The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light (3)
Chapter 8: Sarasvatī
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 8: Sarasvatī
[F.28.b] Then the great goddess Sarasvatī, with her robe over one shoulder, kneeling with her right knee on the ground and her palms together in homage, bowed toward the Bhagavat and said to the Bhagavat, “Venerable Bhagavat, I, the great goddess Sarasvatī, will bring eloquence to the words of those dharmabhāṇakas so that their words will be beautified. I will also bestow on them the power of mental retention. I will establish them in giving definitions. I will illuminate those dharmabhāṇakas with the great light of wisdom. If any line of verse or syllables of this Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light is left out or forgotten, I will bring all definitions, lines of verse, and syllables to those dharmabhāṇaka bhikṣus.195
“So that196 this Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light may remain for a long time in Jambudvīpa and not quickly vanish; so that beings can accomplish roots of merit with a hundred thousand buddha bhagavats; so that many beings on hearing this Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light, may develop inconceivably sharp wisdom; so that they may gain an inconceivable aggregation of wisdom;197 so that they may attain good fortune in this life; so that they may have benefit in life and possess an immeasurable aggregation of merit; so that they may seek a variety of methods;198 so that they may become learned199 in all treatises; and so that they may attain200 perfection201 in a variety of arts, I will bestow the power of retention so that they will not forget.
“I will teach the rite of cleansing with mantras and medicines for the benefit of the dharmabhāṇaka bhikṣus and the beings who listen to the Dharma, so that harm from the planets, lunar asterisms, birth, and death; all the harms from fighting, pollution, riots, chaos, [F.29.a] nightmares, and misleaders; and the harms from all evil spirits and vetālas will cease.
“These are the herbs and medicines through which the wise can cleanse themselves:
tadyathā | sukṛte205 kṛtakamalanīlajinakarate206 haṃkarāte207 indrajali208 śakaddre vaśaddre209 avartakasike210 nakutra kukavilakavimalamati śīlamati211 sandhidhudhumamavati śiśiri satyasthite212 svāhā |213
“Engage in the peaceful activity of cleansing by reciting this mantra while washing the body of the Bhagavat:
tadyathā218 | śame viṣame svāhā | sagaṭe vigaṭe svāhā | sukhatinate svāhā | sāgarasaṃbhūtāya svāhā | skandhamatāya svāhā | nīlakaṇṭhāya svāhā | aparājitavīryāya svāhā | himavatsaṃbhūtāya svāhā | animilavaktrāya svāhā | namo bhagavate brāhmaṇe | namaḥ sarasvatyai devyai | sidhyantu mantrapadā daṃ brahma anumanyatu svāhā |219
“I will be there, because of this washing ritual, in order to guard the dharmabhāṇaka bhikṣu and those who listen to the Dharma and those who write it out.
“Together with a host of devas,220 I will end all illness in those villages, towns, marketplaces, and monasteries.
“I will end harm from planetary afflictions, fighting, and pollution; harm from the stars of one’s birth; and all harm from nightmares, troublesome demons, and all evil spirits and vetālas for the bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās who possess this lord of sūtras, so that their lifespan will be benefited and they will abandon saṃsāra, will progress irreversibly to the highest, most complete enlightenment, and will quickly attain the highest, most complete enlightenment of buddhahood.”
Then the Bhagavat congratulated the great goddess Sarasvatī, saying, “Well done, well done, great goddess Sarasvatī! You act to bring benefit to many beings and happiness to many beings. It is excellent, excellent, that you have given this teaching of mantras and medicines.”
syād yathedaṃ225 | mure cire | avaje avajavate226 | higule227 migule228 | pigalavati229 maguśe230 marici samati daśamati agrimagri tara citara231 capati232 cicirī śirimiri marici praṇaye233 lokajyeṣṭhe234 lokapriye235 siddhiprite236 vimamukhiśucikharī237 apratihate238 apratehata239 buddhe namuci namuci mahādevī240 pratigṛhnanamaskaraṃ241|242
“May I243 have unimpeded understanding. May I accomplish the knowledge244 of treatises, verses, tantras, piṭakas, poetry, and so on.
“I summon the great goddess through the truth of the Buddha, the truth of the Dharma, the truth of the Saṅgha, the truth of Indra, and the truth of Varuṇa. I invoke the great goddess through the truth and true words of all who speak truth in the world.
tadyathā | hili hili249 hili mili, hili mili |250 May I be victorious! I pay homage to the Bhagavatī, the great goddess Sarasvatī! May I accomplish the mantra words! svāhā |
Then the Kauṇḍinya brahmin, the Dharma master Vyākaraṇa, praised the goddess Sarasvatī with these verses:
This concludes “Sarasvatī,” the eighth chapter of “The Lord King of Sūtras, the Sublime Golden Light.”
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 556, Degé Kangyur vol. 89 (rgyud ’bum, pa), folios 151.b–273.a. English translation The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light (2) 2024.
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.
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Other References in Tibetan
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Other References in English and Other Languages
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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.