The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light (2)
Chapter 22: The Protection Given by Yakṣas
Toh 556
Degé Kangyur, vol. 89 (rgyud ’bum, pa), folios 151.b–273.a
Imprint
First published 2024
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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 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.
Acknowledgements
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.
Text Body
The Lord King of Sūtras, The Sublime Golden Light
Chapter 22: The Protection Given by Yakṣas
“Great goddess Śrī, any noble man or noble woman who has faith and wishes to make an inconceivably, extremely vast and great offering of requisites to the past, future, and present buddha bhagavats, and wishes to know the profound field of activity of the past, future, and present buddhas, whether in a temple or in a wilderness, in whatever place The Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light is being correctly taught, in that place they should, with an undoubting and undistracted mind, pay attention and listen to this Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light.”
Then the Bhagavat, in order to describe this extensively to the assembly, recited these verses: [F.252.b]
This concludes “The Protection Given by Yakṣas,” the twenty-second chapter of “The Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light.”
Bibliography
Primary Sources in Tibetan and Chinese
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.
Hebu jin guangming 合部金光明經. Taishō 664 (CBETA, SAT). (Translation of Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra by Bao Gui 寶貴).
Jin guangming jin 金光明經. Taishō 663 (CBETA, SAT). (Translation of Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra by Dharmakṣema, a.k.a. Tan Wuchen 曇無讖).
Jin guangming zuisheng wang jin 金光明最勝王經. Taishō 665 (CBETA, SAT). (Translation of Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra by Yijing 義淨).
Secondary References—Kangyur
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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.
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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.
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Other References in Tibetan
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Other References in English and Other Languages
Bagchi, S., ed. Suvarṇaprabhāsasūtram. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute, 1967. Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon.
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Nobel, Johannes (1944). Suvarṇabhāsottamasūtra. Das Goldglanz-Sūtra: ein Sanskrit text des Mahāyāna-Buddhismus. Die Tibetischen Überstzungen mit einem Wörterbuch. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
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Radich, Michael (2016). “Tibetan Evidence for the Sources of Chapters of the Synoptic Suvarṇa-prabhāsottama-sūtra T 664 A Ascribed to Paramārtha.” Buddhist Studies Review 32.2 (2015): 245–70. Sheffield, UK: Equinox Publishing.
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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.