The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light (1)
Chapter 23: The Prophecy
Toh 555
Degé Kangyur, vol. 89 (rgyud ’bum, pa), folios 19.a–151.a
- Chödrup
Imprint
Translated by Peter Alan Roberts and team
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2023
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Table of Contents
Summary
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 longest version of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light preserved in the Kangyur. It comprises thirty-one chapters and was translated into Tibetan primarily from Yijing’s Chinese translation in the early ninth century.
Acknowledgements
This sūtra was translated into English by Peter Alan Roberts. Ling Lung Chen, Wang Chipan, Xiaolong Diao, Ting Lee Ling, and H. S. Sum Cheuk Shing were consultants for the Chinese versions of the sūtra. Emily Bower was the project manager and editor. Tracy Davis was the copyeditor. With 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.
The translation of this text has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of Zhang Da Da.
Text Body
The Sublime Golden Light, the Supremely Victorious King of Sūtras
Chapter 23: The Prophecy
After the Tathāgata had taught the Dharma extensively in the midst of the great assembly, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu and his two sons, Rūpyaketu and Rūpyaprabha, requested the prophecy of their attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.
At that time, ten thousand devas, chief among them Jvalanāntaratejorāja, descended together from the Trāyastriṃśa paradise. They came before the Bhagavat, bowed their heads to his feet in homage, seated themselves to one side, and listened to the Dharma that was taught by the Bhagavat.
The Bhagavat then said to the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, “You, in a future time after countless, innumerable hundreds of thousands of quintillions of eons have passed, will attain the highest, most complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in the world realm Suvarṇaprabhā. [F.128.b]
“You will appear in the world as a tathāgata arhat samyaksaṃbuddha, one with wisdom and virtuous conduct, a sugata, one who knows the world’s beings, an unsurpassable guide who tames beings, a teacher of devas and humans, a buddha, a bhagavat, who has the name King of the Mountain of Gold and Jewels.
“After that tathāgata has passed into nirvāṇa and the Dharma he taught has vanished, at that time this older son, Rūpyaketu, will become that tathāgata’s regent in that same world. At that time, his name will be changed to Completely Pure Pinnacle, and he will attain perfect buddhahood and become a tathāgata arhat samyaksaṃbuddha, one with wisdom and virtuous conduct, a sugata, one who knows the world’s beings, an unsurpassable guide who tames beings, a teacher of devas and humans, a buddha, a bhagavat, who has the name Light of Golden Ornaments.
“At that time, when that tathāgata has passed into nirvāṇa and the Dharma he taught has vanished, this younger son, Rūpyaprabha, will become that tathāgata’s regent, and in that world he will attain perfect buddhahood and become a tathāgata arhat samyaksaṃbuddha, one with wisdom and virtuous conduct, a sugata, one who knows the world’s beings, an unsurpassable guide who tames beings, a teacher of devas and humans, a buddha, a bhagavat, who has the name Suvarṇaprabha.”
That was the prophecy. Those ten thousand devas also heard the prophecy for those three great beings then. [F.129.a] When they heard in this way this sublime, supreme king of sūtras, their minds became overjoyed, and pure and stainless, like space.
Then the Bhagavat, knowing in his mind the ripening of the good roots of those ten thousand devas, prophesied their great enlightenment, saying, “Devas, after many countless, innumerable hundreds of thousands of quintillions of future eons have passed, you will attain the highest, most complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in a world realm by the name of Śālendradhvajāgravatī.1113 You will be in the same family,1114 in the same clan, and have the same name. You will all have a perfect name with ten components: Prasannavadanotpalagandhakūṭa.1115 In this way, you will successively appear in the world as ten thousand buddhas.”
Then the goddess of the Bodhi tree said to the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, these ten thousand devas came from the Trāyastriṃśa paradise to listen to the Dharma and came before the Bhagavat. For what reason has the Tathāgata given them the prophecy of their attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood? I have not heard that these devas have meditated excellently on the six perfections and undergone hardships, or have given away their hands, feet, heads, eyes, legs,1116 brains,1117 servants, children, wives, elephants, oxen,1118 horses, carriages, male slaves, female slaves, messengers, homes, parks, forests, gold, silver, beryls, white corals, emeralds, red corals, crystals,1119 conches, food, drink, clothes, beds, or medicine for illness. [F.129.b] Countless hundreds of thousands of other bodhisattvas have offered many offerings of requisites to countless hundreds of thousands of quintillions of past buddhas, and in this way each of those bodhisattvas has obtained the prophecy of their enlightenment only after innumerable endless eons have passed.
“Bhagavat, through what causes and conditions, through what supreme conduct, and through planting what good roots have these deities come from their paradise and through hearing the Dharma for a short time obtained their prophecies? I request the Bhagavat to explain this to me and cut through the net of my doubts.”
The Bhagavat said to the goddess of the Bodhi tree, “Noble goddess, it is as you have said. All of these have obtained the prophecy after accomplishing the causes and conditions of excellent good roots and undergoing hardships with dedication and diligence. This multitude of devas has forsaken the five sensory pleasures in their perfect, sublime divine palaces and has come to listen to this Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light, so that when they heard the Dharma their minds developed reverence for this sūtra. They became unstained by faults, like completely pure beryls. Moreover, they heard that which was the prophecy for these three bodhisattva mahāsattvas. Moreover, in the past, they have for a long time accomplished true conduct, and they made a great commitment, and because of those causes and conditions I have prophesied their attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment of buddhahood in a future time.”
The goddess of the Bodhi tree, having heard the Bhagavat’s words, became overjoyed and had conviction in them.
This concludes “The Prophecy,” the twenty-third chapter of “The Supremely Victorious King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light.” [F.130.a]
Bibliography
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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.
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Translations
Emmerick, R. E. The Sūtra of Golden Light. Oxford: The Pali Text Society, 2004.
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). Sutra of Golden Light, 21-Chapter.
Nobel, Johannes. Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra, Das Goldglanz-Sutra, ein Sanskrittext des Mahayana Buddhismus. I-Tsing’s chinesische Version und ihre Übersetzung. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1958.