The Golden Light Sutra or ( sa,

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtrendrarājaḥ), also known by the Old Uygur title Altun Yaruq, is a Buddhist text of the

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...

branch of Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the full title is ''The Sovereign King of Sutras, the Sublime Golden Light''.

History

The sutra was originally written in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

and was translated several times into Chinese by Dharmakṣema and others, and later translated into Tibetan and other languages. Johannes Nobel published Sanskrit and Tibetan editions of the text. The sutra is influential in East Asia. The name of the

sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...

derives from the chapter called "The Confession of the Golden Drum", where the bodhisattva Ruchiraketu dreams of a great drum that radiates a sublime golden light, symbolizing the

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

or teachings of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. The ''Golden Light Sutra'' became one of the most important

s in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

because of its fundamental message, which teaches that the

Four Heavenly Kings The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" () or "Sìdà Tiānwáng" (). In the ...

() protect the ruler who governs his country in the proper manner. The sutra also expounds the vows of the goddesses

Sarasvatī Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a ...

(), Lakṣmī () and Dṛḍhā to protect any bhikṣu who will uphold and teach the sutra. Taken at face value, one might take the main theme of the sutra literally, which is the importance for leaders to be good examples for the kingdom. In Chapter Twelve, the sutra speaks in verse form about the disasters that befall a kingdom when its ruler does not uphold justice, and the benefits of kings who lead an exemplary life. In the Chapter on the Guardian Kings, the Four Guardian Kings have a dialogue with the Buddha, explaining in vivid detail all the benefits a kingdom will have if its ruler enshrines the essence of the sutra and offers daily praise. The sutra contains some elements of early tantra, in that in chapter two, the sutra describes four Buddhas who dwell in the four cardinal directions. These same four comprise later Buddhist mandalas in the same positions, such as the

Womb Realm In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Womb Realm ( sa, garbhakoṣadhātu, Traditional Chinese: 胎蔵界; Pinyin: ''Tāizāngjiè''; Romanji: ''taizōkai'') is the metaphysical space inhabited by the Five Compassion Buddhas. The Womb Realm is based on the ...

. During the Sui dynasty in China, the monk

Zhiyi Zhiyi (; 538–597 CE) also Chen De'an (陳德安), is the fourth patriarch of the Tiantai tradition of Buddhism in China. His standard title was Śramaṇa Zhiyi (沙門智顗), linking him to the broad tradition of Indian asceticism. Zhiyi ...

of the Tiantai tradition initiated a ritual ceremony known as "Gōngfó Zhāitiān" (供佛齋天) or just "Zhāitiān" (齋天), meaning "Puja of Offering to the Buddhas and the Devas", according to the rites prescribed in the ''Golden Light Sutra.'' During the ceremony, offerings are made to the

Buddhas In Buddhism, Buddha (; Pali, Sanskrit: 𑀩𑀼𑀤𑁆𑀥, बुद्ध), "awakened one", is a title for those who are awake, and have attained nirvana and Buddhahood through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point out ...

as well as the twenty-four devas as a sign of respect. This ceremony has been carried down through tradition into modern times and is customarily performed in Chinese Buddhist temples on the 9th day of the 1st month of the Chinese calendar. The sutra also gained esteem as a sutra for protecting the country in China, Korea and Japan, and often was read publicly to ward off threats. For example, its first reading in Japan was as a court ceremony during around 660 AD, when the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

of China and

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms o ...

of Korea defeated the state of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder J ...

of Korea and were threatening Japan. In 741

Emperor Shōmu was the 45th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 聖武天皇 (45)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749, during the Nara period. Traditional narrative ...

of Japan founded provincial monasteries for monks (国分寺) and nuns (国分尼寺) in each province. The official name of the monasteries was the ''Temple for Protection of the State by the Four Heavenly Kings Golden Light Sutra'' (). The 20 monks who lived there recited the ''Sovereign Kings Golden Light Sutra'' on a fixed schedule to protect the country. As Buddhism evolved in Japan, the practice gradually fell out of use, and is no longer continued today.

Translations

The Golden Light Sutra has been translated into Chinese,

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who histo ...

("Khotanese"),

Old Turkic Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It is the old ...

, Old Uyghur, Tangut,

Classical Tibetan Classical Tibetan refers to the language of any text written in Tibetic after the Old Tibetan period. Though it extends from the 12th century until the modern day, it particularly refers to the language of early canonical texts translated from o ...

, Mongolian,

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...

, Korean and Japanese.

Chinese

Three canonical Chinese translations have survived: * Jin guangming jin T663 translated by Dharmakṣema (385-433) * the synoptic Hebu jin guangming T664, by Baogui, written in 597 * Jin guangming zuisheng wang jin T665, by Yijing (635-713) An extracanonical version, ascribed to Paramārtha (499-569) is extant in a Japanese manuscript.

Japanese

One of the earliest Japanese annotations was an 8th century

kunten A is a form of Classical Chinese used in Japan from the Nara period to the mid-20th century. Much of Japanese literature was written in this style and it was the general writing style for official and intellectual works throughout the period. A ...

translation of the Yijing Chinese translation housed in Saidaiji Temple. In 1933, Izumi published the first complete Japanese translation directly from Sanskrit, followed by another translation by Ama a year later.

Western languages

In 1958, Nobel published a German translation, based on Yijing´s Chinese text. In 1970, Emmerick produced an English translation of the short, condensed Sanskrit version of the Sutra of Golden Light into English. In Tibetan, there are three versions of the Sutra: the 21, 29, and 31 chapter versions. The 29 Chapter Version was probably the most popular in Tibet and Tibetan Buddhist regions. In 2007, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition,

Lama Zopa Rinpoche Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (; born Dawa Chötar) is a Nepali lama from Khumbu, the entryway to Mount Everest. Biography Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, also called Lama Zopa Rinpoche has an extensive biography of him in the book ''The Lawudo Lama'' by Jamya ...

's Buddhist organization, produced a translation of the 21 chapter version of the Sutra, the most abbreviated and condensed version.

References

Bibliography

* Bagchi, S. ed. (1967)
Suvarṇaprabhāsasūtram
Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute. Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon. (NB: in Unicode) * Gummer, Natalie D. (2012)
Listening to the Dharmabhāṇaka: The Buddhist Preacher in and of the Sūtra of Utmost Golden Radiance
Journal of the American Academy of Religion 80 (1), 137-160. * Lee, Sumi (2017)
Kingship as "Dharma-Protector": A Comparative Study of Wŏnhyo and Huizhao's Views on the "Golden Light Sutra"
Journal of Korean Religions 8 (1), 93-129 * Skjaervo, Prods O. (2004 ). This Most Excellent Shine of Gold, King of Kings of Sutras: The Khotanese Suvarnabhãsottamasutra. 2 vols. Cambridge,MA: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University * Suzuki, T. (2003)
Stupa Worship and Dharma Evaluation in the Suvarnaprabhasa
Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies 51 (2), 996-1001 * Tyomkin E. (1995)
Unique Sanskrit Fragments of the “Sutra of Golden Light” in the manuscript collection of St Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Manuscripta Orientalia. Vol. 1, (1), 29-38.

External links

The Sutra of Golden Light: The 21 Chapter Version, published by the FPMT

Roman transliteration of Sanskrit (Bagchi), chapter-wise, DSBC Project
{{Buddhism topics Mahayana sutras Vaipulya sutras Four Heavenly Kings