengyur vol. 269 (’dul ba, su), folios 240.a–244.b.
Ānandagarbha. rdo rje dbyings kyi dkyil ’khor chen po’i cho ga rdo rje thams cad ’byungs ba (Vajradhātumahāmaṇḍalopāyikāsarvavajrodaya). Toh 2516, Degé Tengyur vol. 62 (rgyud, ku), folios 1.a–50.a.
Anonymous. rgyal po gser gyi lag pa’i smon lam (Rājasuvarṇabhujapraṇidhāna). Toh 4380, Degé Tengyur vol. 309 (sna tshogs, nyo), folios 309b–310a.
Anonymous. ’jam pa’i rdo rje ’byung ba’i dkyil ’khor gyi cho ga sems can thams cad kyi bde ba bskyed pa (Mañjuvajrodayamaṇḍalopāyikāsarvasattvahitāvahā). Toh 2590, Degé Tengyur vol. 65 (rgyud, ngu), folios 225.a–274.a.
Anonymous. gser ’od dam pa mdo sde dbang po’i smon lam (Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtrendrapraṇidhāna). Toh 4379, Degé Tengyur vol. 309 (sna tshogs, nyo), folios 304.b–309.b.
Āryadeva. spyod pa bsdud pa’i sgron ma (Caryāmelāpakapradīpa). Toh 1803, Degé Tengyur vol. 65 (rgyud, ngi), folios 57.a–106.b.
Bhavya. dbu ma rin po che’i sgron ma (Madhyamakaratnapradīpa). Toh 3854, Degé Tengyur vol. 199 (dbu ma, tsha), folios 259.b–289.a.
Bhavyakīrti. sgron ma gsal bar byed pa dgongs pa rab gsal zhes bya ba bshad pa’i ti ka (Pradīpoddyotanābhisaṁdhiprakāśikānāmavyākhyāṭīkā). Toh 1793, Degé Tengyur vols. 32–33 (rgyud, ki), folios 1.b–292.a, and (rgyud, khi), folios 1.b–155.a.
Bodhisattva. kun nas sgor ’jug pa’i ’od zer gtsug tor dri ma med par snang ba’i gzungs bklag cing chod rten brgya rtsa brgyad dam mchod rten lnga gdab pa’i cho ga mdo sde las btus pa (Samantamukhapraveśaraśmivimaloṣṇīṣaprabhāsadhāraṇīvacanasūtrāntoddhṛtāṣṭottaraśatacaityāntarapañcacaityanirvapaṇavidhi). Toh 3068, Degé Tengyur vol. 74 (rgyud, pu), folios 140.a–153.a.
Buddhānandagarbha. de bzhin gshegs pa dgra bcom pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba gzi brjid kyi rgyal po zhes bya ba’i bshad pa (Sarvadurgatipariśodhanatejorājatathāgatārhatsamyaksaṃbuddhanāmakalpaṭīkā). Toh 2628, Degé Tengyur vol. 68 (rgyud, ju), folios 1.a–97.a.
Dharmakīrtiśrī. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan zhes bya ba’i ’grel pa rtogs par dka’ ba’i snang ba zhes bya ba’i ’grel bshad (Abhisamayālaṃkāranāmaprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstravṛttidurbodhālokanāmaṭīkā). Toh 3794, Degé Tengyur vol. 86 (sher phyin, ja), folios 140.b–254.a.
Dharmamitra. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan gyi tshig le’ur byas pa’i ’grel bshad tshig rab tu gsal ba (Abhisamayālaṃkārakārikāprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstraṭīkāprasphuṭapadā). Toh 3796, Degé Tengyur vol. 87 (sher phyin, nya), folios 1.a–110.a.
Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna. dbu ma’i man ngag rin po che’i za ma tog kha phye ba zhes bya ba (Ratnakaraṇḍodghāṭanāmamadhyamakopadeśa). Toh 3930, Degé Tengyur vol. 212 (dbu ma, ki), folios 96.b–116.b.
Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna. byang chub lam gyi sgron ma’i dka’ ’grel (Bodhimārgapradīpapañjikā). Toh 3948, Degé Tengyur vol. 213 (mdo ’grel, khi), folios 241.a–293.a.
Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna. mngon par rtogs pa rnam par ’byed pa zhes bya ba (Abhisamayavibhaṅganāma). Toh 1490, Degé Tengyur vol. 22 (rgyud, zha), folios 186.a–202.b.
Ekādaśanirghoṣa. rdo rje ’chang chen po’i lam gyi rim pa’i man ngag bdud rtsi gsang ba (Mahāvajradharapathakramopadeśāmṛtaguhya). Toh 1823, Degé Tengyur vol. 35 (rgyud, ngi), folios 267.b–278.a.
Haribhadra. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa’i bshad pa mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan gyi snang ba (Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitāvyākhyānābhisamayālaṃkārāloka). Toh 3791, Degé Tengyur vol. 85 (sher phyin, cha), folios 1.a–341.a.
Kāmadhenu. ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba gzi brjid kyi rgyal po zhes bya ba cho ga zhib mo’i rgyal po chen po’i rgya cher ’grel pa (Sarvadurgatipariśodhanatejorājanāmamahākalparājaṭīkā). Toh 2625, Degé Tengyur vol. 666 (rgyud, cu), folios 231.a–341.a.
Mañjuśrīkīrti. ’jam dpal gyi mtshan yang dag par brjod pa’i rgya cher bshad pa (Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgītiṭīkā). Toh 2534, Degé Tengyur vol. 63 (gyud, khu), folios 115.b–301.a.
Paltsek (dpal brtsegs). gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shA kya’i rabs rgyud. Toh 4357, Degé Tengyur vol. 306 (sna tshogs, co), folios 239.a–377.a.
Paltsek (dpal brtsegs). pho brang stod thang lhan dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag. Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 308 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Pramuditākaravarman. gsang ba ’dus pa rgyud kyi rgyal po’i bshad pa zla ba’i ’od zer (Guhyasamājatantrarājaṭīkācandraprabhā). Toh 1852, Degé Tengyur vol. 41 (rgyud, thi), folios 120.a–313.a.
Sahajalalita. kun nas sgor ’jug pa’i ’od zer gtsug tor dri ma med par snang ba de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi snying po dang dam tshig la rnam par blta ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs kyi rnam par bshad pa (Samantamukhapraveśaraśmivimaloṣṇīṣaprabhāsasarvatathāgatahṛdayasamayavilokitanāmadhāraṇīvṛtti). Toh 2688, Degé Tengyur vol. 71 (rgyud, thu), folios 269.a–320.b.
Śāntideva. bslab pa kun las btus pa (Śikṣāsamuccaya). Toh 3940, Degé Tengyur vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3.a–194.b.
Sthiramati. rgyan dam pa sna tshogs rim par phye ba bkod pa (Paramālaṃkāraviśvapaṭalavyūha). Toh 2661, Degé Tengyur vol. 68 (rgyud, ju), folios 317.a–339.a.
Vairocanarakṣita. bslab pa me tog snye ma (Śikṣākusumamañjarī). Toh 3943, Degé Tengyur vol. 213 (dbu ma, khi), folios 196.a–217.a.
Various authors. bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa [chen po] (Mahāvyutpatti*). Toh 4346, Degé Tengyur vol. 306 (sna tshogs, co), folios 1.a–131.a.
Various authors. sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa. Toh 4347, Degé Tengyur vol. 306 (sna tshogs, co), folios 131.b–160.a.
Vinayadatta. sgyu ’phrul chen mo’i dkyil ’khor gyi cho ga bla ma’i zhal snga’i man ngag (Gurūpadeśanāmamahāmāyāmaṇḍalopāyikā). Toh 1645, Degé Tengyur vol. 25 (rgyud, ya), folios 290.a–309.a.
Vitapāda. gsang ba ’dus pa’i dkyil ’khor gyi sgrub pa’i thabs rnam par bshad pa (Guhyasamājamaṇḍalopāyikāṭīkā). Toh 1873, Degé Tengyur vol. 43 (rgyud, ni), folios 178.b–219.a.
Wönch’ük (Wen tsheg). dgongs pa zab mo nges par ’grel pa’i mdo rgya cher ’grel pa (Gambhīrasaṁdhinirmocanasūtraṭīkā). Toh 4016, Degé Tengyur vol. 220 (mdo ’grel, ti), folios 1.b–291.a; vol. 221 (mdo ’grel, thi), folios 1.b–272.a; and vol. 222 (mdo ’grel, di), folios 1.b–175.a.
Yeshe Dé (ye shes sde). lang kar gshegs pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo’i ’grel pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po’i rgyan (Laṅkāvatāranāmamahāyānasūtravṛttitathāgatahṛdayālaṃkāra), Toh 4019, Degé Tengyur vol. 224 (mdo ’grel, pi), folios 1.a–310.a.
Kalzang Dolma (skal bzang sgrol ma). lo tsA ba ’gos chos grub dang khong gi ’gyur rtsom mdo mdzangs blun gyi lo tsA’i thabs rtsal skor la dpyad pa. In krung go’i bod kyi shes rig, vol. 77, pp. 31–53. Beijing: krung go’i bod kyi shes rig dus deb khang, 2007.
Lotsawa Gö Chödrup (lo tsā ba ’gos chos grub). In gangs ljongs skad gnyis smra ba du ma’i ’gyur byang blo gsal dga’ skyed, pp. 17–18. Xining: kan lho bod rigs rang skyong khul rtsom sgyur cu’u, 1983.
Ngawang Lobsang Choden (nga dbang blo bzang chos ldan). ’phags pa gser ’od dam pa mdo sde’i dbang po’i rgyal po’i ’don thabs cho ga (A Rite That Is a Method for Reciting the Noble Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light), s.n. s.l. n.d.
Pema Karpo (pad ma dkar po). gser ’od dam pa nas gsungs pa’i bshags pa. In The Collected Works of Kun-mkhyen padma dkar po, vol. 9 (ta), pp. 519–24. Darjeeling: kargyu sungrab nyamso khang, 1973–74.
Bagchi, S., ed. Suvarṇaprabhāsasūtram. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute, 1967. Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon.
Banerjee, Radha. Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra. London: British Library, 2006. http://idp.bl.uk/downloads/GoldenLight.pdf.
Buswell Jr., Robert E., and Donald Lopez Jr. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press, 2014.
Di, Guan. “The Sanskrit Fragments Preserved in Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Peking University.” Annual Report of the Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 2013, vol. XVII (Tokyo Soka University, 2014): 109–18.
Lewis, Todd T. “Contributions to the Study of Popular Buddhism: The Newar Buddhist Festival of Guṃlā Dharma.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 16, no. 2 (Winter 1993): 309–54.
Nanjio Bunyiu, Idzumi Hokei. The Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra: A Mahāyāna Text Called “The Golden Splendour.” Kyoto: The Eastern Buddhist Society, 1931.
Nobel, Johannes (1937). Suvarṇabhāsottamasūtra. Das Goldglanz-Sūtra: ein Sanskrit text des Mahāyāna-Buddhismus. Nach den Handschriften und mit Hilfe der tibetischen und chinesischen Übertragungen. Leipzig: Harrassowitz.
Nobel, Johannes (1944). Suvarṇabhāsottamasūtra. Das Goldglanz-Sūtra: ein Sanskrit text des Mahāyāna-Buddhismus. Die Tibetischen Überstzungen mit einem Wörterbuch. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Nobel, Johannes (1944, 1950). Suvarṇabhāsottamasūtra. Das Goldglanz-Sūtra: ein Sanskrit text des Mahāyāna-Buddhismus. Die Tibetishcen Überstzungen mit einem Wörterbuch. 2 vols. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
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BG Translation by Bao Gui 寶貴, titled 合部金光明經 (Taishō 664).
TWC Translation by Dharmakṣema, a.k.a. Tan Wuchen 曇無讖, titled 金光明經 (Taishō 663).
YJ Translation by Yijing 義淨, titled 金光明最勝王經 (Taishō 665).
The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light has held great importance in Buddhism for its instructions on the purification of karma. In particular, much of the sūtra is specifically addressed to monarchs and thus has been significant for rulers—not only in India but also in China, Japan, Mongolia, and elsewhere—who wished to ensure the well-being of their nations through such purification. Reciting and internalizing this sūtra is understood to be efficacious for personal purification and also for the welfare of a state and the world.
In this sūtra, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu has a dream in which a prayer of confession emanates from a shining golden drum. He relates the prayer to the Buddha, and a number of deities then vow to protect it and its adherents. The ruler’s devotion to the sūtra is emphasized as important if the nation is to benefit. Toward the end of the sūtra are two well-known narratives of the Buddha’s previous lives: the account of the physician Jalavāhana, who saves and blesses numerous fish, and that of Prince Mahāsattva, who gives his body to a hungry tigress and her cubs.
This is the second-longest version of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light preserved in the Kangyur. It comprises twenty-nine chapters and was translated into Tibetan primarily from Sanskrit.
This text was translated by Peter Alan Roberts, who translated the text from Tibetan into English and wrote the introduction. Ling Lung Chen and Wang Chipan were consultants for the Chinese versions of the sūtra. Emily Bower was the project manager and editor. Tracy Davis was the initial copyeditor. Thanks to Michael Radich for sharing his research on the sūtra.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Rory Lindsay edited the translation and the introduction, and Xiaolong Diao, Ting Lee Ling, and H. S. Sum Cheuk Shing checked the translation against the Chinese sources. Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited the text, and Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
The translation of this text has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of E E, May-E, Minda, and Chung-Da Ho.
The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light has held great importance in Buddhism for its instructions on the purification of karma. In particular, much of the sūtra is specifically addressed to monarchs, and thus it has been significant for rulers—not only in India but also in China, Japan, Mongolia, and elsewhere—who wished to ensure the well-being of their nations. It is understood to be efficacious for personal purification and beneficial for the welfare of a state and of the world.
The work translated here is the twenty-nine-chapter version (hereafter referenced as Toh 556) of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light. There are also the twenty-one-chapter (hereafter referenced as Toh 557) and thirty-one-chapter (hereafter referenced as Toh 555) versions. Both Toh 556 and Toh 557 were translated into Tibetan from Sanskrit, so almost the entirety of Toh 557 is present in an identical translation in Toh 556.
This sūtra’s principal chapter is the fourth, which describes the lay bodhisattva Ruciraketu having a dream in which he sees a brightly shining golden drum. When a brahmin beats the drum, Ruciraketu hears in the drumbeats a hundred-verse prayer, and he subsequently recites that prayer to the Buddha.
Most of the following chapters are concerned with encouraging the recitation of this prayer and of the sūtra itself. They describe how various divine beings in this world revere the sūtra and promise to protect it and its adherents. These include the Four Mahārājas; Dṛḍhā, who is the goddess of the earth; Sarasvatī, the goddess of wisdom, learning, and music; Śrī, the goddess of good fortune; and the yakṣa general Saṃjñeya.
This sūtra emphasizes its importance for kings. It states that if they honor the reciters of this sūtra and arrange for its recitation and teaching, then their reign and their kingdom will prosper. They will avoid such calamities as invasion, famine, and so on. The sūtra also warns that if they fail to show such devotion, there will be disastrous results for both them and their kingdoms. Chapter 20 is dedicated to the subject of how to be a good king.
There are also chapters that deal with doctrine. Chapter 2 presents the view that a buddha never dies and so never passes into nirvāṇa. Therefore, there is no body and no physical relics of his body after his cremation, and so the Dharma never ceases to be taught. The passing of a buddha and the extinction of the Dharma are solely illusory manifestations, skillful methods to inspire beings to practice and to provide them with relics as objects for their devotion. The longer versions of the sūtra also contain chapter 3 (not present in Toh 557), which describes the nature of the three bodies, and chapter 6, which describes the ten bodhisattva bhūmis (also not present in Toh 557). Chapters 9 and 10 teach the view of emptiness.
Toward the end, there are two narratives that describe previous lives of the Buddha. Chapters 24 and 25 describe the physician Jalavāhana, who, as a result of performing Dharma recitations while standing in a lake, ensured the rebirth of ten thousand fish into the paradise of Trāyastriṃśa. In the preceding chapter, these same ten thousand devas receive the prophecy of their buddhahood. When the goddess of the Bodhi tree objects that they have not accomplished the necessary bodhisattva conduct in past lives to receive such a prophecy, the Buddha explains that this was unnecessary because they had devotion to this Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light.
The other past-life narrative, which is given in chapter 26, is one of the most famous in Buddhist literature—that of the prince who gives his body to a hungry tigress and her cubs. An interesting feature of the story in this sūtra is that much of the narrative is dedicated to an evocative description of the intense grief of parents who have lost their child, emphasizing the sorrow that the prince’s action has brought them.
As with other late Mahāyāna sūtras in which there is an emphasis on ritual, this text is classified in the Kangyur as a tantra, specifically as a Kriyā tantra, a class of tantras in which there is an emphasis on external ritual. The sūtra contains a description of how such rituals should be performed, and there are also passages that include lists of ingredients to place in a bath, along with mantras to recite while bathing, in order to achieve purification. Toh 556 and Toh 555 also supply a number of dhāraṇīs to be recited in order to gain specific results.
One can also see that the seed of the later maṇḍalas of the five buddha families is in this sūtra, for in chapters 2 and 3, buddhas of the four directions appear to a layman who has a visionary dream. They include Akṣobhya from the east and Amitābha from the west, both buddhas and their realms already established in the Buddhist tradition with specific sūtras dedicated to them. There also appear the buddhas Ratnaketu from the south and Dundubhisvara from the north, who in later tantras are usually named Ratnasaṃbhava and Amoghasiddhi. In this sūtra, the central buddha in terms of these directions would be Śākyamuni himself. In the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra he is referred to as Vairocana, as the Buddha Vairocana is the buddha who manifests as all the buddhas throughout this trichiliocosm.
A version of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light existed in India by the early fifth century
In addition to its importance for rites and recitations, the text is quoted on doctrinal points in Indian commentaries. Passages indicating that the Buddha never dies, leaves no relics, and that the Dharma never ceases are quoted in six texts, two of which cite the delightful verse that describes the impossibility of there being buddha relics, stating that there will be a buddha relic only when a ladder to the moon is built from rabbit horns.
The descriptions of buddha nature and the nature of the bodies of a buddha, which are only in Toh 555 and Toh 556, are quoted in two texts in the Tengyur, one written in Tibetan and one translated from Sanskrit by Rinchen Sangpo, although nothing is known about the author.
In Newar Buddhism, this sūtra became and remains one of the nine principal sūtras called “the nine Dharmas,” which are considered to be the most important lengthy sūtras to be recited and offered to.
Sanskrit manuscripts of this sūtra survived as fragments discovered in Chinese Central Asia (Xinjiang) and as entire texts in Nepal, where the title is Suvarṇabhāsottama, with bhāsa being a synonym for prabhāsa, both meaning “light.”
The Sanskrit text of the sūtra was first edited in 1898, in Calcutta, India, by S. C. Das and S. C. Shastri. That was followed by the edition by B. Nanjio and H. Idzumi in Japan in 1931, and by the edition by Johannes Nobel (1887–1960) in 1937. This translation refers to the 1967 S. Bagchi edition.
The widespread popularity of this sūtra outside India is also evident from its translation not only into Tibetan and Chinese but also from Sanskrit into Khotanese; from Chinese into Tibetan, Sogdian, Uighur, Tangut, and Manchu; and from Tibetan into Mongolian. Its importance continues in recent times, with new translations directly from Sanskrit into Mongolian, Oirat, and Japanese.
There are three surviving translations of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light in Chinese. The earliest of these was translated by Dharmakṣema (385–433). He was an Indian who came to China in 414, living first in Dunhuang. Then in 420 he went to Guzang, the capital of Northern Liang, one of the sixteen independent states of that time, situated in what is now the Gansu region in China’s northwest. There he studied Chinese and engaged in translation under the patronage of Juqu Mengxun (368–433), the ruler of Northern Liang. He also had the reputation of being “a master of spells.” As a result of that reputation, Juqu Mengxun, toward the end of his reign, became afraid that Dharmakṣema might be used against him by his adversaries and so he had him assassinated. Nobel believed that the Sanskrit in its present form is not earlier than the mid-fifth century and that Dharmakṣema translated from an earlier version. This opinion appears to be supported by the Sanskrit manuscript fragments discovered in Khotan.
The second surviving translation into Chinese is that by Bao Gui in 597. It is an amalgam of earlier translations that no longer exist and four chapters that were translated by Paramārtha (499–569). As there is no surviving Sanskrit for the additional chapters in the Chinese and Tibetan, Michael Radich has examined the evidence as to whether they are Indian or Chinese in origin.
The third translation was by Yijing (635–713), which was published in 703. Because of its clarity and writing style, this version became popular in China and was itself translated into Tibetan in the early ninth century. Yijing’s translation, compared to the Sanskrit and the Tibetan translation from Sanskrit, is freer, to the extent that Emmerick has stated it could not be used to reconstruct the original Sanskrit. Yijing spent thirty years in India and Sumatra and returned to China in 695. He brought with him four hundred Sanskrit texts, including The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, and spent the first decade of the seventh century translating them.
The Mogao caves of Dunhuang, which were sealed in the eleventh century, contained a great number of manuscripts of the sūtra, particularly those of Yijing’s translation into Chinese. The sūtra became popular for its teachings on freeing oneself from the effects of bad karma. For example, Yijing’s Chinese translation (and the Uighur and Tangut versions derived from it) has a preface that states how the sūtra saved Zhang Judao, ruler of Tangut, from going to hell because he had slaughtered cattle for a big feast. This narrative is illustrated in a twelfth-century Tangut woodcut that is preserved in St. Petersburg.
The sūtra was of particular importance to monarchs, and starting in seventh-century Japan, the ritual of reciting this sūtra was considered important to perform for the benefit of the state.
Toh 557 does not list its translators in the colophon. Toh 556 (the version translated here) was produced by Jinamitra, Śilendrabodhi, and Yeshé Dé in the early ninth century. Almost the entirety of Toh 557 is present word for word in Toh 556, so they either incorporated an earlier translation or extracted the shorter version from the longer.
By contrast, Toh 555 is a translation made by Gö Chödrup of Yijing’s Chinese version in the early ninth century. The Tibetan is clearer and more readable than in the other two versions, perhaps because it is less constrained by conforming to the Sanskrit, but also because the Chinese was a freer translation from the Sanskrit, which was done purposely to enhance its readability.
There are some Tibetan texts included in the Tengyur that were authored by Tibetan translators active in the early ninth century. The translator Kawa Paltsek quotes from the passages describing the Dharma body and the Buddha not leaving any relics because he has no body with bones and blood. Yeshé Dé wrote a text that has a number of references to this sūtra’s teaching on the three bodies of a buddha, buddha nature, and the description of the bhūmis.
Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna, also known as Atiśa, whose pupils founded the influential Kadampa tradition in Tibet, is the author of three of the texts in the Tengyur that refer to this sūtra, including his most famous work, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, which contains an encouragement to use the sūtra’s prayer both for purification and as a dedication prayer.
The commentary in the Tengyur that quotes from the sūtra more than any other—twenty times in all—is the translation by Gö Chödrup of An Extensive Commentary on the Sūtra that Elucidates the Profound Intention by the Korean monk Wŏnch’ŭk (613–96), who had migrated to China. This commentary by Wŏnch’ŭk in Tibetan translation became a particular influence on the thought of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelukpa school. The sūtra has been quoted by great masters in all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism and extracts from it were published in Tibet as numerous standalone texts—not only the confession prayer but also other chapters, such as the treatise on kingship. Its continuing significance is indicated by Pema Karpo (1527–92), the hierarch of the Drukpa Kagyü school, composing a confession prayer extracted from The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light at the request of Döndrup Dorjé, the ruler of Shigatsé.
An example of the way the sūtra was recited in Tibet is found in a version compiled by Ngawang Lobsang Chöden (1642–1714), the second Changkya Rinpoché.
Toh 556 and Toh 557 were both translated into Tibetan from Sanskrit. Chapter 4 in Toh 556 is the equivalent of chapters 3 and 4 in Toh 557; chapters 9 and 10 in Toh 556 are the equivalent of chapter 6 in Toh 557; and chapters 11 and 12 in Toh 556 are the equivalent of chapter 12 in Toh 557. There are seven additional chapters in Toh 556 that are not found in Toh 557: chapters 3, 5, 6, 13, 14, 17, and 28.
Chapter 5 is almost entirely composed of the contents of Putting an End to Karmic Obscurations (Toh 219), differing only in its introduction and conclusion. Toh 556’s chapter 5 is identical in its translation to the sūtra as it appears in the Kangyur. Even where there are some minor differences between this chapter 5 and the sūtra in the Degé Kangyur versions, those discrepancies do not exist in earlier Kangyurs. The translators of Putting an End to Karmic Obscurations were Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Yeshé Dé, and their translation appears to have been incorporated into the translation of this twenty-nine-chapter Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light. Chapter 6 primarily comprises The Sūtra of Akṣayamati’s Questions (Toh 89), without the introductory setting and with additional verses and an extra conclusion. That sūtra was translated by Silendrabodhi and Yeshé Dé, and their translation has been incorporated word-for-word into this translation of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light by Jinamitra, Nalendrabodhi, and Yeshé Dé.
Only the Sanskrit that is equivalent to Toh 557 survives. It divides the equivalent of chapter 10 in the Tibetan version into two, separating the homage to buddhas and bodhisattvas into its own small chapter. However, its final chapter is divided into two in the Tibetan, resulting in both having twenty-one chapters. There is no surviving Sanskrit for additional passages within the chapters or for the seven additional chapters in Toh 556.
Toh 556 appears to preserve passages that were lost from Toh 557. For example, chapter 12 in Toh 557, “The King’s Treatise,” begins abruptly: “At that time…,” having evidently lost the introductory narrative—present in the equivalent chapter (chapter 20) in Toh 556—that sets the action in a distant past.
Toh 555 was translated into Tibetan from Chinese. The source text was Yijing’s seventh-century translation from Sanskrit into Chinese, and therefore the translation differs throughout, even though the content is essentially the same. There are many passages that are actually shorter versions of those in the translations from Sanskrit. Its greater length compared to Toh 556 is primarily due to the addition of chapters 29 and 30.
In 1958, Nobel published a German translation based on Yijing’s Chinese text. In 1970, Ronald Emmerick produced an English translation of the Sanskrit. In 2007, Zopa Rinpoche’s FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) produced a translation of Toh 557.
The Buddha is on Vulture Peak Mountain at Rājagṛha with a great assembly of bhikṣus, bodhisattvas, and deities. He states that he will teach a sūtra that will free beings from various worldly sufferings through its being recited and listened to.
In the town of Rājagṛha, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu wonders why the Buddha has only an eighty-year lifespan if he has no bad karma. His house miraculously transforms, and the buddhas of the four directions appear and tell him that the Buddha’s lifespan is, in fact, inconceivably long. Ruciraketu goes to Vulture Peak and tells the Buddha what occurred. The buddhas of the four directions appear on Vulture Peak and request the Buddha to teach The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light. The Buddha states that he continues to teach on Vulture Peak and only appears to pass into nirvāṇa.
The Kauṇḍinya brahmin Vyākaraṇa asks to be given a relic when the Buddha passes away so that he might make offerings to it. A young man says to the Kauṇḍinya brahmin that the Buddha will not pass away and there will never be relics. The Kauṇḍinya brahmin states that he knew this but made his request so that this truth would be revealed, and that the appearance of passing away and leaving relics is simply a skillful method to benefit beings.
Ruciraketu then asks why it is taught that buddhas pass away and leave relics. The Buddha states that this is a teaching with an implied meaning, and he then teaches on four sets of the true nirvāṇa’s ten qualities.
Then the four buddhas vanish, and Ruciraketu returns to his seat in the assembly.
This chapter is not included in Toh 557. In response to a question from the bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, the Buddha describes the three bodies—the Dharma body, enjoyment body, and emanation body—that complete buddhahood comprises. The emanation body is the manifestation of various kinds of bodies of individuals in accordance with the various situations of beings. The enjoyment body is the manifestation of perfect bodies that teach the ultimate truth to bodhisattvas. Neither of these bodies, however, has ultimate reality, whereas the Dharma body is the ultimate, featureless, true nature that is the basis of the other two bodies, which appear spontaneously without thought and can be described as having both permanent and impermanent qualities. The Buddha gives various analogies to describe them. He also describes the progress to buddhahood through the ten bhūmis and the ten perfections.
Then Ākāśagarbha and others in the assembly describe four benefits that come to a land where The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light is taught.
This chapter corresponds to chapters 3 and 4 in Toh 557.
In his home in Rājagṛha, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu dreams of a brahmin beating a golden drum from which come a number of verses that he is able to remember. He goes to the Buddha on Vulture Peak to repeat those verses to him.
He begins by describing the dream in verse and then repeats the verses he heard, which begin with a prayer for the verses to benefit all beings. Then there are verses for the confession of past bad actions followed by a praise of the Buddha, a prayer that beings be freed from suffering, and finally the dedication of merit so that the reciter will attain enlightenment.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557, and it is primarily composed of a word-for-word repetition, apart from the introduction and conclusion, of Putting an End to Karmic Obscurations (Toh 219). Light rays radiate from the Buddha, bringing happiness to all beings in the lower existences. On seeing that light, Śakra and other deities come to the Buddha. When the deities are gathered, the Buddha’s principal human disciple, Śāriputra, asks the Buddha how to confess their previous bad actions. The Buddha gives a recitation that should be done three times over the course of the day and three times at night in order for the deities to free themselves of karmic obscuration and to attain whatever is aspired to—from rebirth in a good human family or various paradises to the attainment of ultimate wisdom. The Buddha explains that they should also recite the words of rejoicing in the good actions of others, requesting the buddhas in all worlds to teach the Dharma, and requesting them to not pass away. The Buddha states that this creates greater merit than any other kind of Dharma practice and that they should recite a dedication of their merit to the enlightenment of all beings.
Then the assembly promises to promulgate this sūtra, and Śakra states that this sūtra can bring an end to the obscurations of karma. In response, the Buddha describes a buddha in the distant past named Great Mass of Light and a woman named Gaṅgadevī who received this very teaching from Great Mass of Light. Through her dedication to it, she was subsequently always reborn as a man until she became a buddha by the name of Ratnārci. Ratnārci teaches in a realm a vast distance away in the east, in the present time. Any woman who hears the name of this buddha will no longer be reborn as a woman.
The Buddha then describes the four benefits to a king, the four benefits to his ministers, the four benefits to mendicants, and the four benefits to brahmins that result from this sūtra being taught in their land.
Then Śakra and the others state that the Dharma will last in the world only as long as this sūtra does, and the Buddha concurs and encourages its reading and practice.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557. It is The Sūtra of Akṣayamati’s Questions (Toh 89) but without the introduction and with additional verses. The list of dhāraṇīs, of which only the names are given in that sūtra, are given in full in The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light together with their benefits. Also, Brahmā is added as an interlocutor, and there is an extra conclusion following the one given in The Sūtra of Akṣayamati’s Questions. In Toh 555, the corresponding chapter is called “The Dhāraṇīs of Complete Purification.”
In this chapter, Akṣayamati asks the Buddha what is meant by the term bodhicitta, “the enlightenment mind,” because the mind is not said to be an object of perception in enlightenment.
The Buddha states that there is no reality to such designations but there are the ten stages of the development of bodhicitta through the ten perfections. The Buddha then describes ten qualities that each of these perfections possesses, and he describes what is meant by the term perfection.
He then describes the omens that precede each of the ten bhūmis, the reason for the names of each of those bhūmis, the two kinds of ignorance that obscure each of the ten bhūmis, the perfection attained on each bhūmi, and the samādhi that causes the development of each of the ten developments of bodhicitta.
The Buddha next gives the dhāraṇī mantra that is obtained on each bhūmi and explains what it protects against.
Then the bodhisattva Unobstructed Appearance of the Light of a Lion’s Ornament praises in verse the ultimate nature and relative activity of the Buddha.
After this, the great king of Brahmā devas praises The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, and the Buddha states that only those with great merit can hear it and that those who hear it will obtain the dhāraṇīs and gain the ultimate result. The assembly promises to gather where this sūtra is taught and to aid its teacher.
This is the equivalent of chapter 5 in Toh 557. The Buddha repeats to a goddess a praise of the buddhas in thirty-seven verses, made by a king in the distant past who has now been reborn as that goddess.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557.
The Buddha tells the bodhisattva Sukhavihāra that in order to make offerings to the buddhas of the past, present, and future, one should have the dhāraṇī called golden. Its practitioner should first perform a specific recitation of homage to certain buddhas and bodhisattvas. Then the dhāraṇī, which is the mother of all buddhas, will fulfill all wishes and will bring protection. Fifteen days of practice in isolation should accomplish one’s wishes; otherwise, one should continue until one’s wishes are fulfilled.
This is the equivalent of chapter 6 in Toh 557.
The Buddha recites verses that describe emptiness, which, he states, he has taught extensively in other sūtras. He describes how he has practiced the path for a long time and that it is impossible to calculate his wisdom.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557.
The goddess Ratnārcī asks the Buddha about the equanimity of bodhisattva conduct. The Buddha teaches that the dharmadhātu, or Dharma realm, is beyond the extremes of existence and nonexistence. He explains that the five skandhas are neither separate from nor one with the Dharma realm, otherwise everyone would already be enlightened or never be able to attain enlightenment. Therefore, bodhisattva conduct does not eliminate the relative and is never apart from the ultimate.
Then Brahmā asks Ratnārcī how she could possibly accomplish this. She states that if she can do so, then all beings will become golden, and there will be a divine rain of flowers and divine music. This instantly occurs, and Ratnārcī’s body transforms, becoming identical to that of Brahmā. Ratnārcī describes to Brahmā how to practice bodhisattva conduct while knowing it has no reality, like a magical illusion.
Following this, the Buddha tells Brahmā to practice as Ratnārcī has. Brahmā and his entourage bow down to the now male bodhisattva Ratnārcī. The Buddha prophesies that in the future Ratnārcī will be a buddha named Essence of Illustrious Precious Radiance.
Five hundred thousand bhikṣus in the assembly attain an irreversible state, and the Buddha prophesies that in the distant future they will all become buddhas at the same time, all having the name King Array of Pure Prayers.
The Buddha then tells Brahmā of the great power of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, and also that he himself had practiced and taught it in his previous lives, and that if it vanishes so will all other sūtras.
All the devas promise to protect the sūtra, its teachers, and the land where it is taught.
This and the following chapter are the equivalent of chapter 7 in Toh 557.
The Four Mahārājas, the protectors of the world, describe the sūtra as overcoming all calamities and how it benefits them through its being taught. They describe themselves as protectors of the world and promise that they will protect whoever teaches and recites this sūtra and will dispel problems for the king of that country and its population.
The Four Mahārājas and the Buddha describe the miraculous events that occur in the paradises when a king engages in the ritual of venerating the sūtra, and how all buddhas will congratulate him and prophesy his buddhahood. The Mahārājas describe how a king who wishes his realm to prosper and be happy should be devoted to the sūtra, and then they praise the Buddha in verse, and the Buddha praises the sūtra in verse.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557.
[B1] I pay homage to all the buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and noble śrāvakas of the past, future, and present.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavat was within the profound, completely pure Dharma realm that is the sublime field of activity of the tathāgatas, dwelling at Vulture Peak Mountain at Rājagṛha, together with a saṅgha of ninety-eight thousand great bhikṣus. All of them were great arhats, perfectly tamed like the king of elephants. Their defilements had ceased, they were devoid of kleśas, their minds were completely liberated, their wisdom was completely liberated, they had done what had to be done, they had put down their burdens, they had attained their goals, they had cut through engagement with existence, they had attained supreme and sublime power, they had perfectly maintained pure conduct, they were arrayed with methods and wisdom, they had manifested the eight liberations, and they had reached the farther shore.
Their names were Venerable Kauṇḍinya, Venerable Aśvajit, Venerable Vāṣpa, Venerable Mahānāman, Venerable Bhadrika, Venerable Mahākāśyapa, Venerable Uruvilvakāśyapa, Venerable Gayākāśyapa, Venerable Nadīkāśyapa, Venerable Śāriputra, Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, and Ānanda. These and the other great śrāvakas had each risen in the afternoon from resting inwardly and had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, and sat to one side.
A trillion bodhisattva mahāsattvas were also gathered there. They were renowned because of being endowed with great brilliance and glory like the great kings of the nāgas. They aspired to always maintain generosity and pure conduct; they had practiced patience and diligence for countless eons; they manifested the mindfulness that transcends all dhyānas; they had opened the door to wisdom; they had accomplished skill in methods; they enjoyed sublime sensory powers and had acquired clairvoyance; they had attained the great power of mental retention; they had unceasing eloquence; they had eliminated all kleśas and afflictions; they had quickly attained omniscient wisdom and defeated Māra and the hosts of adversaries; through beating the drum of the Dharma they subdued all tīrthikas and caused them to develop clear minds; through turning the wheel of the Dharma they liberated devas and humans; they adorned all the buddha realms in the ten directions; they brought benefit to those who dwelled in the six existences; they had consummate great wisdom; they were endowed with great patience; they were endowed with love; they maintained the motivation of great compassion; they had enduring great might; they served all the buddhas; they did not pass into nirvāṇa, but instead maintained the great commitment to remain until the future’s end; they had developed pure causes in the presence of many buddhas; they had attained patience toward the quality of birthlessness of the phenomena of the three times; they had completely transcended the field of activity of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; with great skill in methods they were skilled in explaining the implied meaning of the profound Dharma taught by the great teachers, the guides of the world; and they had cut through all doubts through the direct perception of emptiness.
Among them were the bodhisattva Anāvaraṇadharmacakravarta, the bodhisattva Aspiring to Always Turn the Dharma Wheel, the bodhisattva Nityodyukta, the bodhisattva Anikṣiptadhura, the bodhisattva Maitreya, the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva Dharaṇīśvararāja, the bodhisattva King Fearless Powerful Array, the bodhisattva King of Supreme Mount Meru, the bodhisattva Great Ocean Profound King, the bodhisattva Ratnaketu, the bodhisattva Mahāratnaketu, the bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, the bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, the bodhisattva Lord with Jeweled Hands, the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi, the bodhisattva Ratibala, the bodhisattva Great Dharma Power, the bodhisattva Extremely Radiant Array, the bodhisattva Great Golden Radiant Array, the bodhisattva Pure Ethics, the bodhisattva Always Concentrated, the bodhisattva Extremely Pure Intelligence, the bodhisattva Firm Effort, the bodhisattva Ākāśavat, the bodhisattva Anikṣiptamahāpraṇidhāna, the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyadatta, the bodhisattva Curing Affliction, the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja, the bodhisattva Joyful High King, the bodhisattva Prophesied Attainment, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Completely Pure Radiance, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Dharma Holder, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Renowned Joy, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Renowned Limitless Revealer, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Lion’s Roar, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Supreme Bull’s Sound, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Good Fortune, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Precious Glory, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Sun’s Essence, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Moon’s Essence, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Starlight, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Firelight, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Lightning, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Thunder, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Constant Wisdom Rain, the bodhisattva Great Cloud King Completely Pure Rain, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Flower Tree King, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Utpala Scent, the bodhisattva Precious Cloud Sandalwood Cool Body, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Clearing Darkness, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Clearing Obscured Vision, and so on—countless, numberless bodhisattva mahāsattvas, who, during that afternoon, had arisen from resting internally and come into the presence of the Bhagavat. They bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
There were also 580,000 Licchavī youths. Among them were Kumāra Lion’s Light, Kumāra Siṃhamati, Kumāra Dharmadatta, Kumāra Powerful Bestower, Kumāra Mahāprabha, Kumāra Great Glory, Kumāra Buddhapālita, Kumāra Dharmapāla, Kumāra Sustaining the Saṅgha, Kumāra Vajra Guard, Kumāra Ākāśapāla, Kumāra Ākāśaghoṣa, Kumāra Ratnagarbha, Kumāra Supreme Auspicious Essence, and so on. They were pleasantly established in the highest, most complete enlightenment and had perfect aspiration for the Mahāyāna. During that afternoon they had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
There were also 42,000 devas. Among them were Deva Beautiful to See, Deva Pramudita, Deva Sūryaprabha, Deva Moon Crest, Deva Clear Insight, Deva Ākāśaviśuddhaprajña, Deva Remover of Affliction, Deva Maṅgala, and so on. They had made the vast prayer to guard the Mahāyāna Dharma, to hold the true Dharma, and to prevent its discontinuation. During that afternoon they had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and then sat to one side.
There were also 28,000 nāga kings. Among them were Nāga King Padma, Nāga King Elapatra, Nāga King Mahābala, Nāga King Mahāghoṣa, Nāga King Alpormika, Nāga King River Holder, Nāga King Golden Face, Nāga King Manasvī, and so on. They had all aspired to possess and hold the Mahāyāna and had developed the motivation to spread and protect it. During that afternoon, each of them had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
There was also the yakṣa king Vaiśravaṇa with 36,000 yakṣas. Among them were Yakṣa Amra, Yakṣa Amradhara, Yakṣa Essence of Lotus Radiance, Yakṣa Lotus Face, Yakṣa Bhṛkuṭi, Yakṣa Manifesting Great Fear, Yakṣa Bhūmikampa, Yakṣa Annaharaṇa, and so on. All those yakṣas had faith in the Dharma of the Tathāgata and were dedicated to guarding it. During that afternoon, all of them came into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
There were also 49,000 garuḍas, such as the garuḍa king Powerful King of Elephants.
There were also gandharvas, asuras, kinnaras, kumbhāṇḍas, and mahoragas; divine ṛṣis of mountains, forests, rivers, and seas; great kings and their retinues, queens, attendants, sons, noblemen, and noblewomen; and devas, humans, and so on. They had all prayed to read, recite, possess and hold, question, spread, guard, and protect this unsurpassable Mahāyāna Dharma. During that afternoon all of them had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
In that way, those śrāvakas, bodhisattvas, devas, humans, asuras, garuḍas, and so on—all those eight classes of beings—had gathered like clouds. With one-pointed minds, with palms together in homage, and with unblinking eyes, they gazed at the Bhagavat’s face, and wishing that he would teach the Dharma, they supplicated him.
Then, during the afternoon, the Bhagavat arose from samādhi, looked upon the multitude that had assembled, and recited these verses:
This concludes “The Introduction,” the first chapter of “The Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light.”
Also, at that time, there dwelled in the great city of Rājagṛha a bodhisattva mahāsattva by the name of Ruciraketu. He had served past jinas, had developed roots of merit, and had attended upon many hundreds of thousands of quintillions of buddhas. He thought, “Through what causes and what conditions does the Bhagavat Śākyamuni have such a short lifespan of eighty years?”
Then he thought, “The Bhagavat has said, ‘There are two causes and two conditions for a long life. What are those two? Forsaking killing and giving food.’ The Bhagavat Śākyamuni has forsaken killing and has correctly adopted the path of the ten good actions for countless hundreds of thousands of quintillions of eons. He has given external and internal substances as food to beings, even to the extent of satisfying hungry beings with his own body, blood, bones, and limbs, to say nothing of every other kind of food.”
When that sublime being’s mind had thought that, with his attention focused upon the Buddha, his house became immense, vast, and made of blue beryl. It was adorned with many divine jewels, its color transformed by the Tathāgata, and it was pervaded by a perfume that transcended the divine.
In the four directions of that house there appeared four thrones made of divine jewels. The thrones were overspread with layers of precious, divine cloth decorated with divine jewels.
Upon those thrones appeared divine lotus flowers, their colors transformed by the Tathāgata, and adorned by many jewels. Upon those lotuses there appeared the four buddha bhagavats. To the east appeared the Tathāgata Akṣobhya. To the south appeared the Tathāgata Ratnaketu. To the west appeared the Tathāgata Amitābha. To the north appeared the Tathāgata Dundubhisvara. At the moment when those buddha bhagavats appeared upon those lion thrones, the great city of Rājagṛha was filled by a great illuminating light. That light spread throughout the trichiliocosm world realm, throughout as many world realms in the ten directions as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. A rain of flowers fell. There came the sound of divine music. Through the power of the Buddha, all beings in this trichiliocosm world realm gained divine happiness. Those who had incomplete faculties gained all their faculties. The blind saw forms with their eyes; the deaf heard sounds with their ears; the insane gained their sanity; those with distracted minds became undistracted; the naked became clothed; the hungry had their stomachs filled; the thirsty found drink; beings afflicted by illness were healed; and those with impaired physical faculties became possessed of complete faculties. In those worlds there appeared vast, astonishing, wonderful qualities.
The bodhisattva Ruciraketu was amazed to see those buddha bhagavats, and, filled with joy, delighted, elated, pleased, and happy, with his palms together in homage, he bowed toward those buddha bhagavats. Mindful of those buddha bhagavats and mindful of the qualities of the Buddha Bhagavat Śākyamuni, he had doubts concerning the lifespan of the Bhagavat Śākyamuni. In his mind was the thought, “Why is it that the Bhagavat Śākyamuni has this short lifespan of eighty years?”
Those buddha bhagavats were aware of and understood these thoughts and said to the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, “Noble one, do not think, ‘The Bhagavat Śākyamuni has such a short lifespan.’ Why is that? Noble one, except for the tathāgata arhat samyaksaṃbuddhas, we do not see anyone within the world with its devas, with its Māra, with its Brahmā, with its many beings who are mendicants and brahmins, and with its devas, humans, and asuras who has the ability to know the Bhagavat Tathāgata Śākyamuni’s lifespan to its future limit.”
As soon as those buddha bhagavats described the Tathāgata’s lifespan, at that moment, through the power of the buddhas, the devas in the desire realm, the devas in the form realm, the nāgas, the yakṣas, the gandharvas, the asuras, the garuḍas, the kinnaras, the mahoragas, and the many hundreds of thousands of quintillions of assembled bodhisattvas arrived in the house of the bodhisattva Ruciraketu.
Those tathāgatas then recited verses that taught in brief the length of the lifespan of the Bhagavat Śākyamuni to that complete assembly:
Then the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, having heard that teaching on the lifespan of Bhagavat Śākyamuni, asked those bhagavats, “Why is it that the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, the Tathāgata, manifests such a short lifespan?”
The bhagavats said to the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, “The Bhagavat Śākyamuni, the Tathāgata, has been born at a time when beings could live for a hundred years in a world that has the five degenerations. Therefore, the Tathāgata Śākyamuni has manifested a short lifespan in order to benefit beings with inferior aspiration, beings with little roots of merit and faith, and ordinary foolish beings who have the view that there is a being, the view that there is a soul, the view that there is a spirit, the view that there is an individual, erroneous views, the belief in ‘me’ and ‘mine,’ the views of eternalism and nihilism, and so on. It is also to inspire the true view in tīrthikas so that they will quickly attain the highest enlightenment.
“Moreover, noble one, the Tathāgata, by manifesting passing into nirvāṇa, causes beings to perceive him as rare and difficult to meet; causes them to perceive misery, suffering, and so on; and inspires them to quickly obtain, possess, read, comprehend, and teach widely to others these sūtras that have been taught by the Buddha Bhagavat, and to not malign them. That is why the Tathāgata manifests a short lifespan. If the Tathāgata were always present and did not pass into nirvāṇa, beings would have no reverence—they would not perceive him as being difficult to meet, and they would not obtain, possess, read, comprehend, and teach widely to others these sūtras that have been taught by the Tathāgata. Why is that? Because they would believe that the Bhagavat would always remain in the world.
“As an analogy, noble one, someone who sees that his parents have many precious jewels would not perceive that wealth as being rare or wonderful. Why is that? It is because he perceives that his parents’ wealth will always be present. In the same way, if the Bhagavat never passed into nirvāṇa, he would not be perceived as rare and difficult to meet.
“Moreover, noble one, as another analogy, if someone who had poor parents, who had no wealth, went to the dwelling of a king or great minister and saw their vast, numerous treasuries, wealth, jewels and so on, he would perceive them as rare and difficult to obtain, and he would dedicate himself to accomplishing the methods for seeking wealth, because he would wish to leave poverty behind and to accomplish happiness and prosperity.
“In the same way, noble one, if the Tathāgata is seen to pass into nirvāṇa, there will be the perception of how rare and difficult he is to meet, and the perception of misery and suffering. The Bhagavat Tathāgata only appears a few times in countless eons, just as a fig tree flower hardly ever appears, just a few times, so that beings will perceive him as rare and difficult to meet, and they will have veneration for him, perceive the sūtras he teaches to be the truth, and perceive them as something to be possessed and not to be maligned.
“Therefore, noble one, because of those causes and conditions, the Tathāgata does not remain long in the world but quickly passes into nirvāṇa. It is through such a perfection of skillful methods that the tathāgatas ripen beings.”
Then those four tathāgatas vanished.
Then the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, the countless hundreds of thousands of bodhisattvas, and the countless trillions of beings went together to Vulture Peak Mountain. They bowed their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, the Tathāgata, and seated themselves.
The bodhisattva Ruciraketu described what had occurred, and those four tathāgatas came to where the Bhagavat Śākyamuni was dwelling on Vulture Peak Mountain, sat upon the thrones in their own directions, and addressed their entourages of bodhisattvas: “Noble ones, go and ask the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, ‘Are you unharmed, unafraid, undisturbed, and feeling happy?’ Also make this request to the Bhagavat Tathāgata Śākyamuni: ‘If you were to teach this very profound lord of sūtras, The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, for the benefit of beings, to dispel the distress of famine, and to bring happiness to all, that would be excellent and would bring joy!’ ”
The bodhisattvas who were their attendants went toward the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, and, having approached him, bowed their heads down to his feet, and they made the request that the four tathāgatas had instructed.
Then the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, the tathāgata, the arhat samyaksaṃbuddha, said, “Well done!” to those bodhisattvas. “Well done! Well done!”
At that time, because the four tathāgatas had invoked him to teach this sublime Dharma in order to bring benefit and happiness to all beings, the Bhagavat recited these verses:
At that time, in that assembly, there was the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa, who, together with countless thousands of brahmins, had made offerings to the Bhagavat. On hearing these words concerning the great nirvāṇa of the Tathāgata, he immediately wept, bowed down to the feet of the Bhagavat, and said to the Bhagavat, “If you have love for all beings, if you have great compassion, if you wish to benefit them, if you are a mother and father for all beings, if you are unequaled, if you are like the moon radiating light, if you are like a risen sun of great wisdom and knowledge, and if you look upon all beings as you do upon Rāhula, then I pray that you grant me something sacred.”
The Bhagavat remained silent.
Then, through the power of the Buddha, there arose confident eloquence in a Licchavī youth who was in that assembly, whose name was Sarvasattvapriyadarśana. He asked the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa, “Great brahmin, why do you ask the Bhagavat for something sacred? I will give you something sacred.”
“Licchavī youth,” said the brahmin, “I wish for a relic of the Bhagavat the size of a mustard seed in order to make offerings to the Bhagavat. It is known that if one makes offerings to a relic the size of a mustard seed that one has received as a share of the ashes that are the relics of the Bhagavat, one will become the sole lord of the devas of Trāyastriṃśa.
“O Licchavī youth, it is difficult for śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas to know The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light. It is difficult for them to comprehend it. The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, which has those characteristics and qualities, is going to be spoken, so listen!
“O Licchavī youth, The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light is thus difficult to know and difficult to understand. Therefore, it is appropriate that we brahmins from an outlying island should keep a relic the size of a mustard seed in a casket, for by possessing it, beings will soon become lords of Trāyastriṃśa.
“O Licchavī youth, don’t you want to request a relic the size of a mustard seed from the Tathāgata, place the relic in a casket, and possess it so that beings will become lords of Trāyastriṃśa?
“O Licchavī youth, that is the sublime thing that I have requested.”
Then Sarvasattvapriyadarśana, the Licchavī youth, recited these verses to the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa:
On hearing those verses, the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa, replied to the Licchavī youth Sarvasattvapriyadarśana with these verses:
The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light has held great importance in Buddhism for its instructions on the purification of karma. In particular, much of the sūtra is specifically addressed to monarchs and thus has been significant for rulers—not only in India but also in China, Japan, Mongolia, and elsewhere—who wished to ensure the well-being of their nations through such purification. Reciting and internalizing this sūtra is understood to be efficacious for personal purification and also for the welfare of a state and the world.
In this sūtra, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu has a dream in which a prayer of confession emanates from a shining golden drum. He relates the prayer to the Buddha, and a number of deities then vow to protect it and its adherents. The ruler’s devotion to the sūtra is emphasized as important if the nation is to benefit. Toward the end of the sūtra are two well-known narratives of the Buddha’s previous lives: the account of the physician Jalavāhana, who saves and blesses numerous fish, and that of Prince Mahāsattva, who gives his body to a hungry tigress and her cubs.
This is the second-longest version of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light preserved in the Kangyur. It comprises twenty-nine chapters and was translated into Tibetan primarily from Sanskrit.
This text was translated by Peter Alan Roberts, who translated the text from Tibetan into English and wrote the introduction. Ling Lung Chen and Wang Chipan were consultants for the Chinese versions of the sūtra. Emily Bower was the project manager and editor. Tracy Davis was the initial copyeditor. Thanks to Michael Radich for sharing his research on the sūtra.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Rory Lindsay edited the translation and the introduction, and Xiaolong Diao, Ting Lee Ling, and H. S. Sum Cheuk Shing checked the translation against the Chinese sources. Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited the text, and Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
The translation of this text has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of E E, May-E, Minda, and Chung-Da Ho.
The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light has held great importance in Buddhism for its instructions on the purification of karma. In particular, much of the sūtra is specifically addressed to monarchs, and thus it has been significant for rulers—not only in India but also in China, Japan, Mongolia, and elsewhere—who wished to ensure the well-being of their nations. It is understood to be efficacious for personal purification and beneficial for the welfare of a state and of the world.
The work translated here is the twenty-nine-chapter version (hereafter referenced as Toh 556) of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light. There are also the twenty-one-chapter (hereafter referenced as Toh 557) and thirty-one-chapter (hereafter referenced as Toh 555) versions. Both Toh 556 and Toh 557 were translated into Tibetan from Sanskrit, so almost the entirety of Toh 557 is present in an identical translation in Toh 556.
This sūtra’s principal chapter is the fourth, which describes the lay bodhisattva Ruciraketu having a dream in which he sees a brightly shining golden drum. When a brahmin beats the drum, Ruciraketu hears in the drumbeats a hundred-verse prayer, and he subsequently recites that prayer to the Buddha.
Most of the following chapters are concerned with encouraging the recitation of this prayer and of the sūtra itself. They describe how various divine beings in this world revere the sūtra and promise to protect it and its adherents. These include the Four Mahārājas; Dṛḍhā, who is the goddess of the earth; Sarasvatī, the goddess of wisdom, learning, and music; Śrī, the goddess of good fortune; and the yakṣa general Saṃjñeya.
This sūtra emphasizes its importance for kings. It states that if they honor the reciters of this sūtra and arrange for its recitation and teaching, then their reign and their kingdom will prosper. They will avoid such calamities as invasion, famine, and so on. The sūtra also warns that if they fail to show such devotion, there will be disastrous results for both them and their kingdoms. Chapter 20 is dedicated to the subject of how to be a good king.
There are also chapters that deal with doctrine. Chapter 2 presents the view that a buddha never dies and so never passes into nirvāṇa. Therefore, there is no body and no physical relics of his body after his cremation, and so the Dharma never ceases to be taught. The passing of a buddha and the extinction of the Dharma are solely illusory manifestations, skillful methods to inspire beings to practice and to provide them with relics as objects for their devotion. The longer versions of the sūtra also contain chapter 3 (not present in Toh 557), which describes the nature of the three bodies, and chapter 6, which describes the ten bodhisattva bhūmis (also not present in Toh 557). Chapters 9 and 10 teach the view of emptiness.
Toward the end, there are two narratives that describe previous lives of the Buddha. Chapters 24 and 25 describe the physician Jalavāhana, who, as a result of performing Dharma recitations while standing in a lake, ensured the rebirth of ten thousand fish into the paradise of Trāyastriṃśa. In the preceding chapter, these same ten thousand devas receive the prophecy of their buddhahood. When the goddess of the Bodhi tree objects that they have not accomplished the necessary bodhisattva conduct in past lives to receive such a prophecy, the Buddha explains that this was unnecessary because they had devotion to this Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light.
The other past-life narrative, which is given in chapter 26, is one of the most famous in Buddhist literature—that of the prince who gives his body to a hungry tigress and her cubs. An interesting feature of the story in this sūtra is that much of the narrative is dedicated to an evocative description of the intense grief of parents who have lost their child, emphasizing the sorrow that the prince’s action has brought them.
As with other late Mahāyāna sūtras in which there is an emphasis on ritual, this text is classified in the Kangyur as a tantra, specifically as a Kriyā tantra, a class of tantras in which there is an emphasis on external ritual. The sūtra contains a description of how such rituals should be performed, and there are also passages that include lists of ingredients to place in a bath, along with mantras to recite while bathing, in order to achieve purification. Toh 556 and Toh 555 also supply a number of dhāraṇīs to be recited in order to gain specific results.
One can also see that the seed of the later maṇḍalas of the five buddha families is in this sūtra, for in chapters 2 and 3, buddhas of the four directions appear to a layman who has a visionary dream. They include Akṣobhya from the east and Amitābha from the west, both buddhas and their realms already established in the Buddhist tradition with specific sūtras dedicated to them. There also appear the buddhas Ratnaketu from the south and Dundubhisvara from the north, who in later tantras are usually named Ratnasaṃbhava and Amoghasiddhi. In this sūtra, the central buddha in terms of these directions would be Śākyamuni himself. In the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra he is referred to as Vairocana, as the Buddha Vairocana is the buddha who manifests as all the buddhas throughout this trichiliocosm.
A version of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light existed in India by the early fifth century
In addition to its importance for rites and recitations, the text is quoted on doctrinal points in Indian commentaries. Passages indicating that the Buddha never dies, leaves no relics, and that the Dharma never ceases are quoted in six texts, two of which cite the delightful verse that describes the impossibility of there being buddha relics, stating that there will be a buddha relic only when a ladder to the moon is built from rabbit horns.
The descriptions of buddha nature and the nature of the bodies of a buddha, which are only in Toh 555 and Toh 556, are quoted in two texts in the Tengyur, one written in Tibetan and one translated from Sanskrit by Rinchen Sangpo, although nothing is known about the author.
In Newar Buddhism, this sūtra became and remains one of the nine principal sūtras called “the nine Dharmas,” which are considered to be the most important lengthy sūtras to be recited and offered to.
Sanskrit manuscripts of this sūtra survived as fragments discovered in Chinese Central Asia (Xinjiang) and as entire texts in Nepal, where the title is Suvarṇabhāsottama, with bhāsa being a synonym for prabhāsa, both meaning “light.”
The Sanskrit text of the sūtra was first edited in 1898, in Calcutta, India, by S. C. Das and S. C. Shastri. That was followed by the edition by B. Nanjio and H. Idzumi in Japan in 1931, and by the edition by Johannes Nobel (1887–1960) in 1937. This translation refers to the 1967 S. Bagchi edition.
The widespread popularity of this sūtra outside India is also evident from its translation not only into Tibetan and Chinese but also from Sanskrit into Khotanese; from Chinese into Tibetan, Sogdian, Uighur, Tangut, and Manchu; and from Tibetan into Mongolian. Its importance continues in recent times, with new translations directly from Sanskrit into Mongolian, Oirat, and Japanese.
There are three surviving translations of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light in Chinese. The earliest of these was translated by Dharmakṣema (385–433). He was an Indian who came to China in 414, living first in Dunhuang. Then in 420 he went to Guzang, the capital of Northern Liang, one of the sixteen independent states of that time, situated in what is now the Gansu region in China’s northwest. There he studied Chinese and engaged in translation under the patronage of Juqu Mengxun (368–433), the ruler of Northern Liang. He also had the reputation of being “a master of spells.” As a result of that reputation, Juqu Mengxun, toward the end of his reign, became afraid that Dharmakṣema might be used against him by his adversaries and so he had him assassinated. Nobel believed that the Sanskrit in its present form is not earlier than the mid-fifth century and that Dharmakṣema translated from an earlier version. This opinion appears to be supported by the Sanskrit manuscript fragments discovered in Khotan.
The second surviving translation into Chinese is that by Bao Gui in 597. It is an amalgam of earlier translations that no longer exist and four chapters that were translated by Paramārtha (499–569). As there is no surviving Sanskrit for the additional chapters in the Chinese and Tibetan, Michael Radich has examined the evidence as to whether they are Indian or Chinese in origin.
The third translation was by Yijing (635–713), which was published in 703. Because of its clarity and writing style, this version became popular in China and was itself translated into Tibetan in the early ninth century. Yijing’s translation, compared to the Sanskrit and the Tibetan translation from Sanskrit, is freer, to the extent that Emmerick has stated it could not be used to reconstruct the original Sanskrit. Yijing spent thirty years in India and Sumatra and returned to China in 695. He brought with him four hundred Sanskrit texts, including The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, and spent the first decade of the seventh century translating them.
The Mogao caves of Dunhuang, which were sealed in the eleventh century, contained a great number of manuscripts of the sūtra, particularly those of Yijing’s translation into Chinese. The sūtra became popular for its teachings on freeing oneself from the effects of bad karma. For example, Yijing’s Chinese translation (and the Uighur and Tangut versions derived from it) has a preface that states how the sūtra saved Zhang Judao, ruler of Tangut, from going to hell because he had slaughtered cattle for a big feast. This narrative is illustrated in a twelfth-century Tangut woodcut that is preserved in St. Petersburg.
The sūtra was of particular importance to monarchs, and starting in seventh-century Japan, the ritual of reciting this sūtra was considered important to perform for the benefit of the state.
Toh 557 does not list its translators in the colophon. Toh 556 (the version translated here) was produced by Jinamitra, Śilendrabodhi, and Yeshé Dé in the early ninth century. Almost the entirety of Toh 557 is present word for word in Toh 556, so they either incorporated an earlier translation or extracted the shorter version from the longer.
By contrast, Toh 555 is a translation made by Gö Chödrup of Yijing’s Chinese version in the early ninth century. The Tibetan is clearer and more readable than in the other two versions, perhaps because it is less constrained by conforming to the Sanskrit, but also because the Chinese was a freer translation from the Sanskrit, which was done purposely to enhance its readability.
There are some Tibetan texts included in the Tengyur that were authored by Tibetan translators active in the early ninth century. The translator Kawa Paltsek quotes from the passages describing the Dharma body and the Buddha not leaving any relics because he has no body with bones and blood. Yeshé Dé wrote a text that has a number of references to this sūtra’s teaching on the three bodies of a buddha, buddha nature, and the description of the bhūmis.
Dīpaṁkaraśrījñāna, also known as Atiśa, whose pupils founded the influential Kadampa tradition in Tibet, is the author of three of the texts in the Tengyur that refer to this sūtra, including his most famous work, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, which contains an encouragement to use the sūtra’s prayer both for purification and as a dedication prayer.
The commentary in the Tengyur that quotes from the sūtra more than any other—twenty times in all—is the translation by Gö Chödrup of An Extensive Commentary on the Sūtra that Elucidates the Profound Intention by the Korean monk Wŏnch’ŭk (613–96), who had migrated to China. This commentary by Wŏnch’ŭk in Tibetan translation became a particular influence on the thought of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelukpa school. The sūtra has been quoted by great masters in all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism and extracts from it were published in Tibet as numerous standalone texts—not only the confession prayer but also other chapters, such as the treatise on kingship. Its continuing significance is indicated by Pema Karpo (1527–92), the hierarch of the Drukpa Kagyü school, composing a confession prayer extracted from The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light at the request of Döndrup Dorjé, the ruler of Shigatsé.
An example of the way the sūtra was recited in Tibet is found in a version compiled by Ngawang Lobsang Chöden (1642–1714), the second Changkya Rinpoché.
Toh 556 and Toh 557 were both translated into Tibetan from Sanskrit. Chapter 4 in Toh 556 is the equivalent of chapters 3 and 4 in Toh 557; chapters 9 and 10 in Toh 556 are the equivalent of chapter 6 in Toh 557; and chapters 11 and 12 in Toh 556 are the equivalent of chapter 12 in Toh 557. There are seven additional chapters in Toh 556 that are not found in Toh 557: chapters 3, 5, 6, 13, 14, 17, and 28.
Chapter 5 is almost entirely composed of the contents of Putting an End to Karmic Obscurations (Toh 219), differing only in its introduction and conclusion. Toh 556’s chapter 5 is identical in its translation to the sūtra as it appears in the Kangyur. Even where there are some minor differences between this chapter 5 and the sūtra in the Degé Kangyur versions, those discrepancies do not exist in earlier Kangyurs. The translators of Putting an End to Karmic Obscurations were Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Yeshé Dé, and their translation appears to have been incorporated into the translation of this twenty-nine-chapter Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light. Chapter 6 primarily comprises The Sūtra of Akṣayamati’s Questions (Toh 89), without the introductory setting and with additional verses and an extra conclusion. That sūtra was translated by Silendrabodhi and Yeshé Dé, and their translation has been incorporated word-for-word into this translation of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light by Jinamitra, Nalendrabodhi, and Yeshé Dé.
Only the Sanskrit that is equivalent to Toh 557 survives. It divides the equivalent of chapter 10 in the Tibetan version into two, separating the homage to buddhas and bodhisattvas into its own small chapter. However, its final chapter is divided into two in the Tibetan, resulting in both having twenty-one chapters. There is no surviving Sanskrit for additional passages within the chapters or for the seven additional chapters in Toh 556.
Toh 556 appears to preserve passages that were lost from Toh 557. For example, chapter 12 in Toh 557, “The King’s Treatise,” begins abruptly: “At that time…,” having evidently lost the introductory narrative—present in the equivalent chapter (chapter 20) in Toh 556—that sets the action in a distant past.
Toh 555 was translated into Tibetan from Chinese. The source text was Yijing’s seventh-century translation from Sanskrit into Chinese, and therefore the translation differs throughout, even though the content is essentially the same. There are many passages that are actually shorter versions of those in the translations from Sanskrit. Its greater length compared to Toh 556 is primarily due to the addition of chapters 29 and 30.
In 1958, Nobel published a German translation based on Yijing’s Chinese text. In 1970, Ronald Emmerick produced an English translation of the Sanskrit. In 2007, Zopa Rinpoche’s FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) produced a translation of Toh 557.
The Buddha is on Vulture Peak Mountain at Rājagṛha with a great assembly of bhikṣus, bodhisattvas, and deities. He states that he will teach a sūtra that will free beings from various worldly sufferings through its being recited and listened to.
In the town of Rājagṛha, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu wonders why the Buddha has only an eighty-year lifespan if he has no bad karma. His house miraculously transforms, and the buddhas of the four directions appear and tell him that the Buddha’s lifespan is, in fact, inconceivably long. Ruciraketu goes to Vulture Peak and tells the Buddha what occurred. The buddhas of the four directions appear on Vulture Peak and request the Buddha to teach The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light. The Buddha states that he continues to teach on Vulture Peak and only appears to pass into nirvāṇa.
The Kauṇḍinya brahmin Vyākaraṇa asks to be given a relic when the Buddha passes away so that he might make offerings to it. A young man says to the Kauṇḍinya brahmin that the Buddha will not pass away and there will never be relics. The Kauṇḍinya brahmin states that he knew this but made his request so that this truth would be revealed, and that the appearance of passing away and leaving relics is simply a skillful method to benefit beings.
Ruciraketu then asks why it is taught that buddhas pass away and leave relics. The Buddha states that this is a teaching with an implied meaning, and he then teaches on four sets of the true nirvāṇa’s ten qualities.
Then the four buddhas vanish, and Ruciraketu returns to his seat in the assembly.
This chapter is not included in Toh 557. In response to a question from the bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, the Buddha describes the three bodies—the Dharma body, enjoyment body, and emanation body—that complete buddhahood comprises. The emanation body is the manifestation of various kinds of bodies of individuals in accordance with the various situations of beings. The enjoyment body is the manifestation of perfect bodies that teach the ultimate truth to bodhisattvas. Neither of these bodies, however, has ultimate reality, whereas the Dharma body is the ultimate, featureless, true nature that is the basis of the other two bodies, which appear spontaneously without thought and can be described as having both permanent and impermanent qualities. The Buddha gives various analogies to describe them. He also describes the progress to buddhahood through the ten bhūmis and the ten perfections.
Then Ākāśagarbha and others in the assembly describe four benefits that come to a land where The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light is taught.
This chapter corresponds to chapters 3 and 4 in Toh 557.
In his home in Rājagṛha, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu dreams of a brahmin beating a golden drum from which come a number of verses that he is able to remember. He goes to the Buddha on Vulture Peak to repeat those verses to him.
He begins by describing the dream in verse and then repeats the verses he heard, which begin with a prayer for the verses to benefit all beings. Then there are verses for the confession of past bad actions followed by a praise of the Buddha, a prayer that beings be freed from suffering, and finally the dedication of merit so that the reciter will attain enlightenment.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557, and it is primarily composed of a word-for-word repetition, apart from the introduction and conclusion, of Putting an End to Karmic Obscurations (Toh 219). Light rays radiate from the Buddha, bringing happiness to all beings in the lower existences. On seeing that light, Śakra and other deities come to the Buddha. When the deities are gathered, the Buddha’s principal human disciple, Śāriputra, asks the Buddha how to confess their previous bad actions. The Buddha gives a recitation that should be done three times over the course of the day and three times at night in order for the deities to free themselves of karmic obscuration and to attain whatever is aspired to—from rebirth in a good human family or various paradises to the attainment of ultimate wisdom. The Buddha explains that they should also recite the words of rejoicing in the good actions of others, requesting the buddhas in all worlds to teach the Dharma, and requesting them to not pass away. The Buddha states that this creates greater merit than any other kind of Dharma practice and that they should recite a dedication of their merit to the enlightenment of all beings.
Then the assembly promises to promulgate this sūtra, and Śakra states that this sūtra can bring an end to the obscurations of karma. In response, the Buddha describes a buddha in the distant past named Great Mass of Light and a woman named Gaṅgadevī who received this very teaching from Great Mass of Light. Through her dedication to it, she was subsequently always reborn as a man until she became a buddha by the name of Ratnārci. Ratnārci teaches in a realm a vast distance away in the east, in the present time. Any woman who hears the name of this buddha will no longer be reborn as a woman.
The Buddha then describes the four benefits to a king, the four benefits to his ministers, the four benefits to mendicants, and the four benefits to brahmins that result from this sūtra being taught in their land.
Then Śakra and the others state that the Dharma will last in the world only as long as this sūtra does, and the Buddha concurs and encourages its reading and practice.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557. It is The Sūtra of Akṣayamati’s Questions (Toh 89) but without the introduction and with additional verses. The list of dhāraṇīs, of which only the names are given in that sūtra, are given in full in The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light together with their benefits. Also, Brahmā is added as an interlocutor, and there is an extra conclusion following the one given in The Sūtra of Akṣayamati’s Questions. In Toh 555, the corresponding chapter is called “The Dhāraṇīs of Complete Purification.”
In this chapter, Akṣayamati asks the Buddha what is meant by the term bodhicitta, “the enlightenment mind,” because the mind is not said to be an object of perception in enlightenment.
The Buddha states that there is no reality to such designations but there are the ten stages of the development of bodhicitta through the ten perfections. The Buddha then describes ten qualities that each of these perfections possesses, and he describes what is meant by the term perfection.
He then describes the omens that precede each of the ten bhūmis, the reason for the names of each of those bhūmis, the two kinds of ignorance that obscure each of the ten bhūmis, the perfection attained on each bhūmi, and the samādhi that causes the development of each of the ten developments of bodhicitta.
The Buddha next gives the dhāraṇī mantra that is obtained on each bhūmi and explains what it protects against.
Then the bodhisattva Unobstructed Appearance of the Light of a Lion’s Ornament praises in verse the ultimate nature and relative activity of the Buddha.
After this, the great king of Brahmā devas praises The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, and the Buddha states that only those with great merit can hear it and that those who hear it will obtain the dhāraṇīs and gain the ultimate result. The assembly promises to gather where this sūtra is taught and to aid its teacher.
This is the equivalent of chapter 5 in Toh 557. The Buddha repeats to a goddess a praise of the buddhas in thirty-seven verses, made by a king in the distant past who has now been reborn as that goddess.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557.
The Buddha tells the bodhisattva Sukhavihāra that in order to make offerings to the buddhas of the past, present, and future, one should have the dhāraṇī called golden. Its practitioner should first perform a specific recitation of homage to certain buddhas and bodhisattvas. Then the dhāraṇī, which is the mother of all buddhas, will fulfill all wishes and will bring protection. Fifteen days of practice in isolation should accomplish one’s wishes; otherwise, one should continue until one’s wishes are fulfilled.
This is the equivalent of chapter 6 in Toh 557.
The Buddha recites verses that describe emptiness, which, he states, he has taught extensively in other sūtras. He describes how he has practiced the path for a long time and that it is impossible to calculate his wisdom.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557.
The goddess Ratnārcī asks the Buddha about the equanimity of bodhisattva conduct. The Buddha teaches that the dharmadhātu, or Dharma realm, is beyond the extremes of existence and nonexistence. He explains that the five skandhas are neither separate from nor one with the Dharma realm, otherwise everyone would already be enlightened or never be able to attain enlightenment. Therefore, bodhisattva conduct does not eliminate the relative and is never apart from the ultimate.
Then Brahmā asks Ratnārcī how she could possibly accomplish this. She states that if she can do so, then all beings will become golden, and there will be a divine rain of flowers and divine music. This instantly occurs, and Ratnārcī’s body transforms, becoming identical to that of Brahmā. Ratnārcī describes to Brahmā how to practice bodhisattva conduct while knowing it has no reality, like a magical illusion.
Following this, the Buddha tells Brahmā to practice as Ratnārcī has. Brahmā and his entourage bow down to the now male bodhisattva Ratnārcī. The Buddha prophesies that in the future Ratnārcī will be a buddha named Essence of Illustrious Precious Radiance.
Five hundred thousand bhikṣus in the assembly attain an irreversible state, and the Buddha prophesies that in the distant future they will all become buddhas at the same time, all having the name King Array of Pure Prayers.
The Buddha then tells Brahmā of the great power of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, and also that he himself had practiced and taught it in his previous lives, and that if it vanishes so will all other sūtras.
All the devas promise to protect the sūtra, its teachers, and the land where it is taught.
This and the following chapter are the equivalent of chapter 7 in Toh 557.
The Four Mahārājas, the protectors of the world, describe the sūtra as overcoming all calamities and how it benefits them through its being taught. They describe themselves as protectors of the world and promise that they will protect whoever teaches and recites this sūtra and will dispel problems for the king of that country and its population.
The Four Mahārājas and the Buddha describe the miraculous events that occur in the paradises when a king engages in the ritual of venerating the sūtra, and how all buddhas will congratulate him and prophesy his buddhahood. The Mahārājas describe how a king who wishes his realm to prosper and be happy should be devoted to the sūtra, and then they praise the Buddha in verse, and the Buddha praises the sūtra in verse.
This chapter is absent in Toh 557.
[B1] I pay homage to all the buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and noble śrāvakas of the past, future, and present.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavat was within the profound, completely pure Dharma realm that is the sublime field of activity of the tathāgatas, dwelling at Vulture Peak Mountain at Rājagṛha, together with a saṅgha of ninety-eight thousand great bhikṣus. All of them were great arhats, perfectly tamed like the king of elephants. Their defilements had ceased, they were devoid of kleśas, their minds were completely liberated, their wisdom was completely liberated, they had done what had to be done, they had put down their burdens, they had attained their goals, they had cut through engagement with existence, they had attained supreme and sublime power, they had perfectly maintained pure conduct, they were arrayed with methods and wisdom, they had manifested the eight liberations, and they had reached the farther shore.
Their names were Venerable Kauṇḍinya, Venerable Aśvajit, Venerable Vāṣpa, Venerable Mahānāman, Venerable Bhadrika, Venerable Mahākāśyapa, Venerable Uruvilvakāśyapa, Venerable Gayākāśyapa, Venerable Nadīkāśyapa, Venerable Śāriputra, Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, and Ānanda. These and the other great śrāvakas had each risen in the afternoon from resting inwardly and had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, and sat to one side.
A trillion bodhisattva mahāsattvas were also gathered there. They were renowned because of being endowed with great brilliance and glory like the great kings of the nāgas. They aspired to always maintain generosity and pure conduct; they had practiced patience and diligence for countless eons; they manifested the mindfulness that transcends all dhyānas; they had opened the door to wisdom; they had accomplished skill in methods; they enjoyed sublime sensory powers and had acquired clairvoyance; they had attained the great power of mental retention; they had unceasing eloquence; they had eliminated all kleśas and afflictions; they had quickly attained omniscient wisdom and defeated Māra and the hosts of adversaries; through beating the drum of the Dharma they subdued all tīrthikas and caused them to develop clear minds; through turning the wheel of the Dharma they liberated devas and humans; they adorned all the buddha realms in the ten directions; they brought benefit to those who dwelled in the six existences; they had consummate great wisdom; they were endowed with great patience; they were endowed with love; they maintained the motivation of great compassion; they had enduring great might; they served all the buddhas; they did not pass into nirvāṇa, but instead maintained the great commitment to remain until the future’s end; they had developed pure causes in the presence of many buddhas; they had attained patience toward the quality of birthlessness of the phenomena of the three times; they had completely transcended the field of activity of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; with great skill in methods they were skilled in explaining the implied meaning of the profound Dharma taught by the great teachers, the guides of the world; and they had cut through all doubts through the direct perception of emptiness.
Among them were the bodhisattva Anāvaraṇadharmacakravarta, the bodhisattva Aspiring to Always Turn the Dharma Wheel, the bodhisattva Nityodyukta, the bodhisattva Anikṣiptadhura, the bodhisattva Maitreya, the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva Dharaṇīśvararāja, the bodhisattva King Fearless Powerful Array, the bodhisattva King of Supreme Mount Meru, the bodhisattva Great Ocean Profound King, the bodhisattva Ratnaketu, the bodhisattva Mahāratnaketu, the bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, the bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, the bodhisattva Lord with Jeweled Hands, the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi, the bodhisattva Ratibala, the bodhisattva Great Dharma Power, the bodhisattva Extremely Radiant Array, the bodhisattva Great Golden Radiant Array, the bodhisattva Pure Ethics, the bodhisattva Always Concentrated, the bodhisattva Extremely Pure Intelligence, the bodhisattva Firm Effort, the bodhisattva Ākāśavat, the bodhisattva Anikṣiptamahāpraṇidhāna, the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyadatta, the bodhisattva Curing Affliction, the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja, the bodhisattva Joyful High King, the bodhisattva Prophesied Attainment, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Completely Pure Radiance, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Dharma Holder, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Renowned Joy, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Renowned Limitless Revealer, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Lion’s Roar, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Supreme Bull’s Sound, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Good Fortune, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Precious Glory, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Sun’s Essence, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Moon’s Essence, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Starlight, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Firelight, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Lightning, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Thunder, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Constant Wisdom Rain, the bodhisattva Great Cloud King Completely Pure Rain, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Flower Tree King, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Utpala Scent, the bodhisattva Precious Cloud Sandalwood Cool Body, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Clearing Darkness, the bodhisattva Great Cloud Clearing Obscured Vision, and so on—countless, numberless bodhisattva mahāsattvas, who, during that afternoon, had arisen from resting internally and come into the presence of the Bhagavat. They bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
There were also 580,000 Licchavī youths. Among them were Kumāra Lion’s Light, Kumāra Siṃhamati, Kumāra Dharmadatta, Kumāra Powerful Bestower, Kumāra Mahāprabha, Kumāra Great Glory, Kumāra Buddhapālita, Kumāra Dharmapāla, Kumāra Sustaining the Saṅgha, Kumāra Vajra Guard, Kumāra Ākāśapāla, Kumāra Ākāśaghoṣa, Kumāra Ratnagarbha, Kumāra Supreme Auspicious Essence, and so on. They were pleasantly established in the highest, most complete enlightenment and had perfect aspiration for the Mahāyāna. During that afternoon they had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
There were also 42,000 devas. Among them were Deva Beautiful to See, Deva Pramudita, Deva Sūryaprabha, Deva Moon Crest, Deva Clear Insight, Deva Ākāśaviśuddhaprajña, Deva Remover of Affliction, Deva Maṅgala, and so on. They had made the vast prayer to guard the Mahāyāna Dharma, to hold the true Dharma, and to prevent its discontinuation. During that afternoon they had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and then sat to one side.
There were also 28,000 nāga kings. Among them were Nāga King Padma, Nāga King Elapatra, Nāga King Mahābala, Nāga King Mahāghoṣa, Nāga King Alpormika, Nāga King River Holder, Nāga King Golden Face, Nāga King Manasvī, and so on. They had all aspired to possess and hold the Mahāyāna and had developed the motivation to spread and protect it. During that afternoon, each of them had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
There was also the yakṣa king Vaiśravaṇa with 36,000 yakṣas. Among them were Yakṣa Amra, Yakṣa Amradhara, Yakṣa Essence of Lotus Radiance, Yakṣa Lotus Face, Yakṣa Bhṛkuṭi, Yakṣa Manifesting Great Fear, Yakṣa Bhūmikampa, Yakṣa Annaharaṇa, and so on. All those yakṣas had faith in the Dharma of the Tathāgata and were dedicated to guarding it. During that afternoon, all of them came into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
There were also 49,000 garuḍas, such as the garuḍa king Powerful King of Elephants.
There were also gandharvas, asuras, kinnaras, kumbhāṇḍas, and mahoragas; divine ṛṣis of mountains, forests, rivers, and seas; great kings and their retinues, queens, attendants, sons, noblemen, and noblewomen; and devas, humans, and so on. They had all prayed to read, recite, possess and hold, question, spread, guard, and protect this unsurpassable Mahāyāna Dharma. During that afternoon all of them had come into the presence of the Bhagavat, bowed down their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat, circumambulated him three times, keeping him to their right, and sat to one side.
In that way, those śrāvakas, bodhisattvas, devas, humans, asuras, garuḍas, and so on—all those eight classes of beings—had gathered like clouds. With one-pointed minds, with palms together in homage, and with unblinking eyes, they gazed at the Bhagavat’s face, and wishing that he would teach the Dharma, they supplicated him.
Then, during the afternoon, the Bhagavat arose from samādhi, looked upon the multitude that had assembled, and recited these verses:
This concludes “The Introduction,” the first chapter of “The Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light.”
Also, at that time, there dwelled in the great city of Rājagṛha a bodhisattva mahāsattva by the name of Ruciraketu. He had served past jinas, had developed roots of merit, and had attended upon many hundreds of thousands of quintillions of buddhas. He thought, “Through what causes and what conditions does the Bhagavat Śākyamuni have such a short lifespan of eighty years?”
Then he thought, “The Bhagavat has said, ‘There are two causes and two conditions for a long life. What are those two? Forsaking killing and giving food.’ The Bhagavat Śākyamuni has forsaken killing and has correctly adopted the path of the ten good actions for countless hundreds of thousands of quintillions of eons. He has given external and internal substances as food to beings, even to the extent of satisfying hungry beings with his own body, blood, bones, and limbs, to say nothing of every other kind of food.”
When that sublime being’s mind had thought that, with his attention focused upon the Buddha, his house became immense, vast, and made of blue beryl. It was adorned with many divine jewels, its color transformed by the Tathāgata, and it was pervaded by a perfume that transcended the divine.
In the four directions of that house there appeared four thrones made of divine jewels. The thrones were overspread with layers of precious, divine cloth decorated with divine jewels.
Upon those thrones appeared divine lotus flowers, their colors transformed by the Tathāgata, and adorned by many jewels. Upon those lotuses there appeared the four buddha bhagavats. To the east appeared the Tathāgata Akṣobhya. To the south appeared the Tathāgata Ratnaketu. To the west appeared the Tathāgata Amitābha. To the north appeared the Tathāgata Dundubhisvara. At the moment when those buddha bhagavats appeared upon those lion thrones, the great city of Rājagṛha was filled by a great illuminating light. That light spread throughout the trichiliocosm world realm, throughout as many world realms in the ten directions as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. A rain of flowers fell. There came the sound of divine music. Through the power of the Buddha, all beings in this trichiliocosm world realm gained divine happiness. Those who had incomplete faculties gained all their faculties. The blind saw forms with their eyes; the deaf heard sounds with their ears; the insane gained their sanity; those with distracted minds became undistracted; the naked became clothed; the hungry had their stomachs filled; the thirsty found drink; beings afflicted by illness were healed; and those with impaired physical faculties became possessed of complete faculties. In those worlds there appeared vast, astonishing, wonderful qualities.
The bodhisattva Ruciraketu was amazed to see those buddha bhagavats, and, filled with joy, delighted, elated, pleased, and happy, with his palms together in homage, he bowed toward those buddha bhagavats. Mindful of those buddha bhagavats and mindful of the qualities of the Buddha Bhagavat Śākyamuni, he had doubts concerning the lifespan of the Bhagavat Śākyamuni. In his mind was the thought, “Why is it that the Bhagavat Śākyamuni has this short lifespan of eighty years?”
Those buddha bhagavats were aware of and understood these thoughts and said to the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, “Noble one, do not think, ‘The Bhagavat Śākyamuni has such a short lifespan.’ Why is that? Noble one, except for the tathāgata arhat samyaksaṃbuddhas, we do not see anyone within the world with its devas, with its Māra, with its Brahmā, with its many beings who are mendicants and brahmins, and with its devas, humans, and asuras who has the ability to know the Bhagavat Tathāgata Śākyamuni’s lifespan to its future limit.”
As soon as those buddha bhagavats described the Tathāgata’s lifespan, at that moment, through the power of the buddhas, the devas in the desire realm, the devas in the form realm, the nāgas, the yakṣas, the gandharvas, the asuras, the garuḍas, the kinnaras, the mahoragas, and the many hundreds of thousands of quintillions of assembled bodhisattvas arrived in the house of the bodhisattva Ruciraketu.
Those tathāgatas then recited verses that taught in brief the length of the lifespan of the Bhagavat Śākyamuni to that complete assembly:
Then the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, having heard that teaching on the lifespan of Bhagavat Śākyamuni, asked those bhagavats, “Why is it that the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, the Tathāgata, manifests such a short lifespan?”
The bhagavats said to the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, “The Bhagavat Śākyamuni, the Tathāgata, has been born at a time when beings could live for a hundred years in a world that has the five degenerations. Therefore, the Tathāgata Śākyamuni has manifested a short lifespan in order to benefit beings with inferior aspiration, beings with little roots of merit and faith, and ordinary foolish beings who have the view that there is a being, the view that there is a soul, the view that there is a spirit, the view that there is an individual, erroneous views, the belief in ‘me’ and ‘mine,’ the views of eternalism and nihilism, and so on. It is also to inspire the true view in tīrthikas so that they will quickly attain the highest enlightenment.
“Moreover, noble one, the Tathāgata, by manifesting passing into nirvāṇa, causes beings to perceive him as rare and difficult to meet; causes them to perceive misery, suffering, and so on; and inspires them to quickly obtain, possess, read, comprehend, and teach widely to others these sūtras that have been taught by the Buddha Bhagavat, and to not malign them. That is why the Tathāgata manifests a short lifespan. If the Tathāgata were always present and did not pass into nirvāṇa, beings would have no reverence—they would not perceive him as being difficult to meet, and they would not obtain, possess, read, comprehend, and teach widely to others these sūtras that have been taught by the Tathāgata. Why is that? Because they would believe that the Bhagavat would always remain in the world.
“As an analogy, noble one, someone who sees that his parents have many precious jewels would not perceive that wealth as being rare or wonderful. Why is that? It is because he perceives that his parents’ wealth will always be present. In the same way, if the Bhagavat never passed into nirvāṇa, he would not be perceived as rare and difficult to meet.
“Moreover, noble one, as another analogy, if someone who had poor parents, who had no wealth, went to the dwelling of a king or great minister and saw their vast, numerous treasuries, wealth, jewels and so on, he would perceive them as rare and difficult to obtain, and he would dedicate himself to accomplishing the methods for seeking wealth, because he would wish to leave poverty behind and to accomplish happiness and prosperity.
“In the same way, noble one, if the Tathāgata is seen to pass into nirvāṇa, there will be the perception of how rare and difficult he is to meet, and the perception of misery and suffering. The Bhagavat Tathāgata only appears a few times in countless eons, just as a fig tree flower hardly ever appears, just a few times, so that beings will perceive him as rare and difficult to meet, and they will have veneration for him, perceive the sūtras he teaches to be the truth, and perceive them as something to be possessed and not to be maligned.
“Therefore, noble one, because of those causes and conditions, the Tathāgata does not remain long in the world but quickly passes into nirvāṇa. It is through such a perfection of skillful methods that the tathāgatas ripen beings.”
Then those four tathāgatas vanished.
Then the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, the countless hundreds of thousands of bodhisattvas, and the countless trillions of beings went together to Vulture Peak Mountain. They bowed their heads to the feet of the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, the Tathāgata, and seated themselves.
The bodhisattva Ruciraketu described what had occurred, and those four tathāgatas came to where the Bhagavat Śākyamuni was dwelling on Vulture Peak Mountain, sat upon the thrones in their own directions, and addressed their entourages of bodhisattvas: “Noble ones, go and ask the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, ‘Are you unharmed, unafraid, undisturbed, and feeling happy?’ Also make this request to the Bhagavat Tathāgata Śākyamuni: ‘If you were to teach this very profound lord of sūtras, The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, for the benefit of beings, to dispel the distress of famine, and to bring happiness to all, that would be excellent and would bring joy!’ ”
The bodhisattvas who were their attendants went toward the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, and, having approached him, bowed their heads down to his feet, and they made the request that the four tathāgatas had instructed.
Then the Bhagavat Śākyamuni, the tathāgata, the arhat samyaksaṃbuddha, said, “Well done!” to those bodhisattvas. “Well done! Well done!”
At that time, because the four tathāgatas had invoked him to teach this sublime Dharma in order to bring benefit and happiness to all beings, the Bhagavat recited these verses:
At that time, in that assembly, there was the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa, who, together with countless thousands of brahmins, had made offerings to the Bhagavat. On hearing these words concerning the great nirvāṇa of the Tathāgata, he immediately wept, bowed down to the feet of the Bhagavat, and said to the Bhagavat, “If you have love for all beings, if you have great compassion, if you wish to benefit them, if you are a mother and father for all beings, if you are unequaled, if you are like the moon radiating light, if you are like a risen sun of great wisdom and knowledge, and if you look upon all beings as you do upon Rāhula, then I pray that you grant me something sacred.”
The Bhagavat remained silent.
Then, through the power of the Buddha, there arose confident eloquence in a Licchavī youth who was in that assembly, whose name was Sarvasattvapriyadarśana. He asked the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa, “Great brahmin, why do you ask the Bhagavat for something sacred? I will give you something sacred.”
“Licchavī youth,” said the brahmin, “I wish for a relic of the Bhagavat the size of a mustard seed in order to make offerings to the Bhagavat. It is known that if one makes offerings to a relic the size of a mustard seed that one has received as a share of the ashes that are the relics of the Bhagavat, one will become the sole lord of the devas of Trāyastriṃśa.
“O Licchavī youth, it is difficult for śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas to know The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light. It is difficult for them to comprehend it. The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, which has those characteristics and qualities, is going to be spoken, so listen!
“O Licchavī youth, The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light is thus difficult to know and difficult to understand. Therefore, it is appropriate that we brahmins from an outlying island should keep a relic the size of a mustard seed in a casket, for by possessing it, beings will soon become lords of Trāyastriṃśa.
“O Licchavī youth, don’t you want to request a relic the size of a mustard seed from the Tathāgata, place the relic in a casket, and possess it so that beings will become lords of Trāyastriṃśa?
“O Licchavī youth, that is the sublime thing that I have requested.”
Then Sarvasattvapriyadarśana, the Licchavī youth, recited these verses to the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa:
On hearing those verses, the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa, replied to the Licchavī youth Sarvasattvapriyadarśana with these verses: