The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light (3)
Chapter 2: The Teaching on the Lifespan of the Tathāgata
Toh 557
Degé Kangyur, vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pa), folios 1.b–62.a
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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 shortest version of The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light preserved in the Kangyur. It comprises twenty-one chapters, was translated into Tibetan primarily from Sanskrit, and is the only version for which a complete Sanskrit manuscript survives.
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 André Rodrigues was in charge of the digital publication process.
The translation of this text has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of May Gu, George Gu, Likai Gu and Tiffany Tai, Lillian Gu and Jerry Yen.
Text Body
The Lord King of Sūtras, The Sublime Golden Light
Chapter 2: The Teaching on the Lifespan of the Tathāgata
Also, at that time, there dwelled in the great city of Rājagṛha [F.3.a] 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 this, with his attention focused upon the Buddha, his house became immense, vast, and made of blue beryl. It was adorned by many divine jewels, its color transformed by the Tathāgata,34 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 thrones35 were overspread with layers36 of precious, divine cloth decorated with divine jewels.37
Upon those38 thrones appeared divine lotus flowers, their colors transformed by the Tathāgata,39 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. [F.3.b] To the west appeared the Tathāgata Amitāyus. 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 spread throughout the trichiliocosm world realm,40 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. 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 had their thirst quenched; 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 bodhisattva41 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. [F.4.a] 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 son, do not think, ‘The Bhagavat Śākyamuni has such a short lifespan.’ Why is that? Noble son, except for the tathāgata arhat samyaksaṃbuddhas, we do not see anyone in 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 length of 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 lifespan of the Bhagavat Śākyamuni to that complete assembly:
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.45 On hearing these words concerning the great nirvāṇa of the Tathāgata, he immediately wept,46 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 all beings, 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 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.” [F.5.a]
“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.47
“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!48
“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?
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:
Then thirty-two thousand devas, having heard that profound teaching on the lifespan of the Tathāgata, all developed the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. With joyful mental thoughts and with one voice, they recited these verses:
Then the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, having heard the teaching on the lifespan of the Bhagavat Śākyamuni from both those buddha bhagavats and those excellent individuals, was filled with joy, delighted, elated, pleased, and happy—he was pervaded by great happiness and delight.
When this teaching on the lifespan of the tathāgatas was taught, innumerable, countless beings developed the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment, and those tathāgatas vanished. [F.6.b]
This concludes “The Teaching on the Lifespan of the Tathāgata,” the second chapter of “The Lord King of Sūtras, The Sublime Golden Light.”
Bibliography
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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.